Gran Turismo 4 [PS2]

Of all the driving games out there it's pretty obvious that the Gran Turismo series has set the standard for what's possible for a simulation. The physics have been solid and the graphics have consistenetly outdone whatever else is out there for the PSone or PS2. Hundreds of cars, real-life tracks, and the overall feeling that this is as good as it gets. With the sure to be earth-shattering release of Gran Tuismo 4 this legend will be even more etched in stone than before. There is the nagging feeling that developer Polyphony Digital is refusing to expand its own world and is instead perfecting where it has gone before, but what's here is something that's truly amazing.

When Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec came out it was hard to believe that anything better could come from the little black box underneath our TV, but GT4 has gone and proved that that was just the beginning for this system. The graphics have been redone absolutely everywhere. The cars are more detailed, the levels have been given a flurry of new details and taking in the whole experience is like being cleaning off a dirty pair of glasses to see the world as it truly is.

If you've seen any of the pictures from the game already (of which we have several hundred) you can already see the difference that's been done in the quality of the cars and the graphics. To rehash the stunning visuals with words becomes useless and redundant when a quick glance at the visual output that's already flooded the Internet is more than enough. The game looks stunning and with the 480p and 1080i modes for the lucky HDTV owners out there it gets even better. If anything, GT4 is a strong argument for you to seriously consider upgrading your gaming setup. And it gets worse for your bank account as we dig even deeper into what's possible later on.

Continuing with the level of detail, not only has the look of the tracks been honed, but so have the tracks themselves. In the quest for precision in simulating the real-life courses in GT4 Polyphony Digital went back to the tracks that had been in GT3 and rescanned them to a finer degree. By looking at one track, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, CA, it's possible to see what has been a result of this attention to detail. What's most immediately striking is that the surrounding environment is much more accurate. A wall that was missing from GT3 had been included here in GT4 and many of the textures are now true to what actually exists. It's pretty life-like, but this is a driving game and it gets even better when focusing on the pavement.

The real refinement in the course itself has made the feel much more like the real thing. The corkscrew in the middle of the track is now at a more realistic angle and other turns have been retooled as well. The most notable differences are those that have been done to turns 3, 6, and 11. Where these were inaccurate in GT3 and required a driving strategy that was different from real life, GT4 has corrected this and now the required approach is spot on. It's reasonable to believe that the same correct feel is present in other tracks as well as several sources have said that the newly included Nürburgring course is picture-perfect as well.

With this level of quality applied to over 50 tracks and over 700 cars the result is an enthusiast's dream. Plug in a physics engine that has fine-tuned the classic feel from the previous games and the result is a racing wonderland. Forget the "playground" aspect of other games that give a set amount of choices in a large world, this is a place for drivers to lose track of time and space and the cycles of the sun as they devote everything to the pursuit of driving excellence.