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Not revolutionary, but highly refined

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: February 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The Gran Turismo series has always been about the cars. As far back as the original on the Playstation, I've been amazed that the cars in the game gave you a real taste of what the real thing is like, and the visual detail of both the cars and tracks has been the best the platform has to offer.

With GT4, this has remained their focus. If you are a fanatic for accurate handling, braking, and acceleration, and if you truly love cars, this game leaves all previous iterations behind. If the idea of throwing a feather-weight Lotus Elise through the legendary curves of the Nurburgring makes you giddy, GT4 will keep you occupied for weeks.

The criticisms are by and large correct: opponent AI is still poor, a couple notable car manufacturers remain absent (the most unfortunate shortcoming in my opinion -- who wouldn't love to put a Lamborghini Miura or Porsche 959 though its paces), and lack of online play is sad, but this game still more than delivers for those who love driving.

Best Racing Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: March 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

There are some important factors for determining whether a game is great or not...

- Can you spend 30+ minutes just going through different menus and customizing your settings before you even play your first game? :: CHECK

- After playing it, does the thought ever cross your mind to spend another $20 on a strategy guide? :: CHECK

- Do you play the game early on into the morning with total disregard to the fact that you need to be awake in 3 hours? :: CHECK

- Does it make you feel like calling in sick? :: CHECK

- After turning the game off, do you find yourself fantasizing about playing it? :: CHECK

A great game should bring out the total geek in somebody, this game does that. Gran Turismo 4 really is one of those games that could eat up a chunk of your lifetime. The graphics are the best I've seen on the PS2 (especially in HD 1080i resolution).

The only downside is that the gameplay really hasnt changed that much from Gran Turismo 3 (at least you're allowed to carry over your progress from GT3 and up to $100,000). Online gameplay would have been nice too.

Great racing game, but not substantially improved over GT3

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: March 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you have liked the previous Grand Turismo games you'll like GT4. That's the bottom line. The down side is that there's not all that much new here.

There are improvements: the graphics are a bit nicer, the cars' suspensions have more realistic travel and there are a lot of nice new tracks. There's also some questionable features like photo and b-spec mode, which may be of value to some, though I'm guessing most players won't find much use for them.

Car selection is improved, but still has a lot of glaring omissions, especially in American and European cars. If you're after Japanese cars then the selection is very complete. If you prefer cars from the other side of the planet, however, you're in for a let down.

Ultimately, GT4 plays more like GT3.5. There's some nice new stuff, but not worth paying full price for, in my opinion.

* * * 650 + cars for GT4 * * *

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 13 / 24
Date: November 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is going to be nuts ! To this day I still play GT3 patiently waiting on the anticipated release of GT4. Now they are saying the original speculation of 500 + cars has been bumped to an astonishing 650 + cars. More than ANY game in the history of racing titles. I even saw an old ( 98 or so ) Ford Taurus in one screen shot. No online capabilities though, however speculation is hackers are working on a way to set up LAN ( local access network ) play which suits me just fine. The graphics will no doubt be superb. Even if it looked just like GT3 one couldn't complain. AI is revised for a more realistic driving/racing experience rather than the AI slamming into you at 100mph. New game modes will also be available one of which is like a testing bed where you can set up toe angle, camber, shocks and spring compression, gear ratios, etc. and then sit back and watch as AI drives. Providing you with all the info to set up your vehicle perfectly for the track. I can't wait for this game to drop. Oh man Oh man...650 + cars people !! Also you will be able to actually see a driver inside the car of which he/she will perform realistic steering maneuvers and shifting. Now on pit stops a pit crew will come out and carry out the tasks of a pit crew, and it actually looks quite well. Spectators have also recieved an upgrade in appearance. No more card board looking people, but who cares about that right ? Also it seems gas consumption and a more realistic tire wear will come into play. That will make things more interesting, and seperate the men from the boys in simulation mode. Well thats about all the info I have for GT4 right now, and I hope this review was helpful to you. Peace

Outstanding!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 17
Date: September 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have played this game and it blew me away!! The graphics are all but astonishing! This is the best looking driving sim ever and it's on the playstation 2? x-box can't even make a game look this good. the guy's at polyphony realy know the playstation 2. I have never seen graphics this good on any system. Get ready all you driving game buff's because gran turismo 4 is comming and it's gonna kick butt!!!

