Gran Turismo 4 Prologue Edition (PS2) > Reviews > Prelude to Gran Turismo 4

Author's product rating:   

Playability & Enjoyment	Excellent - very playable game
Addictiveness	Very hard to stop playing
Graphics	Excellent
Difficulty & Complexity	Quite a simple game not too complicated
Value for money	Satisfactory - it’s a reasonable game

Advantages:	Gives you a taste of whats to come
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I bought Gran turismo 4 prologue Limited edition (includes "Making of Gran Turismo 4 DVD) as soon as it hit the shops. They released this in order for you to prepare yourself for the challenges that you face in GT4. Basically it is a prelude of whats to come.

It is only a 1 player game and you need an 8Mb Ps2 Memory card in order to save your game (uses a minimum of 150kb). It is compatible with analog control and vibration function.

I will start by saying just how much i thourougly enjoyed playing this, in my opinion Gran Turismo 4 is one of the best racing games available to buy.

The graphics in this game are unbelievable, The detail of the cars, tracks and scenery is immense in itself. There is no skipping or late rendering during gameplay. There has been great effort put into make this game as fantastic as it is. They have really come a long way since GT3. The cars sound as realistic as ever, each one having its own sounds. I think Gran Turismo has a better variety of cars than any other racing game, obviously this only being a prelude you dont get as many as on the proper release.

The music on the menu screens is the same as other GT releases which i think adds to the effect of the game itself.

With this release you get 64 cars, although a lot of them need to be unlocked in school mode.

When you enter the main menu you get six options: School mode, Arcade mode, Option, Replay theatre, Load game and Save game.

School mode - This is where you will find all the licence tests and 40 challenges. This is where you really learn to play the game. The lessons you have to undertake are colour coded in their difficulty, Green being the easiest to red being the hardest.
Some are as simple such as learning how to steer, breaking and cornering speed limits but it does get a lot harder when you get to doing the more complex ones like double-apex cornering and high speed cone slalom. You are judged on how well you do and given medals for your efforts (Bronze, silver and gold). The bronze are easy to achieve but the gold ones are a lot harder. When all lessons are cleared at a certain level you will get a pass certificate for the level you have achieved.

Arcade mode - Once you have gained some driving skill and are ready to test it, you can try your luck at the arcade mode. Here it is mostly time-trials that you will have to face, You have use of the games five tracks using the cars that you have unlocked in school mode. The only downside is that you DO NOT get the opportunity to customise your cars performance.

Option - here you have a few choices as listed below:

Screen settings - Change te screen ratio to either 16.9 (widescreen) or 4.3 (standard). Or you can reposition the game on your tv screen.

Arcade mode settings - Turn the background music and traction control ON or OFF. Turn opponents cars ON or OFF. Set the difficulty level and number of laps in a race.

Autosave - Turn the autosave functio ON or OFF.

Analog controller settings - Toggle the vibration function ON or OFF and select automatic or manual transmission.

Steering wheel controller settings - Three different control configurations to choose from and set the force feedback.

GT Force - Set the steering assist level (beginner, professional or simulation) here.

With the option Replay theatre you can manage and watch all your saved replays.

This is a brilliant game even though it doesnt come close to having as many cars or options as the full game.