http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/driving/granturismo4/preview_6074246.html
Gran Turismo 4 Hands-On Impressions
Preview
One of the most difficult games to spend any time with at this year's
PlayStation Experience is undoubtedly Gran Turismo 4. Polyphony
Digital's upcoming racer has more consoles dedicated to it than any
other game at the event, but since every single person seems to want a
go, getting our hands on one of the numerous new Logitech force feedback
wheels on display was a challenge in itself.
The build of Gran Turismo 4 on display features around six circuits and
approximately 16 different cars to choose from. We opted for a bright
yellow Lancer Evolution VIII and, after much deliberation, decided that
the streets of New York would make for an interesting challenge. We
weren't disappointed.
The first thing we noticed about the new Logitech wheel with GT4 is that
you have to move it a lot more than the old model to get your car around
corners--no matter what speed you're driving at. The car felt like it
was suffering from a pretty bad case of understeer until we started to
get the hang of it, and judging by the performances and comments being
made by other players, we weren't the only ones wondering what our car
would look like if the game featured damage models.
Despite our early difficulties, the Gran Turismo series' infamous rubber
band AI ensured that we had no difficulty catching up with the pack as
they made their way around the course in formation. Our experience of
previous GT games also came in handy when we wanted to overtake
opponents, which, as fans of the series will know, is most easily
achieved by bouncing off them during corners. On one occasion we
actually managed to pass all of the other five cars by accident when we
slid into a barrier whilst approaching a hairpin bend and slammed into
the leading car just as it reached the apex.
Like previous games in the series, Gran Turismo 4 is a driving simulator
rather than a racing game. Sure, the game has races in it, but the term
is used pretty loosely unless you're competing with other players rather
than CPU drivers on rails. Fans of the series will, of course, have no
problem with the lack of realistic driver AI--it's what they're used to,
but it's perhaps unfortunate that GT4 will essentially just offer much
more of the same thing that GT games always have rather than some racing
proper.
Gran Turismo 4 is currently scheduled for release early in 2004. For
more information, check out our previous coverage of the game.
By Justin Calvert, GameSpot [POSTED: 08/28/03 04:08 PM
In article <[email hidden]>, Internet User <[email hidden]> wrote:
>http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/driving/granturismo4/preview_6074246.html
>Despite our early difficulties, the Gran Turismo series' infamous rubber
>band AI
Oh well.
>Like previous games in the series, Gran Turismo 4 is a driving simulator
>rather than a racing game.
Yeah.
>but it's perhaps unfortunate that GT4 will essentially just offer much
>more of the same thing that GT games always have rather than some racing
>proper.
While I totally agree (assuming this is the case, and by every
indication, it is), I'll still get it. Great graphics, fun
gameplay, reasonable physics, tons of new cars, hopefully (and
apparently) a lot of real race courses this time. If you have a
PS2, and you are in this ng, I can't imagine not getting it.
Still, it would be a major advancement to do something about the
AI ... anything. Well, I suppose they'll say that's what on-line
is for.
And hopefully, no more boring races around the test course. Yawn.
