This Gran's still rockin'... (Gran Turismo 3 (PS2))

Name: tom1clare

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Product:	Gran Turismo 3 (PS2)
Date:	15/08/05 (173 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks awesome, incredible sense of speed, superb handling, long

Disadvantages: Less cars than previously, few new tracks, A.I. problems remain

The original Gran Turismo, released back in 1998 on the PSOne, was a remarkable piece of software. Not only dwarfing Namco’s brilliant Ridge Racer franchise, it dragged the racing genre back to the very forefront of console gaming. With its now-trademark glossy visuals, incredible depth and design, it became an instant classic.

Gran Turismo 2 continued the good work when it hit our shores in early 2000, but by this point people were immediately looking forward to seeing what the industries most realistic driving simulation would be like on a next-generation console. One year further down the line and we would discover the answer in Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (GT3).

GT3 was originally to be named Gran Turismo 2000, though this title had to be dropped when its release date fell into 2001. To me, this raised the question as to whether developers’ Polyphony Digital saw the series first PS2 outing as a true sequel or merely a tweaked version of the previous titles. Certainly the statistics are a little concerning at first; the 600 cars that were at your disposal in GT2 have shrunk to under 200; all but two of the tracks on offer were in the previous games and the setup of competitions and menus is also noticeably similar. Fortunately however, the overall product turns out to be more than the sum of its parts.

As with the previous instalments in the series, the Gran Turismo mode is the place where you will find hours, days and weeks of your time disappearing at an alarming rate. The central hub allows you to access your cars; buy new ones; tune-up existing motors; perform licence tests and enter competitions, of which there are several dozen.

Just as in real-life, you must pass tests before you can go driving. There are five road-based licences and one rally licence, with each requiring you to complete eight challenges within a set time-limit. The tests become more taxing as you progress, beginning with simple accelerating/braking tests and gradually developing into more-taxing lessons that teach you how to corner at high-speeds and tackle oversteer among other things. They are excellent at working newcomers into the game, but not so clever when you consider how much importance is attached to each (most tournaments are locked before gaining specific licences) and how thoroughly difficult the latter few challenges can prove. As a result, you end up having to grind away for a number of hours at what are essentially just glorified training levels – perhaps they should have been merely optional challenges.

Unlike other racing games, GT3 makes you work towards getting your super-cars rather than just handing them to you from the beginning – it may be a good couple of days before you can trade in your Nissan Silvia for something a little more racey. A-Spec may have fewer cars than its predecessor, but this actually works to its ultimate advantage, as a lot of the slower, non-racing models have been ditched in favour of more competitive cars. Each car is wonderfully unique, with GT3’s flawless engine bringing out all the nuances of each. And that doesn’t simply mean the obvious speed and steering characteristics – it’s also the individual sound of each engine, the power and balance of the brakes, understeer and oversteer characteristics, how quickly tyres will wear out – the depth of the experience is unrivalled and the range of information, tuning and upgrading options on show are unlike anything you’ll have seen previously. There is still an immense (and curious) satisfaction to be found in turning a bog-standard run-around into a 900 horsepower super car. Only in Gran Turismo.

The sheer velocity and smoothness is utterly breathtaking, and this more than any other feature sets A-Spec apart from the PSOne instalments. It literally manages to make Gran Turismo 2 (a title once gawped at for its technical prowess) look jerky, cumbersome and slow. Never has any racing game conveyed speed so utterly convincingly, whilst also featuring such beautifully direct, ‘real’ handling – it’s near-perfection and adds a whole new dimension to the gameplay aspect.

Of course, it’s the graphics that are the highlight of Gran Turismo 3. From the menus, to the in-game action and replays, it is absolutely faultless. Cars are shiny, solid and perfectly-formed – in the rallying events you can even see the weight of the car shifting under braking and the suspension working against the rough terrain. The circuits themselves are perhaps even better – gone are the mushy, pixelated and drab landscapes of the PSOne games and in their place are vibrant, pretty locations that are packed with detail and effects. The best two being the new street circuits (Tokyo and Monte Carlo) that show off towering buildings, harbours, advertisement hoardings, road-markings and spectator areas – not that you’ll have time to admire them given the speed of it all!

