My thoughts on: Gran Turismo 4

As I am typing this, I’m currently taking my 400 hp Shelby GT350R and making an attempt at the 4th “1000 miles!” event. It’s been a rough journey through the Ring’, Opera Paris and Cote D’azur, and Le Mans is proving no different. Trust me, it’s so hard to sit back, chill behind a fan and watch the entire Back to The Future trilogy at 11 at night. It’s a hard life working as a part time Driver/Mechanic/Accountant/Manager (and crew chief, which will explain how I’m typing all this sarcasm and racing at the same time), but it’s all worth it when you’re playing Gran Turismo 4. To be honest, the amount of fun that can be had in this game can be applied to all the Gran Turismo games. 1 & 2 gave a lot of us a first glace into the world of automobile racing, next to the Crash Bandicoots and Metal Gear Solid. It showed us the difference between FF, FR, 4WD and MR drivetrains. It showed us the difference between a Lancer Evolution and a Subaru WRX. The team at Polyphony Digital has shown us what makes a track memorable, and gratifying (Looking at you Seattle Circuit), but above all else, they showed us what it takes to take a racing simulator and turn it into an experience unlike any other. They have been doing it console to console, from the dawn of the PS One, through the Renaissance of the PS2, the fall and rise of the PS3, and we will see it come back later this year and far into the future or video games. GT Sport is looking to be a highlight of the year when it comes out in November, but it will never be as good as GT4. It can’t possibly beat GT4, let alone any other GT game, or most racing sims that I’ve played. Here, I will explain why.

The Cars: Now, before I go anywhere, I understand that the lack of Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini have made the list go down a few points in my book. It was obvious to me as a kid, because I wanted an Enzo Ferrari in this game. I also wanted a Porsche Carrera GT in this game. But, above all else, I wanted the 1997 Lamborghini Diablo SV, which was my weapon of destruction before in Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. But, what we do get are plenty of unique and beautiful cars, which not only have I not even heard of up until I played it 10 years ago, but some which haven’t been featured in any game ever since. Jay Leno’s Tank Car is in this game, on top of the Chaparral 2J, and the 2D. On top of that we get some great replacements for the cars that missed out like I mentioned before. Cars in the form of Pagani’s, RUF’s, and a Cizeta. On top of that, we get a vast array of classic muscle, tons of JDM (almost too much), and an awesome list of supercars to choose from. We even get the Nike One, which basically acts as an early adaptation of the Vision Gran Turismo program in GT6. There is a vast number of cars in this game, each bearing a heavy amount of detail, to both look good, but also make them stand out among the crowd. Not only does Gran Turismo 4 have one of the best car lists of all time, with timeless classics, combined with newer icons, but also acts as proof that you don’t need Ferrari, Porsche or Lamborghini to make a good list.

The Tracks: Seattle Circuit, Deep Forrest, Trial Mountain, Citta Di Aria, El Capitan, Tokyo R246 and Costa di Amalfi are some of my favorite original tracks in this game. But what about real world tracks? How about Le Mans, Laguna Seca, Fuji Speedway, Suzuka Circuit, Tsukuba, Twin Ring Motegi, and the almighty Nurburgring? On top of that, there are some amazing city courses on top of the few I mentioned above, such as New York, Hong Kong, George V Paris, Seoul Circuit, and the classic, Special Stage Route 5. There are even some Dirt and Snow courses for the rally section of this game, like Chamonix, Ice Arena, Cathedral Rocks (Which works in with the El Capitan circuit), and my personal favorite, Grand Valley. This list is one of the best in a racing game, and all have their own flair and little details that help make each track stand out. Also, it does help that this game actually showed me the Nurburgring for the first time. Playing it today still evokes the same feelings of fear, unpredictability, and pure joy of the Ring even to this day, and for a game to offer an experience like that 10 years after launch is definitely something special.

The intro: Let me summarize it for you. Van Halen. Ford GT. An orchestra, and choir playing the official theme in a way that evokes the same feelings as the birth of Christ. A flash mob of beautiful chaos and beautiful cars. All within the first 5 minutes of the game. Please watch.

