The green light "bing" is a chime that GT fans haven't heard in quite a while. Gran Turismo 3 A-spec makes the emotion engine sweat with adrenaline. But it does race off with a few scratches.
GT3 car models are built to perfection. The intro doesn't need any rendered footage anymore because the in-game engine blows it away. Paint jobs glisten slightly from the sun, tires smoke up on the asphalt, and dirt flies in your face in rally mode. Everything a car does looks every bit as real as you'd expect.
The simulation mode is as hearty as Campbells' Chunky Soup. GT3 has six liceneses to obtain - B, A, iB, iA, Super, and Rally. The test difficulty is about the same as previous GTs, i.e it's easy to get the bronze and difficult to get the silver and gold trophies. License tests don't need to be taken right off the bat, so you can get started in few beginner league races as soon as you pop the disc in. There are tons of competitions, many with a special requirement or theme. After you win each one you'll be awarded a brand spanking new car that you can keep or sell. Along with car soup-ups there pretty much nothing you can't do in the simulation mode. Heck, you can even change your car's oil.
The Arcade Mode lets you choose from a variety of C, B, A, S, or Rally cars and jump into competitions with AI or a friend. The more tracks you beat the more that'll be unlocked. Like before, cars from your garage can be used. There's even a special icon for a "Guest Garage" when a friend's data needs to be loaded.
Vehicle control is as dead-on as it is in previous GTs. Slight movements and gas, brake pushes with the analog make a big difference in car performance. The car add-ons also give a noticeable boost in performace each time you upgrade.
The AI is pretty cheap in GT3. AI cars can race together like a pack of wolves - all sticking very close to each other and riding the exact same lines. It's also very easy for AI to recover from hiccups like a broad-side hit or a wall smash. It's also frequent that only one AI car can compete with your car, making many races seem like a one on one duel than a six player competition.
There are two car views to choose from - an in-car view and an outside view. The outside view is a bit too close to the car, blocking the view up ahead. A third, farther view would have worked much better.
GT3s backgrounds are beautifully rendered and special effects like lens filtering through trees and the an orange sunset burn are pulled off without a hitch. When car lights shine on the asphalt below you can even make out the tiny grooves on the pavement.
The backgrounds have great special effects, but you can't help but feel that you're racing in an unpopulated area. Life-less cardboard cutouts surround certain areas of the track, and there's seemingly no signs of life in the nearby areas. It's doesn't help that the drivers in each car are nothing more than shadows either.
A special mention has to be given to GT3's interface. It's clean, very icon-laden, and nice to navigate through. You don't want anything to keep you from racing, and the interface glides you through very nicely.
The 2-player split screen mode is 60 frames per second, just like the one player mode. Both can choose from the outside car view and each screen is squeezed into a widescreen presentation.
GT3 doesn't disappoint. The AI could be better, but everything else kicks too much ass to worry about it.
