The Prologue

Paying for a demo of a game isn't something I would normally do, or even condone. I simply think it's a waste of money that could be put to better use, e.g. buying more games. Plus I never understood why people bought a game just to get a demo of say a new Final Fantasy title that was coming out in X amount of months, maybe it's just clever marketing. But alas I have fallen on my own sword an done the unimaginable. Gran Turismo 4: Prologue was far too much gaming goodness than I could resist. While the wait for this game has grown and grown, peoples interest in a title will start to feign. GT4:P is a great way to say "Hey, It's still coming, just a little longer". Plus it came with a bonus DVD, how can you go wrong.

For the record I'm talking about the Australian version if anyone is wondering.

First of all if you are a fan of the GT series and don't get excited at the opening of GT4:P, you are dead inside! I'm not kidding, the goddamn intro is worth the price of admission alone!

As you would have read, as I did, the game is comprised of a "School Mode" and "Arcade Mode". The School Mode is 46 lessons, and are similar to the Licence Tests undertaken in the GT series. Though they have now changed, and for the better. First of all there is a lovely voice over from an English lady, who takes you through the test and give you tips about what you must do. This is similar to previous GT games where you could watch how to do a certain test, but now it's just a lot nicer. The tests vary in difficulty, and while passing them isn't really hard at all, getting a gold on certain tests can be quite a challenge. After each test is passed, the car used in the test is awarded for use in Arcade mode. Nice!

Arcade mode is really just 5 tracks and all your cars, that's it. 1 track is a rally track and 2 are city/street and one circuit. Though it's nice to be able to test out the cars you have unlocked on a full track, though with limited in laps.

The DVD included with the game is great. A little short but great. It's got a main feature called "The making of a driver" which is 30mins long and very interesting, with a great deal of excellent footage. Then there is another section called "Behind the scenes", this however is only 2mins long?! I have no idea why it's so short, there must be so much footage from the making of GT4 its not funny, yet that's all there is.

Prologue is what it is, and nothing more. It's a glimpse at GT4, and to keep fans entertained until November. It dose it, and dose it well.