Great game with many options

Author's Rating:

Pros: 1080i, more cars, more tracks, nitrous addition

Cons: AI sucks, navigating through menu's, no damage

The Bottom Line: 
Get this game if you are a racing enthusiast or a video game enthusiast. Heck, get it even if you are a visual enthusiast!

Author's Review
**GAMEPLAY**

The gameplay in this game is fantastic. As with previous GT games the simulated driving experience is as close to the real thing as you can get. The gameplay is relatively unchanged when compared to previous games, but has some exciting new additions. Some notable additions would be the button controlled nitrous upgrades, and also the ability to upgrade your vehicle through the use of many different tuner companies.

The AI seems to be a little shotty as some before me have pointed out. More specifically, the computer hardly ever makes mistakes nor does it ever become aggressive as a real opponent would in those clutch situations. This is somewhat comical given the fact that on the back of the game case it states: "a crowd that reacts to your every move" --seemingly as a new feature, but no indications of this appear during gameplay.

The main menu system seems to be a bit more difficult than normal since you cannot see every option from one view. In other words, you have to pan left, right, up, and down just to see what races you can take part in or to navigate to your home garage. This makes navigating through menu's a little bit more difficult.

The used car section is significantly better, in that the list of used cars is displayed similarly to a newspaper's classified section. Not only that, but the ability to check the mileage of your vehicle and it's increased power due to upgrades (while you are not able to check what upgrades are done).

The ability to check the specs on a vehicle that you have won however is sometimes limited. By this I mean that once you win a vehicle, it is sometimes difficult to determine the drivetrain, weight or other pertinent information through the "O" button as with other vhicles. The inability to sell some "worthless" vehicles is also curtailed somewhat in GT4 which makes acquiring credits a little bothersome.

**DISPLAY**

This game supports high definition being that it is a later PS2 release. The game supports high definition in 480p and 1080i, neither of which I am told can be supported without the use of the later model PS2, which was released with high def capabilities, built in ethernet, and progressive scan DVD player; all of which are supposed to substantially improve GT4's gameplay.

**NEW FEATURES**

There are a slough of new features included in GT4. Some of the major improvements include the ability to switch to Spec-B mode where you are the pit crew / driving director and can help your racer through a race by giving commands. I have not played this mode yet but I hear it is an easy way to build up cash to buy parts or other cars. Some other features include being able to change your oil when it is time (to help improve performance and reduce wear) and also the ability to customize your ride with a spoiler. Last but not least, my favorite is using nitrous in those situations where your car isn't quite as fast as your opponents. There are also some different angle options while driving the vehicle too.

**DOWNSIDES**

One major downside to this game that has plagued all GT games before is the fact that there is no car damage either cosmetic nor physical. No car damage has normally not been that big of a deal, but now that there are so many cars to choose from, with so many realistic effects and tracks that for a game touted as the "most realistic driving simulator ever" it leaves out some major details.