Customer Reviews
brilliant better than the rest - By: Dan Power, 28 Aug 2008 
i got a ps2 the first month it came out & now i own a ps3 & i have to say that gran turismo 4 is far superior to any game on either console okay so the graphics arent as good & perhaps you cant get a ferrari or a lamborghini but you discover new & far better cars for instance i have a car called the "chapparel 2j race car" i bought it because it looked like a box on wheels. I raced it & i was literally blown away ok so maybe it wasnt the easiest car to drive & maybe when you crash you dont smash up but if you do it just makes the game impossibly hard so stop moaning & just go & enjoy the pure thrill of tearing down the strainghts at over 200 mph!
Gran Turismo 4 - By: R. Thorpe, 27 Aug 2008 Before I start, it is well worth saying that this is, quite literally, the best driving game EVER. Gravity physics, sharp graphics, over 700, yes, 700, cars to choose from, & amazing tracks with perhaps the best backdrops ever seenin a driving game. Although the game has its many, many highs, it also has some lows.
Highs:
1. 700+ cars, including Ford, Toyota, Lotus, Dodge, Astin Martin, TVR, Pagani, & so many more.
2. Stunning real-world tracks & make belive ones, that, if they wern't catagorised, would seem realistic.
3. Lisence modes, missions, off-road rallys, endurance races, & many more challenges.
4. B-Spec mode, which allows you to take a break for racing & let your team member do the workin x3 speed.
5. Exellent graphics that no other game will be able to beat on PS2 for at least... well, forever.
Lows:
1. Bearin mind that this is a simulation game, so don't be gutted when you hit a wall at 200mph & bounce off it , revealing there isn't a scratch to be seen.
2. Skidding isn't so great a you might think it is. There are no marks, no real masses of smoke bellowing out from your tyres, & it is physically impossible to do a proper drift.
3. The sound is pretty bad, to be honest. The music is okay, it can really get stuckin your head. But tyres screeching sounds like scraping your nail on a chalk board, & crashing sounds more like you've fallen onto a bean-bag.
4. The developers are Japan-based, & the game does feel slightly Japan-biast. There are way more Japanese makes & cars (there is only one F1 car, & it is placed the the Japan section) & more Japanese tracks too.
So, it's highs over lows, & this game gets the double thumbs-up. Really worth buying, a definate keeper.
Best game I've ever played........Period - By: RM, 15 Jun 2008 I've always been a huge fan of the GT series. I remember being so excited about playing the first Gran Turismo on the PS1 when it first came out. The graphics were ground-breaking at the time & the selection of cars was amazing, even if the first game was limited to nearly all Japanese cars.
GT4 still does contain more Japanese cars than American & European cars (it is a Japanese game, after all) but the choice of non-Japanese cars has been greatly improved & GT4 boasts even more racing circuits than it's predecessors. There are about 700 different cars to choose from all told, covering most car manufacturers. The cars vary from racing cars, rally cars, road cars & even concept cars.
Each car has been beautifully rendered to give a very realistic appearance. Handling also varies from car to car, depending on if it's 4WD, front wheel drive, etc. I also love the fact that they have incorporated 0-1000m test trials from the previous games, as it gives me great enjoyment to just test loads of different cars & compare their performance to one another.
The game is just massive with a whole array of different racing types, ranging from rally, to compact car racing to high-speed Le Mans racing.
Realistically, it would take most people months & months to complete the game. I have been playing it regularly off & on for a few months now & have only completed about 17% of the game!
There have been one or two criticisms of GT4. Firstly, some people complain that the physics of the cars are too similar to each other & don't really give a true "simulation" experience. Secondly, the complaint that many cars are identical, with the only difference being the year or a couple of horsepower difference. Lastly, of course, there are no exotic manufacturers like Ferraris, Lambos & Maseratis but this doesn't bother me since those cars have been repeatedly usedin so many other racing cars.
Well, unfortunately, there was a game which set out to be 100% true to real life when it came to the cars' physics: it was called Enthusia Professional Racing. However, most people complained that the handling was too hard so I suppose Sony can't satisfy everyone! I do agree, however, that some cars have been unnecessarily overused, such as the Nissan Skyline & some other Japanese models.
Saying that, however, there is a very good selection of American & European cars for fans of Alfas, Mercs, BMs, Renaults, Chevys, Dodges, etc.
If you're a fan of racing games, this one is a must!
Very Poorly Designed. - By: L. C. Powell, 08 Apr 2008 
I picked up a copy of this game not too long ago, excited after playing GT1 & 2 for so many years now, I was really looking forward to see all that kick ass racingin brilliant PS2 style graphics. Oh how I was wrong.
I had literally only played 20 minutes of actual game play before I had to turn it offin shear disappointment. I couldn't believe how badly the GT developers & designers had screwed it up. Sure it looked beautiful at times, but that's as far as it went. Where was the fun? Simple answer being, there wasn't any.
Mind-numbingly slow game play combined with the total butchering of any realistic feel the old games had. Hugely unrealistic driving simulation, for example, under steer on every single car no matter how hard you try to turn in, also the inability to turn & brake at the same time. Basically transforming this enjoyable series into a chore, a road no game should ever go down.
But that's not the whole story! Today I thought I'd give it another chance, & after trying to come to grips with it I got used to the controls & started on my way. Sadly a few hours have past & I can safely say that the game will be back on ebay within a week. Why you say? Simply put, enormous design flaws. Firstly, the inability to do as its told, this being directed to the auto-save feature. Once turned off you'd expect it to stay turned off right? Wrong! It just seems to ignore you at times & think IT knows best. Secondly, & quite largely, the appalling AI. I know this had been an issue with the early games, but its really getting old now. Thirdly there's also the unfair car matching, making this extremely hard for beginners & just plain annoying for experienced drivers.
In conclusion, when oh when will the designers & programmers cut down on their insufferable arrogance, pull their heads from their asses & listen to the actual players themselves. That feeling sadly comes across VERY clearly whilst playing the game, as if your only doing what they think you should be doing, & cutting out all fun, because this driving sim is serious business you know.
Looking to buy a fun & entertaining racing game? Look either for GT 1 or 2 or go over to the need for speed titles, but this is one of the worst gamesin historyin my personal opinion.
Also, I expect this review to be marked down by people who disagree, but doing so only shows me how stupid those people really are when it comes to the reviewing system on this site.
The ultimate race game...once you crack it - By: Rob B., 01 Feb 2008 I've never been into racing games, but this has all changed since I bought this game. GT4 is potentially a stunning race sim ...but it's a slow process to progressin career mode. For the first few days I raced an old Japanese car until I won an upgrade. It was slow going. But then I discovered a crack CD called 'Ultimate Cheats for Gran Turismo 4', I bought it for £5 online & havent looked back. Now I race turbo charged hotrods at 180mph & feel the windin my hair :)
I can also now access most carsin GT (career) mode. Many years ago I owned a Triumph Spitfire & went on skiing trips with itin my native Scotland. Driving the Spitfire on snow-covered roadsin GT4 - & skidding all over the place - was very realistic & fun - just like it used to be during Scottish winters 20 years ago :)
To Summarise: This is a great racing sim, but unless you want to spend months building your careerin the game, you need to crack it with one of the cheat CDs.
