Gran Turismo 3
Man, could this game possibly suck any more? HA! Made you read!
Published: May 29, 2001
Gran Turismo 3 is god-like. There's no other way to say it. We've been playing the holy living crap out of the recently released Japanese version, and we're probably better drivers for it. It's nearly impossible to describe how much better GT3 is over its predecessors in terms of control. The power of the PS2 really has been tapped to deliver even more impressive physics that literally let you "feel" the weight of a car. Oh and then there's the graphics – but I'm getting ahead of myself here.
GT3 is the culmination of work that really started back in 1997 with the original GT. Since then the team at Polyphony Digital has strived to push the power of the PlayStation to its limits, and finally hit a roadblock with GT2. GT3, then, marks the first real opportunity for the team to flesh out many of their plans for getting as close as humanly possible to duplicating real-world physics in over 150 cars. To that end, a slew of PS2-centic additions have been made, quite possibly the most important being analog support, which again really has to be used to be appreciated. Is that Viper of yours fishtailing too much on corners? No need to completely let off the gas, just ease back a bit on the button and your wheels will retail their grip while keeping you going. This push to duplicate real-life driving pays off like no other racing game today, and while we can't comment on the final US code, we can easily say that the Japanese version is the finest racing game ever made.
Back to those graphics, though. If you've been at all interested in GT3 since it was first shown off to the public back at 1998's E3, you know the game has come a long way, moving from what looked like a high-res, super-shiny version of GT2 to the single most amazing looking racing game anyone's ever seen. Nearly every complaint and rumor about the PS2 is fixed or dispelled. Fluctuating framerate? Not here; it's a buttah-smooth 60 fps all the time. Jaggies? Anti-aliasing fixes that. Load times? On par with anything you saw in the previous GT games (read: about 10 seconds per track). Poor texture quality and lack of variation? One look at the pavement on the tracks alone will dispel that ugly rumor; burnt rubber, oil stains, track wear and guide lines are so high-res and do so much to add texture to the track alone that you'll be hard pressed not to laugh your ass off in the face of anyone who feels the need to complain that the PS2 can't handle textures.
Then there's the Logitech racing wheel that was just recently confirmed for the US. As anyone who's had the opportunity to rip around a track -- especially a windy, performance-heavy track like Laguna Sega -- will tell you, there's something magical about screaming around a corner at 75 miles an hour and having perfect control over how much your wheels are turning. The only real down side we encountered was getting used to the more lifelike control scheme after using a controller for so long. Oh, and for those of you who insist on an authentic rally racing experience, wait till you feel the rush of whipping around a corner and hitting that counter-steer perfectly. There's nothing finer.
The point we're trying to hammer home here is that GT3 is good. Really, really, really, really good. When the game finally hits US store shelves in June, gamers are going to be treated to one of the finest examples of the PlayStation 2's power, and a testament to what an unwavering commitment to delivering a true-to-live racing experience will deliver.
GT3 is the culmination of work that really started back in 1997 with the original GT. Since then the team at Polyphony Digital has strived to push the power of the PlayStation to its limits, and finally hit a roadblock with GT2. GT3, then, marks the first real opportunity for the team to flesh out many of their plans for getting as close as humanly possible to duplicating real-world physics in over 150 cars. To that end, a slew of PS2-centic additions have been made, quite possibly the most important being analog support, which again really has to be used to be appreciated. Is that Viper of yours fishtailing too much on corners? No need to completely let off the gas, just ease back a bit on the button and your wheels will retail their grip while keeping you going. This push to duplicate real-life driving pays off like no other racing game today, and while we can't comment on the final US code, we can easily say that the Japanese version is the finest racing game ever made.
Back to those graphics, though. If you've been at all interested in GT3 since it was first shown off to the public back at 1998's E3, you know the game has come a long way, moving from what looked like a high-res, super-shiny version of GT2 to the single most amazing looking racing game anyone's ever seen. Nearly every complaint and rumor about the PS2 is fixed or dispelled. Fluctuating framerate? Not here; it's a buttah-smooth 60 fps all the time. Jaggies? Anti-aliasing fixes that. Load times? On par with anything you saw in the previous GT games (read: about 10 seconds per track). Poor texture quality and lack of variation? One look at the pavement on the tracks alone will dispel that ugly rumor; burnt rubber, oil stains, track wear and guide lines are so high-res and do so much to add texture to the track alone that you'll be hard pressed not to laugh your ass off in the face of anyone who feels the need to complain that the PS2 can't handle textures.
Then there's the Logitech racing wheel that was just recently confirmed for the US. As anyone who's had the opportunity to rip around a track -- especially a windy, performance-heavy track like Laguna Sega -- will tell you, there's something magical about screaming around a corner at 75 miles an hour and having perfect control over how much your wheels are turning. The only real down side we encountered was getting used to the more lifelike control scheme after using a controller for so long. Oh, and for those of you who insist on an authentic rally racing experience, wait till you feel the rush of whipping around a corner and hitting that counter-steer perfectly. There's nothing finer.
The point we're trying to hammer home here is that GT3 is good. Really, really, really, really good. When the game finally hits US store shelves in June, gamers are going to be treated to one of the finest examples of the PlayStation 2's power, and a testament to what an unwavering commitment to delivering a true-to-live racing experience will deliver.