The "Real Driving Simulator's" legacy continues...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: February 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Whether you love, hate, or could care less about racing games, the Gran Turismo series deserves respect. Since its inception in 1998, the game has gone through four iterations on two different consoles and sold over 35 million copies worldwide. Countless photos have been shot, hours of engine revs and tire screeches recorded, all in a quest to create the most realistic driving simulator on the market. As far as realism is concerned, the game has certainly made its mark -- even Toyota and BMW have used it to show off their new toys in a "virtual test drive." Now, after countless delays, Kazunori Yamauchi's Gran Turismo 4 is here. It's lost a few formerly touted features (online mode), and gained a few others (the B-Spec manager mode), but in the end, it fulfills nearly all our expectations. Once the title screen graces your monitor, two options immediately present themselves: arcade and Gran Turismo mode. The initial selection of vehicles is limited, but when you consider the game sports more than 700 cars (including special editions, prototypes, and model variants), "limited" is not a term that befits the overall game. In addition to the single race and time trial options, arcade mode is also the hub for multiplayer action. Gran Turismo 4 supports two players via split-screen on a single PlayStation 2 or up to six players via a local network. Online play is not officially supported -- Sony is planning to release an online-capable version later this year -- but those who aren't afraid to muck with their computer can perform some networking black magic to race online. The trick is to use tunneling software, such as the completely free XLink Kai -- it's not as elegant as proper support, but it works. The real meat and potatoes is found in the Gran Turismo mode. It's here that you can easily lose yourself for hours (literally, some of the endurance races can take hours to complete), building up your car collection by purchasing and winning new vehicles, as well as tuning the ones in your garage to perfection. This is also where you'll unlock new cars and tracks for play throughout the game. Much like earlier releases in the series, players will need to pass a number of license tests before they're allowed to race. While somewhat frustrating, the tests serve an important function: getting you accustomed to the game's physics engine and control setup. Changes made to how the cars are modeled mean even masters of Gran Turismo 3 will need a refresher course in handling. In terms of control, Gran Turismo 4 offers three ways to get behind the wheel. There is the standard Dual Shock 2 controller, the Logitech Driving Force wheel (otherwise known as the GT3 wheel) and the Logitech Driving Force Pro (specifically for GT4). Playing with the Dual Shock 2 will not require any configuration, but if you plan on using a wheel, tweaking the setup options is a necessity. Of the three, the Driving Force Pro offers the most realistic method of control, complete with a full 900-degrees rotation (2.5 turns) -- just like a real car. The wheel also offers a reasonable level of force feedback, helping the player to judge approximate speed when taking a corner. If you're too friendly with the accelerator you can actually feel the wheels slip as you power around a curve. On the downside, all of the cars in the game are more squirrelly with the wheel than with the Dual Shock 2. This means you are more likely to spin out until you learn the limits of your car. Once past that initial learning curve though, the Driving Force Pro is the definite controller of choice. With a first license under your belt, it's time to run races. The more races you win, the more money you earn to buy cars and mods. Some mods are purely performance tweaks, while others are prerequisites for races -- for example, you cannot race on an off-road track until you purchase a set of dirt tires. Owners of Gran Turismo 3 start with a bit of an advantage, assuming you didn't delete the prior save from your memory card. Up to 100,000 credits can be transferred to Gran Turismo 4 -- not bad for buying your first car. Competing against the game's artificial intelligence is a mixed bag, because the virtual drivers have been tuned to keep to the racing line at all costs. This means that the AI players will have no issues with slamming right into your car if you happen to get in the way. They also don't hesitate to cut you off by passing right in front of your car, and then immediately slamming on the brakes. This is something of a departure from the series' tagline "The Real Driving Simulator." Another point of frustration is the AI's ability to "learn your play style" and react accordingly. The idea is that if you drive aggressively, so does the computer. The problem is the computer can misinterpret beginner errors as aggressive driving -- accidentally hit them and soon you'll have cars bumping into you to cut short the apex of a turn. Get behind after crashing and you'll need to give up hope of finishing first. As an alternative to directly driving the car, Gran Turismo 4 offers the B-Spec method. Similar to the "coach control" in sports games, B-Spec puts a professional driver in the car and gives you the role of team manager. From your vantage point on the track, you issue strategic commands, instructing him on when to pass and when to play it safe. B-Spec isn't for everyone, but it can be entertaining and convenient -- especially when running an endurance race. Tell your driver to keep it steady and come back in an hour to check on his progress. In addition to the event type races, players can also enter car specific competitions at the dealer of your choice. Think of them as car club races, where all the owners of a particular model get together for friendly fun. It makes for a nice change of pace and can be a good way to learn a track. When the original Gran Turismo first debuted, its visual impact was huge. Gran Turismo 4 shows us how far the series has come by including tracks from the original game, fully rendered in its shiny new engine... and the comparison is night and day. But for all its glitz, the visuals are more a step-up from Gran Turismo 3 than a revolutionary jump in quality. To be fair, this is more due to the PlayStation 2's limitations -- Polyphony has clearly used every trick in the book to coax the last ounce of horsepower out of Sony's aging hardware. Each car is comprised of more than 5,000 polygons, allowing for plenty of detail in the models. You can actually see the weight shift as your car brakes or takes high-speed turns, from both cockpit and follow-cam view. Nighttime races don't feature the overabundance of lighting effects as seen in the likes of Need for Speed Underground 2, so they're a little underwhelming. But the daytime tracks are absolutely gorgeous -- especially the outdoor environments such as El Capitan in Yosemite National Park and the Tahiti maze. Replays allow for both a traditional playback as well as a music-video styled presentation, complete with jarring camera angles, oversaturated lighting, shifting white balance, and enough quick cuts to would make MTV proud. For the budding photographer, a virtual photo mode allows you to take your own shots from within the game. 64 cameras present every conceivable angle, and each can be moved, rotated, zoomed. You can also add options like shutter speed, white balance, F-stop, and saturation. Photos can even be saved to the memory card or USB stick and then ported onto a PC in standard JPEG format. For the truly technically savvy, Sony allows you to connect select Epson printers via the USB port and print photos directly from the game. It's geek-tastic! In addition to the replay photos, a "Photo Travel" option allows you to setup a photo shoot in one of 15 locations around the world. While not an action shot, you do have more control over these posed images. Despite its overall good looks, Gran Turismo 4 has a few flaws in its glossy exterior. All of the tracks (including the off-road rally tracks) have an impenetrable invisible barrier at the edge. It's impossible to slide off the track or cut a turn by clipping a plastic fence -- modern rally games have long since solved this issue. And the retro "cardboard cutout crowd" phenomenon is also present. In the end, Gran Turismo 4 is one hell of a detailed racing simulation that promises to steal as many hours of gameplay as its predecessors did. It may be short on innovation, which is surprising with close challengers like Konami's Enthusia and Microsoft's Forza in the pipeline, but racing enthusiasts won't be disappointed.

