Customer Reviews

Gran Turismo 4 (Prima Official Game Guide)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Two gripes I have with this book:

1. In the section about racing technique they explain the fundamentals of cornering. Well, there's nothing more fundamental than the Late Apex. They explain what it is, then they show an illustrative diagram that has the late apex and early apex reversed! (They show the late apex but label it an early apex, and they show the early apex but call it a late apex.)

2. They claim to give "the best racing lines for all tracks" -- which was my main reason for buying the book -- but they don't. Rather, they make lots of generalities about about various turns, like "Stay out of the dirt when possible," and "Don't let them pass you." I expected to at least see illustrations of critical turns with suggested racing lines drawn through them.

My expectations were high after my first experience with their work, which was their Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth guide. It was helpful. The GT4 guide, however, is rather repetitive and full of filler, as if trying to fill out a 300-page book with insufficient material. And redundant. And repeats itself. With lots of filler. Lots of redundant filler. Repeatedly.

However, if one is looking for lots of automotive and racing trivia and jargon, this book has lots of it -- it's just that the book is billed as "The Complete Owners Manual" but the majority of the book is just. . . stuff. And trivia. And more stuff. And filler. Repeatedly.

If what you want is a handy reference for some cars, an index of all cars that can be unlocked, and something very light to thumb through at your leisure, buy this book.

If what you want is what is advertised on the book -- "The best racing lines for all tracks" "Expert racing lessons to help you dust your competition" -- you'll be sorely disappointed.

The closest they come to including "racing lines" is brief mentions of a fraction of the turns on each track. Particularly bad is the Nurburgring Nordschleife coverage. Here's an example of how they describe one vast section of the course: "The third section of the course is also highly technical, with many difficult chicanes and hairpins connected to one another." That's all they say for what is approximately 3 to 4 miles of track.

The "expert lessons" appear to be completely missing. They do mention the license exams, but the text they include for each one might almost be as useful as the in-game text. They mention the driving missions, but only that they exist -- there are no tips for them here.

I strongly recommend utilizing online resources instead of this book.

For something that advertises itself as the complete guide, it's completely lacking. Almost no information on tuning, way too general overview of cars w/ no discussion of various differences between the cars, pretty much nothing in the book that you can't figure out on your own.

When I reserved my copy soon after the game was released it was advertised to me by the dude at the game store as being delayed because they were spending lots of time adding lots of information to the book, so it was going to be a truly complete, extremely informative book... instead, I find out later that it was only delayed due to licensing problems and has actually been finished for months, before the game was even officially released.

It's not too poorly priced, but I wouldn't buy it if I had it to do over again. Last time I reserve a strategy guide ;)

This book is simply not worth buying. I bought this book hoping for check times for gold medals in license tests, racing lines, and strategies for tuning, etc.

This book has none of this. It's basically a history of all the car companies in the game, with listings of all of the cars available, and an unlock list.

Go to (...)and don't waste your time with this book.

This is a completely useless strategy guide. Why? Because Gran Turismo is a racing game. What can a guide teach you that you can't possibly learn by playing the game. Now, I know what you're thinking: Why am I reviewing this if I think it's useless. Because I wasted my money on it, that's why, and I'm going to bash into the ground and attempt to scare others from wasting their money as well.

Pros and Cons:
+ Pages 292-295, which contains a list of the cars you win racing certain events.

- It "describes" driving techniques. How many have ever passed a driving test by only reading the driving manual and never actually getting behind the wheel?

- It analyzes car manufacturers, which can be fun, but it's also something that's been found in car magazines throughout the world.

- It gives you maps of the race course and the key turning points, once again "describing" how to take the turns.

- The guide has a kind of "extras" section, that actually bores us with the past Gran Turismo titles and how they affected the industry. We know how it has affected the industry, because their have been FOUR titles.

- Then, it tries to squeeze money from you by advertising, in a section all its own by the way, other GT items (hats, DVDs, a steering wheel). This wouldn't have bothered me had they placed it at the back of the book but it's closer to the middle.

- Finally, it has all the websites of all the car manufacturers, another way of shamelessly advertising things most of us can't afford.

Some of you may think that my "cons" are actually pros, but when you think about it, a strategy guide (which they cleverly titled "Game Guide") is supposed to aid you in the game. The cons listed are all the things I thought didn't help me. As you can see, I only liked four pages. Needless to say, I don't recommend this guide. You can learn more by actually experiencing the game than reading this guide.

The book did not give you tips on the special missions or much on car setup. The only thing of use was the car and prize check off list, but there is no information on Peugeot's Cars anywhere in the book.

Gran Turismo 4 (Prima Official Game Guide)
Comprehensive guide has enhanced my enjoyment of this game that, frankly, I hadn't used very much. Easy to read and understand for a non-gamer (me).

How can you sell a book of tips for a game that has already had it release date pushed back for at least 1 year so far and it is begining to appear that it will be pushed off for another year, maybe on some other plane of excistence that the game does one day hit the stores so the poor saps like myself that has had this game preordered for so long I should be charging intrest on the money I wasted waiting I might actually buy it but do like me and wait to see which comes first GT4 or Armageddon

I am so glad that this book is finally released. Earlier, I was doubt that this book might not be releasing because of the licensing problem. I am very happy to get this product. For the book itself, what do you expect? It is awesome. It really provides all the details including cars, circuits and licenses that I had to do in order to pass through each stage. First, for the cars, it is good. For the circuits, it is all in details including my favorite circuit- Hong Kong (because I was born and grew up there). For the license, it provides all the tips of how to get a gold license. For example, it tells you when I should gas, brake and stop. Overall, this guide is perfect. Yeah Baby!!! Go for it. Totally recommended book.