GT Legends – PC – Review

You have to say one thing about the
developers at Polyphony Digital is that each time that they release a new Gran
Turismo game, that it really raises the bar for all of the other simulation game
developers. Once you play their game it is hard to go to other gaming platforms
and check out what they have. Needless to say that Gran Turismo is not the “end
all” GT simulation racing game, but it comes close. Since that is the case
developers from around the world are always trying to one-up them and create
games on various console. The latest GT game that I have played is entitled GT
Legends by the developers at SimBin Development Team. Is their game for the PC
the next big game in the GT world, or is it a let down? Read on to find out
more!

There are a couple of modes to keep
you occupied for hours on end. First there is a Single Player which allows you
to go to Quick Race, Open Practice, and Cup Challenge mode. Then there is the
multiplayer mode where you can race against your friend in a LAN game or go
online to race against various people around the world. The Quick Race mode
allows you to grab any car in your garage and take it out and compete against
other various cars on the road. In Open Practice mode you are given the chance
to practice with any cars and tracks that you have unlocked. This gives you the
chance to get to know the lay of the land and get “one up” on the competition in
the Cup Challenge.

Cup Challenge mode is the real meat
and potatoes behind this game. In this mode you will get to fully explore the
world of GT Legends. In the beginning of this game you are only given two 60’s
cars which are really “bottom of the barrel” cars. As you win races you will
have the opportunity to purchase more power cars to compete in other various
Cups. In this mode you will unlock various cars and race tracks which can be
used in the games other various modes.

The computer controller characters
in this game are something to compete against and will provide gamers with a
nice challenge. I noticed that when you are playing against them they will try
very hard to avoid various collisions, and generally play more like human
players would. While they are not perfect and still exhibit signs of AI, it is
still a good step forward in making a more believable computer-controlled cars.

GT Legends is a really nice looking
game, but in order to be able to view the game’s really gorgeous side you must
have a PC that is high end enough to run it. Even though the minimum
requirements run the game just fine, you will not be able to tell the intricate
details of this game. With that stated, I wanted to say that the game’s use of
textures as well as the models for the cars are really good and it does a good
job of making sure that every car in the game looks like their real-life
counterparts.

The thing that is such a shame about
this game is that it doesn’t contain any damage modeling. It is such a shame to
see a car being rammed into a wall at 60 miles and hour and take hardly any
damage. The only thing that you notice is that your car might or might not turn
back on and you lose the race. What I want to see is destruction and devastation
that many other games of this nature offer.

The sound effects for this game are
really out of this world realistic. If you have a nice speaker surround-sound
system, and especially a nice bass, the engine sounds are really realistic. This
is particularly true with the more powerful cars in the game. What also sounds
really nice is the gearshifts and the road noise. As you are flying down the
pavement you will hear the gears grind as you are changing the gears. The noises
you hear on the road as you are speeding are very realistic and change depending
on which type of pavement and tires you have on your car.

One bad thing about this game is
that I experienced frequent crashes. This PC has been used to review most games
that have come out lately, that require much processor and RAM specs and I have
not run into any problem like this. I had the game crash six times the first day
I played this game. To make sure that I was not alone in this problem I checked
around various forums and found that other people have had this game crash on
them a few times. Hopefully a patch will come along that will fix this because
it does get annoying when you are playing and it completely freezes on you.

GT Legends is rated for Everyone.

The system requirements are as
follows:
Windows XP or 2000
1.3 GHz or greater processor
512 MB of RAM
8X or faster CD/DVD drive
2.5 GB of disk space
64 MB Video Card
Direct X 8.1

Gameplay: 8.2
The game plays just like every other
simulator racing game. Getting the chance to drive and play with some of the
older cars was a nice change of pace in comparison to other games on the market.

Graphics: 8.5
I also really like the various animations of the driver when you are in the car.
If you are driving down the road and switch gears you will see the driver moving
the gear box. The graphics for this PC racing game are pretty well done. The car
models look decent and have a nice amount of texturing on them. What is not so
good is the damage modeling or lack thereof. In this day and age cars that run
into a wall need to take some sort of damage yet this game only shows minimal
parts coming off until the car just stops working. This is a real
disappointment.

Sound: 8.9
The audio for this game is good. All of the cars sound pretty close to
their real life counterparts.

Difficulty: Medium
This is a simulation driving game through and through. This means that
if you crash into a wall, your engine might just blow up or give out on you. In
order to play this game efficiently you will need to have a steering wheel and
gas/brake pedals.

Concept: 8.0
The idea of a GT game is far from new, but the developers did a good
job of bring out the classic car models into the fray.

Multiplayer: 8.2
If you are wanting to see if you are the best driver in the world then
you will want to go online and see if you have what it takes to obtain that
title. If you just want to see if you are the best among your friends then you
can play on a LAN environment as well.

Overall: 8.4
If you are looking for a good racing game that lets you play with
classic racing cars then GT Legends for the PC is just what you have been
waiting for. With a solid online racing mode as well as other modes that will
occupy your time for quite a while, GT Legends will not leave your PC for quite
some time.