Do not be fooled!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 16 / 34
Date: May 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I cannot emphasize this enough... this game is BAD.

My opinion of the top reviewer's (Rex's) review of this game is that this guy is clearly one of the developers of this game, and just came to Amazon to pump up his own game. He wrote his review long before the release of this game. And, he knows WAY too much about a game that theoretically he only got to play by chance for a couple hours. Furthermore, WHEN did he say he played this game?? A couple YEARS before its release?? How good could this game have been at that point?? It was undeveloped, unfinished, and he only played for an hour or two?? C'mon, get real, now this is his FAVORITE game??? Uuugh, gimme a break. If it was as good as Rex said it was at that point, I seriously doubt they would have needed to delay its release for as long as they did. Not to mention, this guy geographically lives in the heart of game development, happens to mention that he was at a game developers forum, and has driven Laguna Seca, and knows FAR too many technical details about a game that he theoretically had nothing to do with developing.... All I have to say is, YEAH RIGHT, I wasn't born yesterday. As far as I'm concerned, it's FAR more likely that this guy is a developer of this game, coming to Amazon giving it a great review to pump up sales of his own product... rather than the alternative that this guy is a gamer who stumbled across the opportunity to play this game 2 years before its release, and decided that at that undeveloped stage, it's already his most favorite game.... Uuugh. Now, after his review of the game which was written long before its release, this guy is Amazon's TOP REVIEWER????? Come on, people. You don't get anywhere in life by being so gullible as to fall for an unfeasible story like Rex's.

