Sure, Gran Turismo 4 doesn't have drifting, or boost, or the easiest computer in the world, but for the real racing (and not only in video games) fan, this is a long and rewarding game.
You start off driving cars from Peugot and Autobianchi (???), and later on you move on to more competitive cars like Ford and Mazda. As you progress, the stakes get higher and more bigger rewards mean cars like an Aston Martin or a Bentley. There are over 600 cars cars in the game (with A lot of different models of the same car), and every car feels different.
When you are driving a heavy with a lot of horsepower, you can feel how it is hard to stop, turn and accelerate. When you are driving a light car with low horsepower, you'll find that stopping is easier and turning is easier, but it is much harder to accomplish high speeds in the long straight roads. Now there are two ways to go once it gets to the big races: 1.The heavy car that follows other cars up until it takes over in the straight road 2.The light car that falls behind other cars in the long road, then makes up for it with sharp, fast turns. I, for one, worked on and upgraded a car so that it is extremely light and very fast as well.
For some people, this may be very frustrating and annoying game. And without learning how to play the game properly, it should be. The most frustrating thing in the game is the turning. With no help from the license tests, it takes a long time to master turning and customizing your gears and stuff (but only if you want to).
All in all, this is a very beautiful game with nice level environments and a long lineup of cars, including the Nike car and the Jay Leno Junkyard car. There are a few cool features like the car wash and oil changes. Although, I did have a problem with the difficulty in some races and the (optional) 2 hour to 24 hour races. As mentioned before, this is a very rewarding game, following the patience and sometimes sheer mastery of the player. Gran Turismo 4 is a buying game, not a renting game, but I do suggest renting it first to see if it is the right game for you.
