Developed by: Polyphony Digital
Release date: February 22, 2005
Platforms: PlayStation 2
Gran Turismo 4 really is the drive of your life. Even after twenty years, it remains as one of the best racing games of all time, with its phenomenal graphics, great sound, and mountains of content to experience. But, what makes this game so timeless, and why is Orlok so googoo gaga over it?
I like to compare this game to Wendie Malick. She is seventy-four years old, and she is still oh so gorgeous and I am so in love with her. Gran Turismo 4 is the same way, and still manages to make my jaw drop with how beautiful it is despite being a twenty years old game now. Photorealistic textures, paired with natural lighting, reflections, and high quality car models really make this game look like real life at times.
And, if you're rich enough to own one of those fancy HDTV's: This game also supports 1080i resolutions, which gives the game a nice, crisp look.
The game has two modes: Arcade, and GT Mode. Arcade is your standard 'choose a track and go' mode. The game REALLY shines in GT Mode, in which you'll be able to work your way up as a driver, unlocking more cars and tracks as you go along. This is one of the main draws this game has to modern gamers, and something that has been missing in more recent Gran Turismo releases.
There is SO much content in this game, it's kind of insane. There are 51 tracks, 610 races, and over 700 cars to unlock. Apparently you can unlock everything in a little over a week, but I feel like you'd really have to be putting in some effort to do it in that time. I've been playing for years and I'm still nowhere near unlocking it all, and I'm really not sure I ever will.
Some of the events are kind of CRAZY, and I don't see myself ever actually doing them. I'm talking about the endurance races, which really test how long you're able to drive around the same track for hours while your eyes turn red and watery while sweat envelopes your controller.
One of these races takes twenty-four REAL LIFE hours. Not twenty-four fairy tale video game hours, I mean twenty-four REAL, LEGIT HOURS. And there's no save points or anything, you have to leave your console on if you don't want to lose your progress. There is the option to use B-Spec mode, where the game drives your car for you, but I really don't feel comfortable leaving my console running for twenty-four hours straight.
For a sim-racing game the driving physics aren't super realistic, However, they still put it a step above an arcade racer, and it's very fun to play. The only times I have issues with physics are in the snow races, where simply accelerating can cause you to spin out of control and mess you up BAD. They actually kind of stink if I'm being honest so I just choose to completely avoid them.
The soundtrack is great, with some nice original music for the menus. I'm not good with genre's but it seems to be a mix of jazz-fusion and funk. I don't know, but what I do know is that it's amazing. The races also have some great songs that feel right at home in a 2000's racing game: Will.i.am, Apollo 440, Papa Roach, and more. Panama by Van Halen also makes an appearance in the game's intro... And it's so good. It's easily one of my most favorite intros of any game ever made. Really, such an awesome soundtrack.
I could probably talk about this game for hours, it really is something special. It has a couple of minor flaws, but nothing that really hurts the gameplay, outside of the weird snow controls; Though that might be me being bad at the game, so no points against it.
I HIGHLY recommend Gran Turismo 4. That's it. It's an awesome racing game with awesome cars, tracks, music, graphics, and so much more that I didn't talk about
Actually, I'm going to do a short rundown of the stuff! Missed:
Photo mode: You can pose cars, take photos of them, and put them on a USB drive to send to your computer
Rally races: My favorite races. One on one races on dirt tracks where you literally have to fight against your car, they're SO much fun. They also have the best looking tracks
GT Auto: You can take your car here and have it washed, because it gets dirty over time. You can also have the oil changed, add a spoiler, and change the wheels on your car. The customization isn't huge, but it's nice to have. And there are some silly animations for the wash and oil change. It rocks.
Grand Canyon: This is such a good looking course. And spectators on the sidelines will occasionally run into the road to take photos, and jump out of the way when you fly past. SO fucking cool.
Replays: You can SAVE and watch replays of races with all kinds of different camera angles and effects. Jukebox: You can choose which songs you want to play and which songs you don't. Also, a lot of really good songs are disabled for some reason, so enable them all.
Okay, I think that's all I've got. I'm sure I missed some stuff, but I mean it: PLAY THIS GAME. It's very cheap these days. I believe you can get it for like ten dollars at any game store. Do yourself a favor and play it, you won't regret it.