Anyway, what do I hate about this game??? Well, vastly the WORST thing about this game is that they've made it ridiculously difficult to get anywhere. This game is just plain NOT FUN. (And believe me, I'm not bad at these games.) 100 races into this game, you're still strapped for cash, can't upgrade your cars, can't buy new ones, fighting for 4th place in your 15 year old used 69hp econobox piece of junk that can't get out of its own way. Whose idea was it to make you start with OLD/USED cars first, and have to fight your way to making these horrible cars win against vastly superior cars?? What a joke. Believe me, you'll be about 250 races into this game before you can finally buy your first new car, or first fun old muscle car, and when you finally get that far, it's just going to be an average nothing car. By the time you finally get into hot new cars, or old expensive classic muscle cars that are fun to drive, you'll be old and gray (and bored to tears).

You really really really really need to make a lot of races to build up your used piece of junk cars well enough to finally start winning reliably. And, just when you finally start winning in the beginner races, you try to go into the intermediate races with your used junk, and forget it. You're broke, you can't buy new ones because you have no money (because you constantly spend all of your money souping up your used junk), and there's no way on Earth that you're going to win in the intermediate class against VASTLY better cars. So, what do you do? You race another hundred times in the beginner leagues, same old races you ran before, to build up enough winnings to finally buy yourself a newer hotter car. I think the only way you can possibly get anywhere is to transfer your money from GT3 using the transfer option. Because, believe me, if you just play GT4 on its own merits, trying to build up your cars without tranferring data from GT3 (if you owned that game), you're in for a LLOONNNNGGG struggle. Personally, I preferred to play the game without "cheating" by transferring money from GT3, but now I really regret it. At least I could have gotten a bit of a head start into GT4, cutting off SOME of the terrible long effort to get anywhere if I had transferred from GT3. However, even if I was smart enough to transfer money from GT3, believe me this game is just plain LONG and DIFFICULT. Transferring from GT3 will give you the head start of one or two good cars. But, you're still in for a long and unfun battle. Forget about finishing this game with 100% if you have any kind of a life whatsoever. Anybody who has finished 100% of this game without some sort of a cheat or something like that must either be unemployed, or have no friends, or is a games tester being PAID to finish the game. (And, I finished GT3 three times, and still I'm saying I can't even stand to play GT4.) Some of the races are just sooooo long and unbearable. And, you need some SERIOUS power to outrun some of those superior cars. Or, you need to run a race 1000 times to get it absolutely perfect, because the opponent cars don't make a mistake in the slightest.

GT3 took a long time to fight your way up to the race cars, but at least they kept it at a decent enough pace that you could keep winning and keep upgrading, and it was fun along the way. Maybe you'd run the same race several times or something, but you could definitely keep moving up in the world, getting more cash, souping up your cars, getting better cars, etc. But, in GT4, you're better off trying to spend your time building a REAL car than to build up your GT4 car, it will take JUST AS MUCH TIME!!!

How is the game itself?? Well, the game play is pretty good. The graphics are good. The control is very nice. But, contrary to Rex's comments about the improvement in the physics modeling of this game (ha, yeah, like he'd really know about the physics modeling after an hour of playing a 2-year pre-release version, unless he had something to do with development), my opinion is that the physics isn't that much better. Better in some ways, worse in others. For example, when an opponent car turns into the side of your car, believe me, your car is definitely pushed WAY off track, you can do nothing to stop it. But, if you try to do the same to opponent cars, they don't budge. You may as well try to ram into a semi truck with a motorcycle. The truck keeps its line, the motorcycle gets squashed. This game is pretty much like that. Opponent cars can push you around like a rag doll, but don't even bother trying to push them off track, because all you end up doing is falling back, while the opponent just keeps on going. This is hardly an "improvement" in the physics modeling. Like I said, the physics in GT4 is better in some ways than GT3, worse in others. But, anyway, yeah, I am NOT giving this game only one star because of the game play. I have no complaints about game play. I complain because this game is NOT FUN.