Look a little closer and you will come across some more-subtle but equally stunning visual effects. Powering down the straight on the Trial Mountain circuit, the top of your car will become a wash with shifting shadows as the light shines between the trees and onto your car. Laguna Seca features some tricky bits where the sun is on the horizon shining directly in your view, and the ambitious chaps at Polyphony Digital even managed to slip in some heat-haze effects to make the replays that bit more convincing. Glorious.

Although the circuits will be familiar to GT veterans, they remain arguably the best ever to be seen in any racing series. They’re top-notch – Trail Mountain has you darting through the forest with tricky sweeps and bumps to negotiate, whilst Special Stage Route 5 sees you powering through a night-time course lit up with lamps and Ridge Racer-esque tunnels. The best circuits include Laguna Seca, the legendary American circuit with an incredible ascent leading to a tight chicane (known as the ‘Corkscrew’) on the very crest of a hill, with precise judgement being imperative to avoiding crashing at high-speed, and Grand Valley Speedway, which has just about everything – long-straights, hairpins, tunnels, a large suspension bridge, chicanes and sweeps – conquer this and you’ll feel a million dollars.

Gran Turismo 3 confirms its longevity with the extensive variety and depth of its competitions, which are cleverly engineered to allow the player to race on the same circuits but under slightly different circumstances each time. There are four-wheel drive competitions for instance, which unsurprisingly require you to race in a 4WD car. Then there are model-specific tournaments for cars such as the Audi-TT and Mitsubishi Lancer. Also on the agenda are Japanese, American and European championships featuring opponent cars from these respective regions, as well as countless other variants. The rally races are excellent and behave with just as much depth as the road races, and finally an Endurance class; loved and hated in equal measure, these one-off races consist of lengthy (1-3 hour) tours of the games best tracks – the ultimate test of your concentration and racing mettle, and though some may find the challenge a little laborious, it is fabulously rewarding.

Though generally GT3 is a big success, it does come a little unstuck in some areas. Considering the painstaking work that has gone into bolstering the handling and performance characteristics of the cars, it’s really odd that collisions with other cars remain woefully simple and uneventful – there are still no visual or performance damaging effects either, and the field still only consists of five rather anonymous opponents. The infamous ‘elastic A.I’ is still evident, meaning that in some circumstances you’ll find a Toyota Yaris keeping pace with your Honda NSX, for the purpose of maintaining close racing.

The soundtrack is decent, with Feeder and Ash providing the highlights, though irritatingly the songs are far too quiet in comparison to the engine notes, which makes hearing them clearly something of a strain, with no obvious remedy on the options menu for this. Still, the growls from the engine are marvellously realistic, as are the screeches from the tyres as you skate around corners or brake heavily.

The fact that almost all of the tracks on offer in GT3 were in at least one of its predecessors raises the question of difficulty. If you have never played Gran Turismo in any form, then it may seem initially a little daunting, as tracks can technically prove quite tough and take time to master, plus getting a decent motor will mean racing in the lower-classes several times over. GT veterans should be able to adapt a lot faster, though the game has to come recommended to all, as there is still a considerable amount of longevity to be found for the experienced gamers as well as the beginners.

Overall, Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec is an excellent example of the racing genre, and undoubtedly the best instalment in the series thus far. Whilst it perhaps borrows rather too many of its assets from previous games, the extra power of the PS2 has enabled Polyphony Digital to create a racing experience that is smoother, faster and more realistic than ever before. Better A.I, changeable weather effects (there is a superb wet-track race in GT3 but with no actual rain), damage parameters and new circuits would have made it a classic, but the soon-to-arrive Gran Turismo 4 may deliver all of these. Still, a great Gran that you’ll want to visit time and time again.

© Thomas Clare – 2005

Summary: The speediest, coolest Gran on PS2!