| Gran Turismo 2 How do you define "perfection"? If you would have the decency to open your Encylopedia Britannica, no doubt that the name "Gran Turismo" would appear... Yes, it was when Polyphony Digital's much celebrated racing-sim came on the market that the hype "real driving simulator" gripped everyone and everything. For some reason average Johnny Worker wanted nothing more but the pleasure of tuning a normal car into a heavily armoured beast. Nights where you would sleep with the lovely wife were exchanged for overnighters, just so you could finish that one hard endurance race. Kids at school threw away their maths books and bought a walkthrough for GT at Ebay and in the next months to follow, the topic of every e-mail would read "Gran Turismo". You get the point, the crowds don't want a racing game to enjoy for sheer fun; they want balance improving, they want tire purchases and car manufacturers: they want Gran Turismo... It's a wonderful experience indeed, and the game's producer Kazunori Yamauchi had to give the heavy-drinking world what they need: a new injection of "driving heaven" in the blood, an antidote to all those dumb racers that have lived their short lives, a sequel that (hopefully) is so damn good that civilizations will base their knowledge and religion upon it... Haven't we all had our share of erotic dreams envolving women with a skin like cold hard metal and leather goodies inside? We cared for nothing less then slumming the menus of the original GT, admiring you garage and pointing out to your friends "I got 86.7% complete; you?" And after hard work, you'd break open your piggybank and go to the store in order to get a copy of the world's greatest racer, part 2. The first thing that Man actually desires for is quality, not quantity, but it has to be said: when opening your copy, the immediate line of "Geez, look Elmo: two discs" will be uttered from your mouth. That's right: Gran Turismo 2 has more to offer than normal Turismo mode: now a fully equipped armed and dangerous Arcade mode is at stake too, all with their unique touches. But you have yet to put the disc in your Playstation, shall we? I guess you already know the "plot": begin with a small amount of money, buy a stupid car, race stupid car, stupid car falls in love, brakes your heart,... Well, it doesn't go like that, the whole concept "realism" is probably the main attraction; GT is famous for its real driving experiences; "like driving a car" is the motto. And if this so called "realism' involves cars driving in fantasy tracks, then smack my ass and call me Judy. Yes, the term fantasy track isn't something to laugh with: sure, the graphics are good, that has to be said; but the game suffers form severe pop-up. Also, the environments look like they could fall down any minute, trees and such are made of cardboard and edging isn't exactly good material either... But after some grunting at the screen, you'll get used to it; is it suffice to say that you'll look over this beacuse of how big the game just is? There are tons of vehicles on display indeed, the good folks at Polyphony Digital pulled of quite a stunt, obtaining almost every license available (except Ferrari though, the lost it to the dull Need For Speed series). Anyhow, the cars on offer are true sex-machines, Volkswagen, Renault, Ford, Lotus and a whole bunch of Japanese crap can be purchased or won. Winning cars can't ofcourse be done by snapping your fingers or rubbing the magical lamp, you'll have to work hard in order to acquire a fancy collection in your car hole. This so-called hard work can get too much once in a while I have to say: you're bound to walk the earth as a regular pro to get the right car for the right race, I found myself doing the same easy race over and over again just 'coz I needed the money. In the beginning you start of with 10,000 credits, enabling you to buy a used car from a poor dealer. These dealers are "located" across various towns that go by the name of east, south, north and west. Every manufacturer itself has its own races as well, for exemple buying a New Beetle gives you the option of racing the Beetle Cup at Volkswagen, get it? But, however, before entering a contest you have to prove that you are worthy of being the planets finest dragster so it's of to the license centre with you my boy... And then after a while screwing around, you'll secure your position as a decent racer and live through all the different modes on offer. Not only can you enter all the official tournaments, by which I mean Grant Turismo league; you also have the ability of doing a whole lot of other driving cups too! There's the special event, which requires you to play a race with a specific type of wheels; there's the Dirt Type, just for you rally suckers, and ofcourse the Endurance Races, which are to be done if you've got a whole lot a spare time on your hands. Page 2: Speedin' and Cruisin' |