100 Point Review For Gran Turismo A-Spec

Game: Gran Turismo 3
Makers: Sony

My Reviews Are Rated as Follows:

100 total points are possible. There are ten categories, ten points available for each.

1. Introduction/Opening
2. Storyline
3. Graphics
4. Originality
5. Soundtrack
6. Individualistic Characters
7. Replay Values
8. Difficulty
9. Excitement Factor
10. Controls

The Scale:
100-85: Excellent, worth a pre-order.
84-70: Average, worth it once the price goes down.
69-55: Below average, buy it Used
54 and Under: Rent it or avoid it.

Gran Turismo brought all new features to the racing game industry. It was one of the first to have cars numbering in the hundreds, all of which real makes and models from around the world. It used, and still does use real physics of the cars in motion to give you the most realistic racing simulator out there.

Introduction/Opening
As most racing games, there isn't much of one, but the one featured is worth it. It shows the interior parts of a car, and of course, racing. What else would you expect? A simple yet somewhat interesting opening. It technically shows you the level of mechanics/parts you're able to change on your vehicle. While the graphics are great, it's nothing spectacular.
Introduction/Opening receives a 6 out of 10.

Storyline
It's hard for a racing game to develop a storyline, and it's been proven. However, Gran Turismo 3 basically lets you create your storyline. In Simulation mode, you're given a sum of money to buy your first, very cheap car with. There's tracks to train on, licenses to acquire, cups to participate in, even a rim shop. There's also an arcade mode, where you pick a car and try to win. Simple. But in Simulation mode, you really have to know what you’re doing. For gold trophies in each cup, you win a new car, which usually isn't worth it, but it's worth the sale, in which you gain money to buy, you guessed it, newer, faster cars. You can't forget the part store, of course. You kind of have to be a mechanic to understand some of what you're doing to your vehicle, but there are descriptions for each part change, luckily. For its in-depth vehicular plot,
Storyline receives a 10 out of 10.

Graphics
Compared to other racing games of it's time, there's only one word; phenomenal. Each car looks exactly like its real likeness, and the track fields are amazing, besides of course the flat 2-d spectators that seem to plague every racing game. But the vehicles is the key, here, as each one has its realistic trademarks. Hundreds of vehicles are featured, and each one is done down to a tee. For most vehicles, there's even an array of colors to choose from. Back to the track, when you skid across sand, you see it. You almost feel like you're watching a real race from time to time. As mentioned before, the graphics are too flawless for damage. While the beautifully renditioned cars take your mind off of it most of the time, your vehicle never receiving any damage does take its toll on your overall mood. If you hit a wall, you want to see the aftermath of course. Well, a slight correction to this. Your car can take damage, but only on the tires, and only in certain races.
Graphics receives an 8 out of 10.

Originality
As with all sequels, what can you do to make your game newer and keep it original from all the rest? In some cases, not much. Gran Turismo 3 isn't much different than 2. Sure you can add new rims to your cars, but other than that, and some new models, not much is different from its predecessors.
Originality receives a 5 out of 10.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack, however, blends together very well for the most part. As for the music, artists like 8 Stops 7, Snoop Dogg, The Cult, and even Jimmy Hendrix light up the race. There's also various techno-ish songs, which always make for a good fast-paced game. For the engines, well, they sound excellent, until it's too fast. You soup up your car too much and it revs forty times a second it seems. It makes the engine sound fake, like a child playing with toy cars. The screeching tires may also get on your nerves from time to time.
Soundtrack receives a 7 out of 10.

Individualistic Characters
This goes right back to the vehicles, and yes, each one holds it's own. From cars like the Volkswagen Beetle to racers like the Ford GT-40, there's something for everyone. From vans to Indy-cars, and from racing imports to domestic models, it seems to have every vehicle under the sun, each one officially licensed of course.
Individualistic Characters receives a 10 out of 10.

Replay Value
By the time you finish this game, you probably won't want to replay it. There's so much to do in Simulation and Arcade mode that it'll take you forever to accomplish. As for two-player, it's the same concept as you racing by yourself. Pick a car, go, and hopefully be faster than the other guy. The Home Garage feature is pretty nifty though, allowing you to choose your own modded vehicles from your garage.
Replay Value receives a 5 out of 10.

Difficulty
One flaw of the Gran Turismo series. While some may easily glide through everything, for the casual racer, it's a little tougher. You must undergo vigorous license tests to enter certain races. You have to pass down-to-the-point tests like braking, cornering, etc. While they are complicated, it will be worth it in the end as you realize if you didn't have to pass all those stupid license tests, you may not have made it as far as you did. As for the racing difficulty, well, you basically have to follow one way around the track or you'll fall behind. Again stemming from the license tests, you'll have to know exactly where to break, exactly where to take the corner, what speed you should be going around curves, everything. For being slightly too complicated,
Difficulty receives a 6 out of 10.

Excitement Factor
Oh it's exciting alright. About as exciting as waiting for a computer you've had since 1995 to boot up. While the idea of driving real cars with real physics may appeal to some, to most of the gaming world, we want something like Burnout or Need for Speed that's less harsh on what you have to do to win. Having to race tracks one certain way over and over in different vehicles doesn't make for much excitement, especially since in Simulation mode it's going to take you a long time before you're able to afford anything even remotely fast.
Excitement Factor receives a 5 out of 10.

Controls
The controls, as with most racing games are simple. One for brake, one for emergency brake, one for speed, and of course steering. While steering is very complicated at times, this is one of the few games that had its own add-on, a steering wheel of course, giving it more of a realistic feel.
Controls receives a 7 out of 10.

Total score for Gran Turismo A-Spec: 69