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Take a deep breath and reach for the comfy chair because the sequel to the most ground breaking game of 1998 is here... Unsatisfied with his first attempt at the definitive racing game the Gran Turismo producer, Kazunori Yamauchi has returned to utilise the full power of the Playstation (how does the ad go, do not underestimate...?). Incase you have been living in a hole on Mars for the past year and have not heard of Gran Turismo here's the skinny. In June of 1998 the gaming world stood still briefly to catch its breath when Sony published yet another triple 'A' title for their ageing console. With fears that 32-bit was quickly going to have to be orphaned for the latest technology along came a racing game with more options, tracks and cars than all others before it, ever. But it was not purely the amount of options available, it was the attention to detail that had quite obviously gone into creating this game. The graphics were so lovingly recreated that it was possible to drive up behind a car and read the make on the back. Admitedly, this is somewhat difficult at 250km/h! So, with 25% of the PlayStation power going for a jolly down the pub in GT, what have the boys got in store for GT2? I'll tell you what they're going to do...400 cars, higher poly counts on the models, greater track detail, twice as many tracks, improved physics, better sound FX, improved AI and a touch of gouraud shading thrown in for good measure. The whole game is going to have a much more multinational |
flavour as it will feature a wider range of tracks from all over the world and the car selection is going to be more european than the first effort, although the actual list of cars has yet to be finalised (licensing and all that). Yamauchi was least impressed with the AI in the first game, in his own words "The AI is probably one of the lowest acheivements in GT so in the sequel it will be much improved. For instance the opponent cars would drive as if actual human beings were driving them." Although avid fans of the Wipeout™ series will understand that this feature is not of major concern. Gamers wishing to see more cars on the tracks at a time will be dissapointed but according to Yamauchi the hardware would only allow another two cars to be added with no improvements made to the rest of the game. A wise choice then. The latest peice of hardware from SCE, the PocketStation, will be compatible with the game although the purpose is unclear at the moment. Perhaps you can take it to Uni to show your limited edition sports car off to the girls, who knows. Also, Dual Shock and Jog Con will be supported. Taking an average player as having spent two months on the original, Yamauchi is expecting the sequel to take about a year of our valuable time. I don't know about you but I still bung it in the PSX and thrash around in a '88 CRX. If I used the one in the driveway my insurance would get revoked! |
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