Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec

Upon first playing of this game I could not believe the superb graphics; what an improvement over GT2! I like GT3, but I am disappointed with the dramatically less number of vehicles you can drive in the game compared to its predecessor. I think you only get around about 150 - 200 cars in GT3, which is disappointing when you could drive more than 600 in GT2. Then again, with the release of the game early on in the Playstation 2's lifespan, I suppose this is to be expected.

Of course, with GT3, we are rewarded with extra tracks and a more detailed driving experience, but perhaps the main flaw with this game - and its two predecessors - is that you cannot damage the vehicles whatsoever. However, the replays are superb!

Although the aim of the game is no different to its predecessors (win races in GT mode to unlock new vehicles and courses etc), GT3 is still a massive contribution to a racing game series that redefined the genre, and will continue to set the benchmark in that respect.

Poliphony Digital really knows how to make games to feel realistic out of the box, thats what they proved with the Gran Turismo series and a few of their other series that were strangely forgotten (maybe one day i would talk more about them), and, despite not convincing me, I recognize that they were the pinnacle of the fifth and sixth generation in many things... including the graphics. One of the most detailed video games on the PS1 and PS2, and in this case, the PS1 was already saying goodbye and giving way to the next generation. How Gran Turismo could be improved on the next gen? Well, i wouldnt repeat what i always repeat with the series because it would be redundant. Poliphony Digital arguably was the only company that could rival Naughty Dog. In the past it really was one of the companies that pushed the hardware to its absolute limits and made PC gaming cry to shame. But, thats not enough to make a game good.

The Gran Turismo series up to this point wanted to impress more than give the player fun, and while at least in GT1, 2 and 4 i could appreciate various innovations to the racing genre, those were pretty much non existent in 3. Is clearly that GT3, being released early in the PS2 lifespan and developers having problems with the hardware, ended up being pretty much inspired in GT2, but i didnt expected for the most part to be a carbon copy, even the UI looks the same which is very lazy, and a lot of things that made GT2 a more "memorable" experience in the genre here were gone, the insane amount of cars, the racing modifications or the variety of events (for some reason all of the different tiers have almost the same race events just harder).

For a moment i though that reducing heavily the amount of cars like GT1 would make the experience more focuses and feel each car awarded satisfying like the first game, but GT3 reminded to me that the series at this point was more like a car museum and not a classic career experience. Having only 100-200 cars and still somehow recieving the amount of cars per race like GT2 makes the money pretty much useless in this game, no car feels like my cars, it all feels like rental cars. I barely bought 10 cars and recieved more than half of the list.

And well... i guess i shouldnt mention all of the criticism of previous and newer games, because increasing the power of the hardware wouldnt automatically fix anything without work. AI is still trash, crashes at high speed still arent penalized, is only realistic on a surface level when it wants to be. It wouldnt be that bad for other racing games, but for one that wants to take itself so seriously? It is a shame because the "slogan" shows that the devs really wanted to make you feel inmersed in this beautiful car simulator, but things like this only go on the opposite direction.

GT3 is kind of dissappointing, and this comes from someone who isnt a fan of the series. The other games like GT1, 2 and 4 werent perfect games either, but i can admit they had a sense of innovation and a great core that... unfortunately GT3 lost. If you played GT2 then you played most of GT3. It could had pass as a remake of the second game honestly (which to be fair, it was the thing they show on the PS2 tech demos of the late 90s). Despite having its own improvements over GT2 like the handling and looking great, and not being terrible (of course), honestly GT3 wasnt even worth my time.

Ok sacrificing gameplay for graphics makes a bad game. This game proves this. Ok so I was playing the game and it says 200 kmh and I started thinking "its more like 2 kmh"! The gameplay is so slow it makes a Lada look fast! In the second game the gameplay isn't sacrificed for graphics instead it's balanced. It has good graphics and good gameplay. The first sacrificed graphics for great gameplay. So number had great gameplay but the graphics weren't good. This game has amazing graphics but terrible gameplay! This is the worst GT game with the second being best but Gran Turismo Concept looks class so I'm hoping its a good Playstation 2 Gran Turismo game.

After playing the game for the first time I was totally blown away by the realism of graphics and gameplay, the cars handled just like the real thing and the reflections on the car were absolutely incredible.

If you ever contemplate buying a video game this is one you simply must have.

If you like cars or not, you'll be amazed by this work art.

The cars actually look like the real thing and the replays look awesome.

This is the best of the series. The only thing different from the other games are; better graphics, different car selection (I won't say more cars, because GT2 has the biggest selection), and some different tracks. The cars have taken on a life of their own. All the cars have realistic feels to them. GT1 and 2 did, but did they look this good? I don't think so. The only complaint I have is that they took out Motor Sports Land. Even though that was a slow and small track, it was at a challenging enough to like. But all the other tracks make up for it. I also like that now you can upgrade the racing cars, but not that you can't make your own. I also like that your car now has oil. It makes more sense. But, unlike GT2, their isn't any damage. Well, what's the plot, besides racing and suping up your car? Nothing. There's no reason for one. Just race. I also like the soundtrack. Some songs aren't the best, but the title song ("Are You Gonna Go My Way? (Gran Turismo Remix) is great. I also like "99 Red Balloons". Oh, and unlike GT1 and like GT2, in GT3, you can use your customized cars in arcade mode. And even though it doesn't look like it from the car select menu, if you go into the Settings option, look at the bottom of the screen. It'll say the horsepower of the car.I like to whip the computer's butt. Most of the time, you can beat 'em, if you have a strong enough car (strong as in HP).It's rewarding to race for hours, looking to win a new car, and on the final strip on the last lap, about 50m from the finish line, with no one in your mirror (because you're to far ahead, duh), than go to the left side of the track, hit the handbrake, and spin right across the finish line. SWEEEEEEETTTTTT!