|
By Matt L. on August 3rd, 2001
Introduction The fluorescent lights slowly flicker on, bringing light to the crowded garage. A gutted Acura Intergra Type-R sits in the corner, its parts long gone for the benefit of another car. Sitting in the center of the empty space, is a brand new Dodge Viper GTS-R concept, race prepped. Sit down, put in the custom key, and crank the start button. The starter rumbles to life, filling the void with sound as the ten cylinders sound in. The garage slowly opens and light floods in. Put in the clutch, shift into gear, and jam out of the garage. Start your practice laps, because GT3 is definetly here to stay. A sequel, true, but one everyone is waiting for, as the third installment takes off, bringing back what we all love: the best damn racing game on the planet.Presentation First off, navigating through the menus will be easy for those who have played the previous two games. Mostly, getting through the menus is fast and effecient, witholding a few exceptions. One aspect that really (REALLY) agitates us, is installing parts in the tuner shop. It becomes rather tedious: buy, purchase yes/no, install yes/no, part sucessfully installed, then, in an X button hitting frenzy, you overshoot and accidentally buy the part again, prompting: part already purchased. Ugh! It can really grate on your nerves, especially when buying several parts at once. Once your eye stops twitching, you can get to the races and see how the control measures up. For those of you without the Logitech wheel, we pity you. The controller handles nicely, due to pressure sensitive buttons that will allow you to easily launch your car without leaving several meters of rubber behind you. The old dual stick system is still as fidgety as I remember, but practice will make you a much better driver. We personally, do not worry about that, thanks to Logitech. The wheel is the perfect racing size, and responds quickly. Pedals are well calibrated, with good resistance, but make sure you brace it against something (your left foot, a book, your dog, or in Matt’s case, his gargantuan cat). Force feedback is wondeful, except for the God awful sticker (rip it off!). Some games seem to think force feedback wheels need to jerk the owner around the room, while a well built wheel communicates the road feel and cars handling. God bless Logitech! There is one very tiny thing that makes me bitch, though: the frikin’ TINY PADDLES THAT ARE IN THE WRONG BLOODY SPOT! Way too low for my tastes. If you look at Ferrari paddles, they actually are crecents that span the entire sides behind the wheel, letting yyou reach them no matter where you prefer to rest your hands. On a different note however, when using the controller on long races, I find that as attention is paid to braking and steering the gas button will be ignored and acceleration will cease as you forget to hold the button down ferociously.Graphics & Sound If you are still with us, we can describe the graphics in one simple word: aaaaaaaawesome (apply Texas accent). How can I describe it but as utterly realistic as possible. Light and shadow beautifully coexist on the tracks, and rain is incredibly realistic. Heat waves rise up from the pavement during race starts, and the cars... ooh the cars (Homer drooling)! Perfect 3D models (sheet metal...ooooooo), wonderful terrains, and realistic tracks. There is only one problem with the graphics. Since no drivers were put in the cars, all spyders and convertibles have their tops up (barf!). Replays are deffinetly fun to watch, with only the occasional bad angle. Reflections are great and textures are awesome. We do think, however, that auto replay on/off should be an option, since sometimes you do not want to be reminded of certain races. On the other hand, we can describe the sound in on simple phrase (which you will hear quite often): I’m your turbo lover! The music, if you can call it that, is repetitive and horrible. Snoop Dogg (who should be shot for his conrtibution) and cars do not, I repeat DO NOT mix! Yes they have the PT Cruiser, and yes it’s the best racing game on earth, but did we need a rap song about it? Hell no! What more can we say. By the way, the highpoint of the sound would have to be the engine noises, which are specific to each type of engine. Let the TV screens (and speakers) speak for themselves: the beautiful/ugly contrast between graphics and sound.Gameplay The premise for all Gran Turismo games is that you are a rookie driver, moving your way up through the ranks. You start off with a...how can we put this nicely...POS? Add in a few mods, and head off to your first race. You start with single races then start doing sequence races. As you rack up cash, you will also start to aquire prize cars, and purchase others. This is important, since certain cups have limitations on cars allowed to participate (go pink Vitz!). Eventually, you will find yourself in long (LOOOONG) endurance races and rally competitions. One of the more unique features, is the fact that you have to earn your racing licenses (Gameshark!). The game takes a appreciable amount of time to truly complete. We’re talking getting all the licenses, all golds, and all cars (and rims!). Hope you stocked up on Jolt! The actual control is realistic, with great physics. The cars all have different feels to them, and there is one to fit every driver. Modifications quickly boost your base horsepower and soon you’ll have an awesome car. My one complaint is engine braking is null if not void. Well, I guess I can’t have it all, can I (awwww...crap!~Homer Simpson)? The game is truly everything it was meant to be. I only wish there were damage, but there’s always GT4, right?Lasting Appeal Never ending story, need we say more? Besides the incredible ammount of time necessary to complete the entire game, there is also a great mulitplayer mode and the really fun feature of linking up to six units with the i-Link. If that does not keep you busy, there are many secret cars to unlock. Simply put, this game is must have for all PS2 owners, not just racing fans.Conclusion All in all (tell me if you saw this one coming) this game roxxors. Not only does it have beautiful graphics, excellent control, more cars than you could ever need (wait...there is no such thing as too much when dealing with cars), and great lasting value, GT3 is certainly here to stay, taking its rightful place in the Gran Turismo series. |
