Caltrops - Gamerasutra - Gran Turismo 3

Forum Overview :: Gamerasutra

by Vissarion 05/07/2003, 2:45pm PDT

Rightbug wrote:

GT3 is still a great racing game anyway you slice it. It's probably the "purest" racing game out there. (i.e., it's all about the racing and the purchasing and upgrading of cars and those cars rock.) There's a good progression to the game.

The thing you have to know about GT3 before buying is that its big focus is on realism. It's a bitch to learn to turn at high speeds because the car handles like a real car would, and you're going to hit a lot of guardrails and feel really stupid before you finally get it. The proper rythym of braking is something you're going to have to pick up. You're not going to know the proper way to tune a car before you get well into the game. HOWEVER: once you get your technique down, the game is absolute magic to play. It's my favorite PS2 game.

I think that GT3 is intended to be played "in the background". After the new game obsession wears off, you'll probably play it a 2 or 3 times a week while you spend most of your PS2 time with other titles. It's something that you'll make a little bit of progress in every time and eventually finish over the course of a year or so. The beauty is that you feel like you're making progress without having to commit precious hours of your life to a videogame.

There are some cons. The AI cars are all identical in behavior and follow the same path around the tracks without variation, with the same braking style and reaction to opponents. Once you've learned how the AI does things you'll be able to predict what they'll do every time, guaranteed.

Also, while I agree with Rightbug that the sense of progression is good, the sense of proportion is a problem. It's possible to enter any series or race in the game right off the bat, which means that unless you're careful it's possible to get into a five-race series in which you will finish every race last by 30 seconds, even in the beginner league. For example, in the Amateur league (the second single-player league in terms of difficulty), the German GT championship comes right after the US series. The US series has you up against moderately tuned American-made production models, and if you have a relatively inexpensive A-model sports car such as a Lotus Elise or a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO you'll be able to win without too much trouble. Once you start the German series though, you'll find yourself up against professionally-tuned racing Krautmobiles, cars you might see in real life at Daytona, covered in logos from oil companies and tire manufacturers. There's no way to win that series without a race car of your own, and there's no warning that you needed one unless you had previewed the race before entering (watched a short clip of the race showing the cars you'd face). At the same time, it's easy and common to win a race car early and be able to clear out whole series against cars that won't even be able to touch you, lapping them every race and winning new cars on the cheap. Which might be your idea of fun, but isn't really a healthy challenge.

Finally, GT4 will be out soon, probably in the Fall. It'll have online play, more cars, and be generally one better than GT3.

IF THE IDEA OF PLAYING THE MOST REALISTIC DRIVING SIM AVAILABLE ON A CONSOLE APPEALS TO YOU:
Wait for GT4 UNLESS you don't want to pay full price for a new release, in which case get the GT3 "greatest hits" edition for cheap.

IF THE IDEA OF HAVING TO LEARN TO DRIVE A MAKE-BELIEVE CAR HAS TURNED YOU OFF:
Check out any number of great racing titles for PS2 that DON'T include an in-game driving school.