[SNICK]

Believe this is out on friday - is this title worth getting? believe its going to be limited and retailing at 25 quid. Wasn't sure whether this was a blatant cash in - or a serious warm up for the the launch hopefully later this year.

thoughts?

[Del Boy Smiffy]

Cash in.

Be patient.

[mugsy]

There are some views on this here...

New E3 GT4 movie!

...as you can see, mine is ordered

[CAS FAN]

Yes IMO it's worth getting. It's got 5 tracks around 50 cars and an extensive license test mode (which is very addictive). There is no 2 player option or "gran turismo" option (where you build up a garage of cars) but then again it's only around £13/£14.

I bought it just after christmas when it was released in Japan and TBH it got more play than many full price games get on my PS2! All games these days are cash ins which are released mainly to generate money (and not so much through the love and dedication of a programer). I guess it's whether there is a market for a game. For me this upped my excitement for the full game, allows me to practice 5 of the games tracks and a proportion of the games cars and there's also the rumour that using your prologue saves will unlock extra features in the main title.

To be perfectly honest, this is a cross between a demo and a game, it is too extensive to really be called a demo but it does really leave you wanting more (which i guess is the marketing point behind it). It's worth the price tag for the citta di aria track alone (racing round there in a fast single seater or mclaren f1 is great!).

[cwick]

Does it have a time trial mode ?

[Pooon]

Got it in this morning at work, not had a play yet but the intro and running demos are outstanding, can't believe that its coming from a PS2. The price is £19.99 btw.

I don't recall reading on the box about there being a time trial mode, but i'll check it out and report back later.

[CAS FAN]

no time trial as such - just a school & arcade mode - the school mode is the licenses and the arcade mode just lets you race a 2 lap race on one of the 5 tracks with no other cars. That's the Jap version anyway, which I presume will just be the same as the pal release.

[RL123]

I just got it and I like it so far.

Handling is much improved from GT3, IMO. The GT games have always done a good job of representing different handling abilities butthis one does it even better than the previous games. I raced in 4 different cars and each one is completely different to the others.

I know it's shallow to say so but the graphics are unbelievable...probably the best in a racing game I've ever seen. The backgrounds are photo-realistic in places and the cars look as real as anything I've seen before. There's also some cool little touches like people taking photos in the rally stage (Canyon) and jumping out of the way when you drive past

You can race against other cars on 3 of the tracks btw - there's an option to do so (in the options menu, surprisingly )

[cwick]

must resist urge to bitch pointlessly about no time trial .... ****. And two laps ? What were they thinking ?

[CAS FAN]

indeed it's a shame there's no real time trial although with the arcade mode you in effect get a 2 lap time trial. I guess you have to remember that this has been released as a marketing ploy as much as anything else. They want you to really just get a sample of the game and be left wanting more. You'll notice that on the prologue version the convertable cars were only displayed in game with the roof up. On the finished version they seem to have the option to race roof down with a highly realistic driver in the seat as well. This adds even further to what is already the most realistic looking and feeling racer by far. There is also a superb 900 degree 2 1/2 turns logitech GT force Pro steering wheel that has been designed with GT4 in mind. Play Asia have it for sale here:

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-70-37y-4-1-71-m.html

I'm sure this will be released (probably as part of a bundle with GT4) in the UK later this year.

[CAS FAN]

Yeah sorry RL123 that perhaps wasn't overly clear of me. I was meaning that you could race solo around the tracks to emulate a time trial type thing, not that the game wouldn't let you race other cars, full stop.

To be honest the AI on the other cars in the prologue version didn't seem much of an improvement over GT3 so hopefully this will be improved for the final release.

[cwick]

I think the lack of a time trial makes it into little more than a marketing ploy - it just seems deliberatly mean spirited to not allow something that, surely, requires no effort on their part. I can understand it hasn't got all the cars, tracks, garage options etc - it's a prologue after all. But adding a time trial, or at least allowing you to bump up the number of laps to something sensible, is that too much to ask ?

All of which just makes me look like a mug because I will, of course, got out any buy it regardless. Suckerrrrr !

And I seemed to have just bitched pointlessly about the lack of a time trial.

[RL123]

Originally Posted by gthom3

Yeah sorry RL123 that perhaps wasn't overly clear of me. I was meaning that you could race solo around the tracks to emulate a time trial type thing, not that the game wouldn't let you race other cars, full stop.

Oh ok. I only mentioned it because so many people didn't know. I'm pretty sure Edge complained about a lack of opponents when they reviewed the Japanese version

[CAS FAN]

No probs RL123, in the Edge review they knocked the quality of the opposition AI, which is something I agree with and hope they improve on for the final version.

IMO the opposition AI is the only thing that has slightly let down previous GT games (and many other racing games for that matter) and if they can get it right in GT4 then it will truly become the undisputed king of racers, full stop.

That said the online features should reduce the need for good cpu AI as you can just play real people online. It will still be required for playing the full gran turismo game though.

[CAS FAN]

yeah I agree CWICK, that was the most dissapointing thing to me as you're right it would have taken very little effort to include it.

It's a bit of a pain just playing 2 laps then having to start again and I don't know why they couldn't have put in a free run or time trial option. I guess they will have had a meeting and said, right what can we put in this to make it worth people buying but also to make people not be too happy with it so that the full game is a much bigger and better experience all round.

