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Coming Soon, Maybe, Sorta, Oh Hell you'll get it soon OK
Publisher: Sony
Wed, 19 January 2005
by: Ando
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Well it’s 2005, another glorious year of motor sport games and action gone bye. The ever-dominant Schumacher and Ferrari conquered their F1 rivals once again with the relentlessness and professionalism we’ve come to expect from the italian stallions. Marcos Ambrose took his 2nd V8 Supercar championship with Ford - removing any doubt that Ford’s resurgence was a once off flash in the pan. And Valentino Rossi demoralized the opposition on a bike (the Yamaha) which by all accounts, couldn’t win races let alone Moto GP championships. All this in a year when great auto-racing (Sammy speak) games like Burnout 3 and V8 Supercars 2 were released to great acclaim and much fan fare.
 But something was missing. The motor sport (sorry Sammy) game to rule them all had been delayed yet again and set back to the point where hard-core enthusiasts like myself were beginning to give up caring about it’s never-ending-impending release. But never fear; a new year has dawned. Another year of motor sport action and games is on the verge of starting and it holds very good prospects for gamers and fans alike. Mark Webber in a Williams for one is enough to get me giddy with anticipation. The release of GT4 will be another date to mark on the calendar.
Gran Tourismo 4 will more than likely raise the bar for racing simulator games to a new level, as each previous installment has done in-terms of realism and detail. The franchise has, for a long time, been the game to beat as far as racing simulators are concerned. The new installment looks like it will not be breaking that tradition. From first impressions it appears to be improved and enhanced in all areas which, for the ageing PS2, is an impressive achievement in itself.
 We should probably talk graphics first, and they are enhanced quite significantly, although not quite obvious to the eye at first. You need to look a little closer to see the improved vehicle models, the enhanced reflection and texture mapping, and the tracks. Then again, there’s not much subtlety about the improvements in some of the environments and backgrounds. Some of them are simply astounding (Grand Canyon). The attention to track detail is a huge leap over GT3 and really adds another level of realism to the whole experience. Also of note is the presence of humans, which has been very much non-existent in previous versions of GT. There are people on the side of the tracks, in the grand stands and even in the car (surprisingly). The spectators are even animated – waving hands taking photos and they look quite good especially when traveling at 200kmph. With over 80 tracks and over 650 cars available there is a lot of eye candy and gaming value to unlock and enjoy.
The car handling characteristics have been given a major overhaul, with an entirely new physics engine that feels noticeably better. The cars are less forgiving then they used to be, more unstable and difficult under braking and generally a little more unpredictable than before. I’d equate the task of driving a 600hp Supra round a race track at 250kmph to the difficult feat of taming a wild bronco or breaking in a wild stallion(and before you ask – yes I do it all the time OK) and it’s more like that than ever. The cars have more attitude now - when you push them hard they let you know about it. Anyway, enough of the bad equine analogies, the point I’m trying to make is the cars have more feel and are more sensitive to your driving technique than ever before. The sound is top notch – goes without saying really. The engines sound great and the sound dynamics work well with other cars. As I said, it is a no-brainer really in that department.
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I can't believe the level of detail I'm seeing in this particular shot. They must be pushing the PS2 to it's absolute limits. Me thinks there might be a photoshop back drop in there somewhere! |
At the time of writing this article there is till no official release date and so the basis of this analysis was GT4 prologue - hence we can’t talk about the interface or GT mode in any length. What we can talk about are the modes we know are to be included in GT4, like B-spec. Basically, B-spec mode sees you take on the role of a Team Manager. You will need to do everything except actually drive the car in this mode. You’ll choose the course (All of GT Mode is available), prep the car, and even instruct the AI driver on how hard to drive or when to coast to victory. This reviewer is not exactly jumping out of his pants about B-spec (watching could never be as good as actually racing) but hey – who knows? It could be a bit of fun.
Another nice new feature of GT4 is Photo Mode for all you wanna be photographers out there. This is where the love between a man and his automobile goes to the extreme and the beauty of your car (stock or customized) can be immortalized for all to appreciate. Either in Replay mode, or in Photo Mode itself, you can pose your car for a high quality photo, with effects like motion blur and camera focus. The high resolution image can even be printed out via a USB printer hooked up to the PS2. Cool Yeah? I’m not sure it will help my ability to brake from 290kmph but hey. Check it Out Mate. She’s beautiful.
There is a lot to be said for the options and modes already discussed here and no doubt there will be even more easter eggs under the bonnet when we finally get to play it. But how the online play feature was canned mid or even late in development - I can’t understand. I suppose the upside to this is they will have something big in-store when they do unleash it. The possibilities are mind numbing to say the least, but for the time being we will have to live without. The rumours are that an updated version with online play may be available some time in the future, but that is yet to be finalized. I speak from experience - V8 Supercars 2 online play is g-loads of fun, its an absolute travesty that it has been left out of GT4…lets hope they can make up for it in other areas.
Check out this site for all things Gran Tourismo :
www.gtplanet.net
You can chat about GT4 Here
Well, that’s about all I can say except that I will have a full review and analysis on GT4 as it comes out so stay tuned for more news and info.
by: Ando
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