GT3: The Review:
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Sony delivers the best looking, best-playing racing game ever:
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Look at all that surberb detail
{ An incredible amount of attention has been paid to the car models, race environments, lighting, and special effects in GT3, to the point that they look nearly photo-realistic at times. Better yet, the car handling and physics are just as realistic. }
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Wow! We've known since it was first announced that Gran Turismo 3 was going to be a big game for PS2 -- and given the quality of its two PSone forerunners, a great one, too.
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Classic Tracks Return, but the've been enhanced
{ Many of the classic courses from the past two Gran Turiso games return, enhanced with dazzling PS2 visuals. }
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GT3 has long been
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This is one of the new tracks in GT3
{ Cote d'Azur is one of the new stages in GT3. It's actually the world-famous Monaco street course, and has lots of hairpin turns. It's also where you race the game's F1 cars. }
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The key's
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Up-Close Game Action
{ A.Even the windows on trackside buildings reflect the race environment very realistically. B. Thanks to some really high-resolution texures, the course detail is great, even at a distance. There's a little draw-in, but there's still a lot less than in most racing games. C.Each car model is made up between 2,000 and 4,000 polygons. They're very smooth and incredibly detailed -- right down to working side mirrorsand moving brake calipers. }
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Polyphony Digital has also loaded the game with all sorts of cool extras, such as Formula 1 cars, excellent i.Link racing, and even a super-cool opion to use three TV's and three PS2's (each with a copy of the game) to render your front, left, and right-hand views for the ultimate A/V experience.
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EYE-POPPING DETAIL
GT3's developer has seeemingly left no detail un-simulated. Even normally subtle effects, such as dirt kicked up by rally cars, play a big part in the gameplay.
{ A.The rain-soaked Special Stage Route 5 course si one of (if not the) most impressive looking things we've ever seen in a game.The water spray effect alone is just amazing. B.The dust effects can definitely affect your driving. }
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Between the Arcade mode (a full game in and of itself) and the full-on Gran Turismo simulation mode, be prepared to invest a substansial chunk of you life (more than 50 hours) on this game. But trust us, if you love cars, you won't regret a minute of it. The only real beef we have is that the simulation mode can be pretty daunting for newbies, at least intially, so you'll definitely want to check out our beginner's guide on page 84 for some helpful tips. Otherwise, GT3 is easily the best looking, best playing game PS2 has to offer, and the easily best racing title on any system. Buy it, play it, live it...you'll thank Polyphony Digital for creating such a remarkable gaming experience.
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An Up-Close Look of a Rally Race
{ A.The game's rally stages are some of its best. The car handling are you from surface to surface is perfect. B.Licenses are tough to get, but they are worth it. }
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Written By: Randy Nelson, from July '01 PSM Issue
- The game at this point when this article was written is finally complete -
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Gran Turismo 3 Information / GT3: Article #1 / GT3: Article #2 / GT3: Article #3 / GT3 Article #4 / GT3 Article #5 / GT3: The Review