The menus on GT4 are downright horrible. You can't find your way around to finding the right races without getting a PhD in Gran Turismology. You have to figure your way through about 15 different places to soup up your cars... some of those places will soup up certain model cars, some won't. And, there are a ton of different tracks to race... scattered all over the place... however, where are the ones you need to race to get cash prizes, and where are the ones that are just races that don't get you anywhere in progressing through the game?? Well, once again, study up on your Gran Turismology, and get the secret decoder ring, and perhaps you'll figure it out.

The music is bad.

As for the race tracks, some are really good, but there are a fair share of HORRIBLE tracks, too.

But, like I emphasized above, the real thing that makes this game such a big zero in my book is that these developers definitely missed the mark in just plain old making this game FUN. This is the most important factor in a video game... make it FUN. But, they really really really really screwed up. They spent SO MUCH time trying to make this game complex, cramming a bunch of useless nonsense in there, they forgot to make it FUN....!!! They made some nice advancements, they have some fun cars in there (if you can stand 100000000 boring races before you finally get to drive any of them), they have nice graphics, it's visually great, the driving is pretty good.... But, none of that, NONE OF THAT, ***NONE*** ***OF*** ***THAT*** is enough to make this game fun enough to bear through 200+ races in crappy old underpowered used pieces of junk that can't get out of their own way, before FINALLY working your way up to a new car... and another 200+ races before you can really have any kind of selection of fun cars. You'll be LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG bored to tears before ever getting to play anything fun in this game. I played GT3 to its completion three times, and fighting through to the fun cars in that game was bad enough (but at least it was doable, and you could make progress and have fun along the way). Doing that in GT4 is downright painful. Forget it, I've given up. I thought that after fighting my way to a few fun cars, the game would really take off from there, and all of the boring races would be behind me..... WRONG. Nope, you're ALWAYS broke, you're ALWAYS underpowered, and you're ALWAYS losing until you go back and race old tracks a ton of times to build up a few pennies to add a turbo to your car before you have the remotest chance to advance.

They TOTALLY missed the mark in the fun department in this game. A total shame, because it has so much potential. The bottom line is that this IS a good game, or at least it COULD HAVE BEEN. The racing is pretty good, there are a lot of cars to choose from, the graphics are good, some of the tracks are downright great. But, why can't I give this game more than 1 star??? Because this game is not FUN!!! They've made it toooo difficult. This makes a really good rental game, because you can just play it for a week or so, and enjoy the positive aspects of the game. But, if you're like me, and you like to buy games (not rent), because you really want to enjoy a game for more than a week, forget it, you'll *never* enjoy this game. You will be bored beyond belief. I know some people will think that I must be bad at these games, and that's the reason I can't get anywhere, or that I simply don't have patience. But, this is not true. I'm usually very good at games, and I usually play them to completion. Just read a few of the reviews by some of the other folks to confirm what I'm saying. This game is VERY long, VERY difficult, and you will be VERY frustrated trying to get anywhere in this game... even if you do get a head start by transferring from GT3 first.

Don't buy this game, and my opinion is that you shouldn't be fooled by Rex. Read his review, and you decide whether you think this guy is a developer of this very game, that came to Amazon to write a review (before its release) to pump up sales of his own product... or whether you find that it's believable that he knows THAT much about a game that he theoretically only played for an hour or two, a couple of YEARS before its release. Yeah, right. Listen to reviews that make SENSE. Don't listen to such nonsense from someone who wrote a review before its release, and theoretically never even played the released version of the game.

