Gran Turismo 4.(Product/Service Evaluation)

DEMIAN: Gran Turismo 4 is like a museum, or a church devoted to the holy automobile. It's a little sterile in the same way a museum is, too, and people who don't like the series' technical approach to driving won't be won over. But, especially with the sublime Logitech Driving Force Pro wheel, no other game comes anywhere close to replicating what it feels like to lay down two streaks of rubber in a '69 GT40 when the green flag drops, or hit 200 mph on the back straight at Le Sarthe. There are few games that can draw you in so completely that you forget you're playing a game in the first place, and this is one of them.

I could go on and on about what an amazing job GT4 does at simulating what it's like to drive almost any car on a racetrack, but you know all that already. It's Gran Turismo. But I have to admit, after 10 minutes of stick time a little disappointment began to creep in. GT4 feels almost exactly like the 4-year-old Gran Turismo A-Spec. That's not a bad thing, of course--until now, A-Spec was still the best driving sim on any console--but after all this time, it would've been nice to be surprised with something really new. Instead, GT4 is a tweaked, expanded, and highly polished version of what you already know and probably love...and it's tough to stay disappointed for long when the core gameplay is this good.

Yeah, the license tests are back, and though the menu system in Gran Turismo mode looks a bit different, your progression through the countless race events will feel …