Prologue Edition Hands-On: Tee-hee, I’ve been playing GT4 and you haven’t!
While the PlayStation 2 has a ton of amazing games due this fall, one of the most anticipated releases of them all is Sony’s own Gran Turismo 4. While the game has been through the now-legendary Polyphony delay processes that troubled Gran Turismo 3 (certainly Sony is making sure the game is ready after the GT2 rush debacle), GT4 has still remained on the radar despite it, if only due to the feverish anticipation of its fanbase. To make up for the delays, however, Polyphony released Gran Turismo 4 Prologue, a ‘trial’ game that offers a fairly decent taste of the full release, due later this fall. Unfortunately, this product has only seen release in Asia and Europe, and North America has been shunned despite the large following here. However, thanks to the wonders of importing, here we are with a hands-on view of the Prologue – and in step, Gran Turismo 4. While the Prologue is fairly old now, it still tells the story of just how this game is going to be – amazing. Fall can’t come soon enough to drown yourselves in Gran Turismo 4 goodness.
The Prologue disc is split into two distinct categories – School and Arcade. The School mode is effectively a bunch of license tests, that are designed not so much to earn licenses, but come to grips with the revamped and more difficult physics engine. Arcade lets you do races or time trials on five of the newest tracks included in the game. The tracks range from some usual circuit tracks that aren’t anything notable…but there’s three tracks that downright rock. Most famous are the Grand Canyon rally track – one that shows off the new offroad physics model, and the New York track that’s full of tight turns and sights to see. Also is the ‘Citi di Aria’ track, which is based in Italy. Of all 5, it’s a personal favorite – tight turns, narrow passageways (you can fit maybe two cars next to each other, any more squeeze in and they’ll hit the walls), and a huge speed sensation leads into to an awesome racetrack. One must wonder though, with such a narrow road, if this is a rally-style track or a circuit…we’ll know when the game releases, I suppose. There’s a nice selection of cars to choose from, many of which are unlocked by clearing the tests in School mode. While there’s a ton of the ‘pregnant roller skate’ class of cars, there’s a nice selection of fast cars, including two versions of Skylines, and both a stock and rally Lancer Evolution. It gives just enough samples to see how different the physics engine has become.
The thing to notice about the physics engine this time around is that it’s much ‘heavier’ and demanding. It’s very easy to screw up a turn if you don’t spend much time braking, and there’s now even a penalty for hitting a wall hard – you can only ride in first gear for 10 seconds, which could be killer in a race. However, the cars handle beautifully on their own (as you can’t do any customizations), and once you get down the proper ways of taking turns, it becomes extremely fun to barrel around turns at the best possible speed and arc. The amazing thing though is how the rally-based physics are so different – while GT3 had a decent engine for the rally races, GT4’s are much more realistic on dirt – slipping, powersliding, barreling around turns, all here, though it’s very easy to spin out if you’re reckless. Because the rally tracks are much narrower now than in the past, this combination means we could have one of the best rally engines yet.
On the whole though, the game at this stage doesn’t feel too far removed from GT3 despite the changes to the physics…GT3 fans can leap right in and fare well on the license tests and arcade stuff. Most certainly the game will feel slightly different by the time the final version releases, and the already impressive visuals are sure to be improved more. While the car designs haven’t come far from GT3 (how could they, they already were mega-impressive, and still are three years later), the tracks have a certain ‘wow’ feeling the first time you see them. Though just a taste, Prologue is just enough GT goodness that the wait is slightly subdued now, especially knowing it will be so much better by then – over 500 cars, tons of tracks, tons of races, online play, possible downloadable content – we’re talking the ultimate racing game on the PlayStation 2.