The career mode: I’ve gone on about the cars, the tracks, and the life-changing intro, but now comes the meat of this masterpiece. The part that really separates it from any racing simulator ever. The career mode is a sight to behold and an experience to define a childhood (For me at least). The countless events to freely choose from, the vast array of events to choose from, the inclusion of various driving missions, the special condition races which can get you some amazing cars (The Cadillac Cien saved me so much money), and the awesome and fun manufacturer events. On top of that, each series gives you a car upon completion, offering an incentive to keep going, on top of everything else. The biggest reason to why I love this mode so much, compared to plenty of other games out there (Project C.A.R.S, Forza, GRID, and others) is the sense of freedom. It’s a game that doesn’t hold you back by experience. Gran Turismo 5 did this weird leveling up system where you couldn’t do this event or buy this car unless you leveled up enough, which makes an otherwise open experience, linear. Gran Turismo 4 doesn’t do that, especially if you had a file of GT3 on your memory card. Sure, the license tests were a bit of a setback, especially if you’ve already played the game in the past. Despite that, if you had a file from GT3 on your card, you can skip half of all the licenses and are given directly to you. On top of that you can trade as much as $100,000 from GT3 to 4, which really helps. So, once you’ve done the license tests, which give you cars to use once you finish them by the way, you can set out and go anywhere you want to. The best events though, are the endurance events. The number of events and the variety of events to choose from are staggering, and range from 200 mile shootouts, to full 24 hour events, which can push you to the breaking point. The campaign will last you a long time because of it. It’s already been almost a month and I’m only at 35% (well, on top of working a job, it’s a bit of progress.). This is a long and fun campaign, and I highly recommend this game to anyone who still has a PS2.

B-spec: This might sound weird, but one of the best ways to play this game, is through not driving at all. I’ve skipped through the entirety of the beginner series and most endurance races by using B-spec mode, which is basically a crew chief simulator. With this mode, you can use the monitor mode to speed up the race. Keep in mind, it doesn’t just skip to the end. It wouldn’t be as fun if so. Instead, you can just take your hard earned money and just tune up a car to a certain degree and just choose B-spec at the beginning. Despite this though, it feels cheap. This is a racing simulator, with one of the best handing models mind you, and the only amount of effort needed is knowing when to pit at the right time, and knowing what tires you need for the event. It feels wrong, but feels so right, knowing you can win races while cleaning your room, or doing homework, or even writing an article for Car Throttle! It’s a sin that this mode is in this game, but at the same time, it’s something that’s really helped me out.

The flaws: Well, it’s not perfect though. The sound design and the overall sound track is a bit disappointing. Far from the worst mind you, but just not Forza or Project C.A.R.S levels of fantastic. Also, the license tests, despite giving you a taste of how the game feels, just acts like working at your job and just feels strenuous and boring. Also, you can’t choose to do the Extreme and Endurance events right away, despite me saying how open everything is, but it’s just so you can rack up enough cash to buy the right cars for the events. Also, there is no damage. Which I don’t personally mind. If I wanted to crash cars, I’d just play Burnout. Despite this, it can really be disappointing when you slam into a wall head on and only get a small donk. Other than that, this game is fantastic.

Conclusion: Gran Turismo 4 is my favorite game of all time. It’s such a deep, long, challenging, and memorable game. It’s something so sophisticated and yet so easy to pick up, to the point it feels like work away from work. Unlike working though, it’s fun, and rewarding after a long play-through. The cars all feel special, and each standout from each other. The tracks are all varied and mesmerizing, with beautiful visuals and a steady framerate to complement them. The intro was life changing and proof of why no studio can make intros like Polyphony. The career is the best I’ve seen in a racing game, and while the B-spec mode is cheap, it helps complement the replay cinematography perfectly. On top of that, it’s got a solid photo mode that even got me into photography a little. Overall, it’s a darn near perfect game that I will keep playing long after I’m done with it, even after 10 years.