Gran Turismo 4
After purchasing what I expected to be the best driving simulator of all time and playing it for several hours my conclusion thus far is it is just that. This is the best driving simulator of all time. It was amazing from the time I turned it on until I had to shut it off as reality that I do have a job and that job requires me there at a decent time set in. To start off with you can import winnings and licenses from GT3 if you had a save file on the same memory card… BAD ASS! First thing I did was import 100,000 credits and my A and B license exams. So.. I have all this cash and 2 licenses and I have not even touched pavement yet. I think it is time to buy a car. If you cant call this a HUGE dealer selection I dont know what is. I finally decided to purchase one of my favorites. The Nissan Skyline GT-R R34. I immediately took it to the 1/4 to see what kind of time it would pull. 13.3xx not bad. A quick race on a beginner track led me to the realization that the driving aids and realism has been upgraded. So as in GT3 I turned the aids off and tried again. Pretty interesting but I will get into that more in a bit. So I have all this extra cash left over what to do next. How about stage 3 turbo, racing IC, race intake, computer, 3 plate clutch, race flywheel…..hmm oh yeah and a bottle of that there nitrous .. So I get in back in my skyline turn the nitrous spray to full blast (it is adjustable) and have at it again. With just 557HP (not counting the power from the nitrous) she managed a 10.7 while spraying and 11.5 off the bottle. So I wonder if this thing can turn since it has stock suspension, tires, and brakes. So I go to a half way difficult course and realize - my lord they have completely redone the handling physics. Driving seems to be more realistic and there is more danger in some of the more exotic stunts and recoveries you may have thought were easy to attempt in the previous game. I eventually decided to put TCS back up to the 2 setting while I got used to the new controls. So Ive got a somewhat monster engine in an AWD king time to try e-brake, power over, Scandinavian flicks, etc. Well one thing is for sure if you intend to get really crossed up dont expect to just counter steer your way out of it by holding the joystick in another direction - at least not with all of your stability management systems off. More than one time I found myself flung around the other direction in an uncontrollable spin when attempting to recover using that method. A more fine touch is definitely required. Another thing I noticed is I will absolutely have to buy suspension next. For example - At one of the later races in the night I was pulling about 210MPH down a straight and had to get down to 2nd for a turn. I think that used to mean full brakes and wait for the turn to come to you. Not anymore. I laid into the brakes and the car nose dived as I lost control of the vehicle momentarily. Most of the time I was able to keep it straight but there is definitely a lot more depth to handling characteristics in this game. In cornering you can see and sense the car rolling. Even when you are just sitting at the starting line at the drag strip you can see the car and screen vibrate as you bounce off rev limiter waiting for the lights to go green. There is just so much detail in this game it cannot be described here. The sound is amazing. While you are sitting at the drag strip revving your R34 you can really get a sense of how much the engine sounds have improved. The 34 sounds angry - the kind of angry where it wants to pin you to your seat and toss you around like a rag doll until you beg for mercy. As you take off the tires bark at you from the bottom of the 34 pleading with you to stop your unrelenting massacre of there contact patch. You finally get through first tires howling shift into second. Queue blow off valve. Begin nitrous feed. Second chirps after being shifted into and squeals as you over spin your tires to 75mph of rotation while your car is still sitting at 50 leaning backwards trying to catch up. Third comes and goes nearly as quick as any gear prior. Fourth is a good quick pull and as you start getting into fifth nearly 10 seconds have gone by and you have to slow. What a disappointment. I will have to take the car to the 10km oval tonight and see what it will max out at. This game is definitely a step above anything I have ever seen. I can only hope that reaching 100% in this game and playing with all the cars I so desire will take me til Gran Turismo 5 hits store shelves. At the rate I am going I dont doubt it. This will be the game I play most out of any game in my collection for years to come just as the previous version was. May the driving gods have mercy on our souls.