The Ultimate Fantastic Super Spectacular Racing/Driving Simulator!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Graphics, control, customizations, cars, replay

Cons: Some options not included, could take like forever to finish

The Bottom Line: 
Makes the original and the sequel look and play like dog poop. A must for all PS2 owners and racing fans.

Author's Review
Intro:

The original Gran Turismo (GT) was a deep game. The game offered tons of authentic automobiles, a plethora of modes to engage in, and enough challenges to drive any race fan crazy. Even with all the good, I never really enjoyed GT and its offerings. I felt that races were way too slow and at times the game was very frustrating. The sequel was a solid improvement, but nothing that we haven’t seen before. The third installment, Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec, is basically an upgrade version of the first two, but with some extra treats. Does it deliver the ultimate driving experience and satisfy all the PS2 racing fans wet dreams?

Gameplay:

The guys at Polyphony really did a great job at marketing the game to everybody. The game is well designed to meet the needs of arcade and sim fans. GT3 offers 2 main types of modes, Arcade and Simulation. Arcade mode offers a sweet variety of cars and a large selection of tracks. Players can participate in street courses, as well as exotic rally tracks. There’s no story or objective to the arcade mode. You can select any difficulty level, pick any car your heart desires, and race on any track. It’s that easy and fun. Races are exciting and fast (especially with higher class cars), and computer opponents work overtime on the hardest setting. Two players can also go at it in a standard split screen head-to-head mode.

The majority of your time will be spent with GT3’s simulation mode. It’s not something that can be taken lightly either. It’s an incredibly engrossing mode that never seems to end. Players start out with some cash, which will be used to buy a new car and upgrade it. In order to become king of road, players must work their way through various competitions. Beginning races are very easy to get into, but after about 4 tournaments players will need to do some homework. Later races have different entry restrictions. For example in order to play in a certain cup, you must have a specific type of car and license.

Now this is where things get interesting. The License Center allows drivers to earn a specific license. Tests consist of a track (or portion of it) and applicants must defeat a selected time. Acquiring licenses is very difficult at times, but the experience is truly addicting. I spent a whole week trying to acquire them all. Once you got your L’s, you’re ready to start racing again. To officially complete a race, you must finish in 3rd place or better. After races, your are given money. Money can then be used to buy new cars and tune-up your rides. GT3 contains an intricate tune-up system where players can practically do anything to their cars. Players can upgrade engines, tires, suspension, turbo kits, braking systems, frames, and basically everything imaginable in the racing world. It’s a very cool system that works out extremely well. Spending some extra cash to soup up your car just a tiny bit, will lead to better race results. The simulation mode can be summed up in these few words: race, buy, upgrade, and repeat until done.

I’ve barely managed to scratch the surface of GT3. The game packs in a hundred something cars from dozens of manufactures. Cars range from the Volkswagen‘s New Beetle to a Dodge Viper. Each car has its own unique feel and different aspects that players will want to customize. Track design and locations are solid. Tracks include nasty sharp corners, manageable turns, smooth straightaways, and nifty spots that can used as shortcuts. Computer AI could use a little fine-tuning. They tend to stick to the same paths, but at times can become a threat during home stretch. GT3’s control is spot-on. The analog control is highly responsive to even the delicate of movements, the analog face buttons can be very effective if used properly, and the overall control layout is easy to grasp. My only complaint is the lack of camera angles. There are only two camera angles; at least a couple extra would have helped out.

Graphics:

GT3 is a moving piece of art. The smooth framerate and squeaky-clean visuals really enhances the racing experience. You won’t have to deal with sluggish turning and slowdown. I believe that the updated graphics make GT3 a much better racing game. Races actually feel like you're racing and the sense of speed with some of the faster cars is awesome. GT3 also delivers on other levels. Tracks are wonderfully built and showcase unique shadow and lighting effects. I was very impressed with a particular area on a track that was shadowed by trees. You can see rays of light from the sun break through the cracks of branches and leaves. The result is some cool looking shadows on the asphalt. Then there are the beautiful car models and reflection effects. Then you got the replays. I mean my god the replays are! I mean, wow! I could go on about the amazingly realistic looking wet pavement and other details, but I believe I got my point across.

Sound:

This is the only area in the game that I was disappointed with. The soundtrack offers a bunch of rocking tracks. There are a lot of well-known artists too, like Lenny Kravitz, Jimi Hendrix, Papa Roach, and Powerman 5000. There’s just one thing that makes me just want to choke the person who was responsible for the sound options. Players cannot adjust the levels for sound effects and music. On or off, are the only choices available. Most of the time you can’t even hear the music since the engine and skid noises interfere. In order to listen to the music in peace, you have to turn off the engine sounds. Now why on earth would I do that? Hearing cars vroom across the screen is what makes racing games so damn cool. Once you do manage to settle with the sound options, you realize the hard work put into making the car engines sound so real.

Overall:

I got GT3 bundled with my Playstation 2. I considered it to be a cool deal because I only spent $30 bucks for it. I recently read that Sony plans to release GT3 as a Playstation 2 greatest hit game, it should be retailing for $25 bucks or less pretty soon. GT3 is a great game. It’s one of the first games that changed people’s mind about the system and helped it out in many ways. It’s definitely worth picking up if you enjoyed the first two, and it’s a must for any owner of the system.