So I finally got a chance to sit down and get in some quality time with Gran Turismo 3. Problem is, it doesn’t seem to be an improvement over the plain ol’ GT2. Granted, the graphics and sound are both much improved, but the game play really isn’t. To begin with, it has less camera angles than the previous game. Whereas before you had two third-person views, there is now only one, plus the requisite first-person, in-car view. Problem is, this view is completely inadequate. The camera sits too low and too close behind the car – to the point where the road ahead is sometimes obstructed by your vehicle, usually when a turn is immediately ahead.

Another feature that this game is noticeably lacking is some kind of brightness adjustment. Shaded areas of the track tend to wash out to the point where, again, you can barely tell what’s happening, if at all. I am very pleased with the current settings of our WEGA, and I don’t think it should be necessary to adjust the brightness just for this game. The game I’m comparing this to which shall remain nameless does have brightness options. Thankfully, GT3 does at least have an aspect ratio option.

Game play is up to par with the others in the series, not noticeably different (which is a good thing). What GT has yet to nail down is their segues between races. GT2 had the unavoidable automatic replay. So far in GT3, all I’ve done is the licensing tests, but that’s enough to drive me insane. If you fail one of these, the most awful music ever begins playing, and the game just sits for 5 or 10 seconds before relinquishing control to you. This means that you’ll probably want to pause and restart instead, which is instantaneous. I’d like to see Gran Turismo take note of the not-quite-so-popular Vanishing Point.

See, Vanishing Point has similar tests, but if you run into something that would cause you to fail, the action immediately stops. Two or three options pop up (I think quit, retry, and replay) and the camera begins to pan around the car, so you can see what hit where. You can watch this if you want or you can immediately try again. There’s a bit of ambient music and noise, but it doesn’t sound as though the game is celebrating your defeat.

Overall, GT3 is still a fantastic game, marred by little things that may really irritate some people (ie: me). I may be writing this out of bitterness out of the licensing tests, but the truth is, I really do like the game. I will probably pull out of this mood after those are completed, but these are still issues that shouldn’t show up in a game with these production values. I look forward to seeing how GT4 compares.