Full Review for Gran Turismo 4 by The Mario Bros. Team

Introduction

Hi and welcome to my review of Gran Turismo 4. You probably got to reading this by doing something very similar to the below.

You probably went to a game store like EB Games or GameStop and saw this game. You read the back cover "Over 700 cars and over 50 tracks" and said I want this game. Then you needed help so you went to a cheat site and just started reading reviews.

Well, this game is pretty good overall, but it has some MAJOR drawbacks. If you are brave enough, read on.

Graphics

Hmm, and our first category is graphics. Actually, one of the things I like about this game is it's graphics. They're very detailed, especially the cars. Not as good graphics as say Forza 3 or the new Gran Turismo, but very good for a PlayStation2 game. The 1 thing that prevents me from giving it a 10 is no crash damage! Honestly though once you've played Forza you won't wanna go back.

Sound

Sound. Hmm. Very interesting, Watson. Well most of the sound is great. It has a lot of music tracks, but engine sounds are usualy HORRIFIC. Let me use an example. Get in a Corvette Z06 C5 and listen to the sound the engine makes. It sounds like a hair dryer!!!!! Big V8s are supposed to have a throaty growl, not a puny whine! Well, overall some sounds are good, but most are not. Also, Forza Motorsport 3 has actual engine sounds! Whew, how I love to cruise on de la sarthe in an Audi R8 5.2, 6th gear, 200 MPH and just listen to that awesome engine sound. (see below for more on the r8) Why can't GT4 be like that?

Gameplay

And now we come to the ominous gameplay. The driving simulation is pretty good. Tons of races, so just pick a car at the start and you can probably enter a cool 25-30 different events. But the next part is car selection. Over 700 cars, eh? Well, let's see if they have any of my real life favorites. I like Porsche 911s. In case you were too dumb to figure out, Porsche is german, so head to germany. (ingame) WHAT!?!?!?!?!? No Porsche?! If you investigate, you'll discover that Porsche is actually hidden, as RUF. Honestly, I don't get why games make up automakers. Well, no 911s. I also like Audi R8s, so just go back 1 level (gt4 map -> germany -> porsche) Whew! There's audi. Scroll through the lineup. Let's see, a puny hatchback, the new a3, some tts, a cool suv, HEY! NO R8?!?!?!?! Again, replaced with a way punier sounding LeMans Quattro. Head to italy to yet again discover no ferrari or lambo. Holy cow, where are the exotics in this game? I guess gameplay's ok, but once again Forza's la creme de la creme, with both R8s, ferrari and lamborghini, bugatti veyron (:]) and porsche. I just love Forza. Unfortunately I can only play it at a friend's house :(

Lastability

Possibly the best lastability of any PS2 game - ho-hum. Maybe 30 events plus model specific/country specific so probably around 100. Then rally and endurance. Whoa. If you can't enter any events with your car it's either too crappy (ford model t, and both daimler carriages) or too rare (caterham 7 or auto union v16) I'm sure there are others. I've been playing for over 2 years with only 68 complete. However, the fun of Forza is that you unlock cars. And I just like that game's multiplayer modes. You can do demolition derbies with a friend and have car parts come off so way more Forza lastability. But this game's still good.

Overall

So I would say this is a pretty good PS2 game, but I'll just quickly recommend racing games for all 6 and 7 generation consoles.

Wii-Mario Kart Wii
XBOX 360-Forza 3
PS3-Gran turismo 5

PS2-this game
Gamecube-Mario Kart Double Dash
XBOX-Forza 1

Overall I like this game. Pretty good for what you pay. However, to GT5 or Forza, GT4 go bye-bye.

Final Score: 62%