Gran Turismo 4 (Sony PlayStation 2, 2005)

Not many game series can be referred to as genre-defining, but in the world of console racing games, Gran Turismo fits the bill. Gran Turismo 4 features more than 700 cars from more than 80 manufacturers. As you might expect, the lineup leans heavily toward American, Japanese, British, and German makes, though you'll also have access to cars from Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Korea, among other countries. The available cars, of course, are only part of the attraction of GT4. The game also features more than 50 courses to drive, including a tantalizing mix of real-life racetracks such as Fuji Speedway, Suzuka, and Laguna Seca; a cosmopolitan array of city courses from metropolises such as Hong Kong, Seoul, and the Big Apple; rally courses on dirt and snow and ice; and old fictional friends such as Grand Valley Speedway, Deep Forest Raceway, and Trial Mountain. Two particularly notable additions to the GT4 track roster are El Capitan, a three-mile behemoth designed around the imposing granite centerpiece of Yosemite National Park, and the Nürburgring Nordschliefe. Beyond the impressive stats, the first thing any casual fan of the GT series notices are the graphics. Car models look fantastic, and though only six cars are on-track at any time, the game suffers zero slowdown, even when things pile up in the corners or during drastic elevation changes. Lighting effects that were impressive in Gran Turismo 3 are stunning in GT4, both in terms of technical achievement and artistic aesthetic. While a handful of races have no license restrictions, if you wish to move beyond used cars and an empty bank account, you'll need to earn a real racing license. Love them or hate them, the license tests return, and in GT4, the tests encompass many of the new features found in the game. Once you've earned all your licenses, you'll want to begin earning real money. The easiest way to do so is by winning races. Race series are organized in individual halls on the main map or by country of origin. Before lining up for the starting grid, you'll be able to make adjustments to your car's setup through an interface that, much like the home garage, has received a much-needed makeover. Parts are organized by relevant sections of the car, and pulldown menus let you quickly and easily switch out parts on the fly. On the positive side, the fourth iteration of GT captures the feel of tires gripping pavement like no other game in the business. Every in-car aspect of sensory input is carefully designed to provide the illusion that you are actually screaming down the streets of Paris. From a driving standpoint, Gran Turismo 4 is in a class by itself, with rollicking, rocking physics that accurately convey a sense of weight and shifting balance on all four points of the driving surface. So convincing, in fact, is the sense of realism that you'll find yourself cocking your head in enthusiastic sympathy as you barrel your way around corners or up blind hills. Controlling your car in GT4 is a pleasure, whether using the Dual Shock controller or a racing wheel. The cars are instantly responsive to even the slightest input from the controller, and if you're lucky enough to have a great racing wheel you'll experience some of the greatest and most immersive driving thrills to be found on the PS2. GT4 is a game that will keep enthusiasts busy for months. And due to its upgraded presentation, it will likely win some new fans as well.

If you are looking for a driving simulator on the PS2 look no further. You can pick up and play the arcade feature and choose a wide variety of cars from a Honda Civic to a full fledged GT racer.

The game gets better as you play the GT mode though. Unlock cars and tracks for more fun. The features in this game allow for an extensive amount of replay time. The GT series is always good for at least several months of gameplay, not your average weekend blockbuster rental

Features like a realistic physics engine, AI, tunning options, license tests, photo mode, and numerous choices like whether to drive(ASpec) or be in charge of a driver (BSpec) lead to a game with many different options and a whole lot of re-play value.

Check out all the action in the GT union of Gamespot.com and you will see the proof that this game is a keeper
http://www.gamespot.com/p​ages/unions/home.php?union_id=​GTU

So yea, they re-designed the game engine...

One of the "coolest" new features is B Spec, a completely useless feature untill you have Cars that are impossible to lose with. Don't know what I mean, I'll explain. I race a Beginner Cup with a Stock 270 R and win with ease, mod up the 270 R and tried to B Spec the race after and the computer finished 5th. The reason is because its feature to pass people called "overturn" or whatever it is makes the car ALWAYS try to pass on the outside of a turn, regardless of where your car, and the computers car is, it will willingly cut across the track to make an outside pass. And then on a straight way it will pull out to pass and... hit the brakes? wtf? Either that or ram the car... great pass. So yea, the AI is VERY sub-par for a game of this caliber.