Uuuugh. Rent this one... don't buy it.

its basically the same as before

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 10 / 18
Date: February 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

good game but its basically the same as gt3. the only difference is the graphics are better and there are more cars.

the ai is the same!!! thats not a good thing. with all of the time sony has had tweeking the game. it has been a major disappointment.

if this game had come out in 2001 it would of been astonishing. but now its just the same as gt3.

A waste of a perfect opportunity

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: November 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Let me start by saying that I am a HUGE fan of the Gran Turismo Series.

I started late, buying the first one nearly a year after it's release. I instantly fell in love with it.

I bought the second one the day it was released and have been playing it quite regularly ever since. I loved the idea of the old cars.

I purchased the 3rd one with my first PS2 and was overly impressed with the graphics, but dissapointed that they removed so many cars.

Then came 4. I was so excited when I heard it was coming out. There were so many things that the creators could have fixed or added to 3. I looked forward to even better graphics, drag racing, and the return of the classic cars, alongside the new F1's from 3. There wasn't much they could have added, but it had to be great.

Then I bought it.

While the graphics are slightly better than 3, they are not THAT much better. They did bring back the classic cars, but at what cost??? The F1's!!!!! The greatest addition to 3!! Not to mention the fact that the lisence tests are an astonishing 16 tests long. I liked the notion of having to take tests in order to race, but this should be a fun addition to the game, not a hassle. In previous games, the liscense tests were short (well, shorter), so they were not that much of a hassle to go and take when you were bored with races. However, in 4, the tests are SO long, that they quickly get tiring and will frustrate you beyond belief.

I can deal with that, I guess. Then comes the worst part: One camera angle while driving. You ONLY have bumper cam when you are driving your vehicles. I like the bumper cam most of the time, but I like variety when I race. In all the other GT games, If I was doing poorly on a race, I would switch camera angles, and it would help most of the time. I want that option.

Next, the drag racing that was SUPPOSED to be in 2, that somehow missed 3 is STILL missing. Not too big of a deal, but still frustrating.

Vehicle Customization???? What the heck is that? The only customizing you can do is for performance, aside from rims and a new fin (assuming that you are not in a race car). When is GT gonna step up to the plate with the other racing sims out there (NFS Underground) And add something as simple as a paint shop to paint your car long after it has been purchased??? What about decals???

The ONLY addition that I liked about GT4 aside from the great selection of cars (minus the F1's) is the B-Spec Mode. I like being able to allow the system to drive my car for me during those long endurance races.

All that said, If I had been in charge of the overall production of GT4, it would have NEVER left the shop the way it is. It would have had:
Drag Racing
F1 Cars
Paint Shop
Decals
Customizable car parts (tail lights, bumpers, ect.)
MULTIPLE camera angles

Make it 2 discs if you must!!! Just combine 3 and 4 together and add a body shop: Now there is a great GT game!!

What they mean when they talk about Endurance Race.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: July 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is the greatest Gran Turismo so far. The other reviewers already explained why, so I would like to talk about the Endurance Races. They are also great but in more than one way.
You gain access when you complete 25% of the game. The races are;

Grand Valley 300 km
Laguna Seca 200 miles
Roadster 4h Endurance
Tokyo R246 300 km
Nurburgring 24h (!) Endurance
Nurburgring 4h Endurance
Suzuka 1000 miles
Motegi 8h (!) Endurance
Circuit de la Sarthe ( Le Mans ) 24h (!)
Circuit de la Sarthe II 24h ( without the chicanes on the long straight )
Fuji 1000 km
Infineon World Sports Car Race
El Capitan 200 miles
New York 200 miles

So far so good, but there are a few setbacks. When - for instance - you race the 24 hours of Le Mans, full daylight continues during 24 hours, but that's OK with me. The real problem (as in all the endurance races) is that you can't save.If you have only one TV monitor, you'll get problems with the other family members.

When you have your own monitor there are two solutions. Use 'pause' when you go to sleep. The second solution is to use the Director's Mode. When you go to sleep enter the pits and choose B Spec. (Director's Mode). It's like an automatic pilot. The car even enters the pits on its own.

It's incomprehensible that there is no save option. I could give 4 stars for that but the whole game is so great it really deserves 5 stars.

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