I do sort of agree with the Edge review of it as on one hand the handling and graphics are a big improvement, it's just that what they have given us isn't really a game, more a demo. It's a 10/10 demo and probably a 5/10 or 6/10 game if you look at it that way. Then again it was only about £12 -£14 when i bought it and for that money it's worth it for the several hours play that the school mode provides.

[cwick]

Well, I take it all back. Played it last night, and it's pretty good. Graphics suck (no way those movies in the other thread are in game), but you soon get over it. The car control is much improved and you get more laps in the arcade mode as you progress through the driving lesson - I'm upto 5 laps having completed the first page of lessons. We effectively time-trialled on the Citta di Aria village circuit in an Evo - excellent course.

One word of warning ... I have a Thrustmaster force feedback wheel that works a treat on GT3. GT4 Proglogue doesn't recognise it though Seems it only supports the two official wheels, one of which isn't even on sale here yet (see link earlier in this thread).

Oh, and Vicki Butler-Henderson provides the voice-over on the dvd and the intro to each driving lession. Nice

[SAH]

The graphics code in prolougue is over 6 months old and does not include a lot of the improved detail that was seen in the E3 movie. The E3 movie is in-game footage.

The new GT4 wheel, the Logitech Driving Force Pro, with 900Degree turn is available from www.gameseek.co.uk and places like HMV.

It will be widely avaialbe when GT4 is released.

[cwick]

Thanks for the pointer on the wheel .. would rather use the one I've got though Anyone know if the full game will support a wider selection of wheels ?

[SAH]

Regarding the wheel, the handling in GT4 has been tweaked to work with the 900Degree wheel, so I'm not sure how a standard wheel will feel.

Apparently there is a huge difference.

[CAS FAN]

The new 900 deg wheel is one of the most exciting aspects of GT4 for me. At last a driving game that actually reflects the experience or driving proper road/GT cars! The control that you will have over the car will be outstanding and i'm sure that a race over a long, tight and windy track, such as the nurburgring will leave you shattered!

SAH is also right regarding the age of the code in the prologue version. I had it when it was originally released in Japan around christmas time and the game has come on leaps and bounds since prologue was made. As can be seen in the E3 footage, the topless/convertable cars are now also displayed in roof down mode with fully realistic and animated drivers.

[Miyazaki]

I had a go on this in HMV today.

Very impressed with the game graphically, for a PS2, and there seems to be a vast array of cars on offer. As for the gameplay, it seems quite impossible to comment when this prologue version is so short!

I never liked the PS2 controller for racing games (it needs some DC or XBOX style analogue triggers!), so I would have to play it with a steering wheel or the namco G-con (best racing controller for me ever).

[CAS FAN]

Personally i'd rate the prologue version as such:

Graphics : 9/10 (best console racing graphics to date)

Sound: 8.5/10 (superb engine noises and music)

Handling: 9/10 (virtually spot on and a big improvement over GT3 - especially the rally stages)

AI: 7/10 (better than GT3 but still rather ordered and rigid - hopefully this will improve for the final release)

Tracks: 8/10 (Citta di Aria is amazing and all tracks are of a high standard with superb photorealistic backgrounds that make the track actually feel part of the world around it - the old full length nurburgring in the final version looks superb!)

Prologue content: 7/10 (pretty good for £15-£20 but missing any 2 player action or a true time trial option)

Overall: 8/10 - a good buy for the price and simply this whets the appetite even more for the treat that is (hopefully) to come!

I personally think that the PS2 joypad is superb for this game (although the Jap prologue version (don't have the pal one) doesn't allow you to use both analogue sticks) allowing a great level of control over your car. I think it's what you get used to, as I used to like the analogue triggers but now find the twin sticks a better control system. I feel the game will really shine though with the new logitech Driving Force Pro wheel.

[Miyazaki]

Yeah I think so too. Obviously I am more used to the xbox controller, so I don't find the PS2 controller as intuitive.

The graphics really are great, but I think they fall short of TOCA 2, PGR2, and RS2 in terms of quality. But great none-the-less, and for the graphics on that to come from a PS2 really is a tribute to the developers.

It'll be fascinating to see the finished product!

[RL123]

I played RD2 again yesterday, immediately after playing Prologue.

RD2 definitely looks a lot better, especially in single player mode which looks almost perfect, but remember Prologue is based on code that's at least 6-7 months old now. I'd be surprised if the final game didn't look at least a bit better though. atm there's a lot of clipping and polygon break-up (and the view in the rear mirror looks terrible...)

I'm playing Prologue with a Logitech Ferrari wheel and it's very good. The response and accuracy is brilliant and it is a completely different feel to using a pad (which is also good) I really like the handling in Prologue though - they've done a brilliant job with it

[museumsteve]

anyone checked this out..play on Hong Kong track and another rally section of Grand Canyon, opened up using Action Replay I got the Xploder code today and been playing Hong Kong..and it's lush

http://www.ng03.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3698

[CAS FAN]

Superb - may have to get myself an Xploder!

[SilverPenguin7]

Does anyone know what happens if you get golds on everything? Currently have golds for the last 2 colours of the first page (forget now, its my friends game) and am working backwards so they get easier. However, onnly managed 3 golds on the purple page, some of them are rock hard!!