Theres over 650 cars in this game, and half of them are just there to fill in spots so they can make that claim of 650 cars as they are useless and dumb... A Ford Model T, how exciting... How about a year 2022 Nike... WTF Nike makes a car? I feel like I'm playing a gay Arcard-ish game for N64 where they have wacky cars from space, they shoulda added an ice-cream van and strapped a rocket to it... might as well.

I'm not one of those sinical people and I used to like the Gran Turismo Series, having owned all of them(PS1 and PS2) but this is by far the worst. The graphics aren't as over the top as I expected, the menu in Sim mode is rediculous and unorganized but I guess they thought it would make it more fun looking... yea... The physics in the game aren't even as good as in GT3. I guess they wasted their budget flying all over the world trying to make Perfect looking tracks and backrounds, or getting all the cars they could and test their actual spec's rather than use the old guesstimated ones. Then they realised they were supposed to redesign the game engine to make it better but didn't have enough money left over to do it right, so they turned into another one of those "Hey look at the kool graphics!" games that you get bored of in a few days and forget you own the following week. Please god tell me they blew the budget and this isn't the game engine they wanted, its backwards... you improve on things, not make it worse... oh well, this game blows.

Rent before you buy. Don't get stuck with another paperweight like me... Got Tourist Trophy coming in the mail, hope its better than this crap.

This game is the ultimate in driving simulation. If you just want a pimped out car with lots of bling-bling, go play need for speed. But if you actually want to learn how to race a track (or an off road rally course) and something about tuning a car for it, this is the game. There is pretty much every car you could ever want to own, with a few exceptions (no Porsche--but there is RUF, which are basically modified Porsches, no Lamborghini, no Ferrari, no Bugatti). You can upgrade multiple parts, and then tune them to your liking (ie, suspension, transmission, engine, tires, etc.) You can race several real tracks, like Circuit de la Sarthe (Le Mans), Cote d'Azul (Monaco), Tsukuba, Suzuka, Motegi, and the best, the Nurburgring Nordschleife. I beat the game, but it took a long time, and it was NOT easy. I still play it a couple hours a week even though I completed 100%, and it's still just as fun and challenging. The game is 10 times more fun if you have a Logitech wheel/pedal set, and a little easier in terms of steering/throttle control.

There are a couple things I don't like that would make the game better-- (1) You only race against 5 other cars at a time. It would be nice in some of the races, like the formula 1 races, to have 15 or 20 cars. (2) When you hit a car/wall/rail, there is no damage to your car. It does slow you down, and depending on the race/mission it may give you a time penalty, but you can slam a wall head on at 200 mph and there is still no damage. Makes the game not as realistic, but still fun to play. I definitely would recommend this game--I'm on my 2nd disc because I fried the first one! I do have to give one warning: if you are not a huge car/racing fan when you start playing it, you will probably become one!

Graphics, Amount of cars,Transfer of money and license B and A from GT3. All Great Features Easiest way to get started is Buy Something Good like CLIO V6 24V for around 25 or so used then add nitro as good of tires as you can afford and oil change.Now do the 2nd special condition race (easy) Capri Rally. after you win the 2 races Go to your home and You will win a vehicle worth 265,000 or so. Follow the prompts when you come back after winning. Always go home after winning all the races of a group So you get your car.Do that a few times and you have well over a million quickly then buy what you want but use two memory cards so you can return a car if it stinks. It always saves after you buy a car if it cant save you cant buy the car : ( Copy youre game to the other card then buy the car you think you want and try it out, if it stinks pop the other card in and copy it back to before the purchase. you can take the card out if you are buying upgrades for your car it tries to save when you leave the country but it will ask to cancel save if you took the card out. Now try your race with the updates if it still stinks or you didnt win restart. oh yeah go into options and down to misc. and turn opening movie off and set the timers really high for the other stuff. This way when you restart it goes to the main screen Do what you want with autosave. download faqs like the prize ones and you will love this game as i do TTFN