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This game is ok, but doesn't come close to Gran Turismo 3. My major complaint is the handling of the cars. It's very difficult to get a car to have really good grip, even at maximum downforce. A lot of times it's like driving on ice. Ok, maybe I'm exagerrating a little, but the handling is nothing like GT3, and I actually have gotten quite frustrated numerous times. And this is my experience from using the Logitech wheel, not a standard PS2 controller.

Other complaints: There is no rear view mirror (only a red arrow pointing backwards to where the car behind you is), no qualifying, no timer telling you how far behind (or ahead) other cars are while racing, and the series races are only 3-5 laps. Starting from the rear (which is usually where the CPU puts you), it can be tough to catch up in only 3 laps. Maybe it's better at the Lola World Championship level, but I wouldn't know; I still haven't been able to get there! But instead of being motivated by the challenge, I'm more frustrated and annoyed by the game's faults and shortcomings. By the way, it's not because I'm a bad driver either; with the Logitech wheel, plenty of computer racing experience, and a good bit of real world racing experience, I consider myself an above average racer, and I'm still frustrated.

On the plus side, the graphics are good, the replays are cool, and the cars have great sounds, different for each vehicle. Having so many great tracks is also a strong point for this game.

But overall, I think I'll spend a lot more of my "driving time" on GT3 rather than Pro Race Driver.

Pro Race Driver is definitely an above-average simulation-style auto racing game. It can best be compared with Gran Turismo 3 in relation to the number of circuits in the game (some of which must be unlocked), although Gran Turismo 3 definitely has the upper hand in terms of the photorealistic graphics and the sheer number of vehicles. However, whereas Gran Turismo 3 has literally HUNDREDS of races and race series, there is no connecting thread or storyline to the game, and this is where Pro Race Driver truly shines.

Pro Race Driver's Career Mode has the player enacting the racing life of Ryan McKane. The game's opening film shows a young Ryan and his older brother at a race and watching their near-legendary father die in a horrifying accident. Fifteen years later, Ryan gets his first shot at a big-time auto racing series. All this is done with nice cinematic cutscenes which sometimes includes cutscenes with rival drivers and team managers based upon the on-track racing actions.

With forty-two licensed cars as well as thirty-eight licensed circuits from around the world, Ryan will have A LOT to overcome (including - and perhaps ESPECIALLY - his own ego) to become a legendary race car driver in his own right, surpassing even the racing community's high expectations of his deceased father. Unfortunately, Pro Race Driver does not include qualifying (this is the one major downfall of the game), so the player is stuck with wherever she or he is placed on the starting grid by the CPU.

Career Mode operates on the tier system. Tier 1 race series use the slowest cars in the game, whereas higher-tier race series use faster and more powerful cars. Again, there are certainly not nearly as many cars as in Gran Turismo 3, but Pro Race Driver does offer a good variety of cars nonetheless. Progressing to higher tiers of race series unlocks both the race circuits and the race cars of each progressive tier, and this immediately takes effect in all gameplay modes.

In Free Race Mode, however, the available cars for a given circuit depends on WHERE in Free Race Mode the player selects one or more circuits to use. The top of the Free Race Mode track selection screen is divided by race series; if one or more tracks are selected from within a race series, only those vehicles which can be used in the series will be available for selection. If the player selects a track from the Freestyle section at the very bottom of the track selection screen, then all unlocked cars are available to the player.

One of the nice things about Gran Turismo 3 is the ability to truly fine-tune each vehicle. While Pro Race Driver does not have nearly as many tuning options, it does offer quite enough options to take a car from extreme oversteer to extreme understeer.

Pro Race Driver does not use rules; in other words, there are no official repercussions (such as ten-second penalties or immediate disqualifications) for unsportsmanlike or dangerous driving, shortcutting corners, etc. Many corners (especially chicanes) do have barriers to ensure that all drivers (including the player) keep to the racing line, and there are plenty of sand traps and gravel traps to significantly slow cars which go off-line at many corners, but this is really the extent of the implementation of any 'rules' in Pro Race Driver.

The PlayStation2 features 256 levels of button sensitivity (for the X, Square, Circle, and Triangle buttons), and Pro Race Driver makes definite use of this feature (but fortunately NOT to the extreme of Total Immersion Racing). Pressing harder on the accelerator button (set to the X button as the default) will provide faster acceleration; pressing harder on the brake button (set to the Square button as the default) will provide harder braking (but pressing too hard induces wheel-lock).

Pro Race Driver seems to be best suited to a player who prefers a slightly- to somewhat-loose car, meaning that the back end tends to swing about. This means that drift-style racing is quite feasible for those skilled in this highly-specialized driving technique, and that plenty of countersteering will be required at most race venues. However, there are certainly enough tuning parameters that a player with good knowledge of car tuning can truly adapt virtually any vehicle in the game to a given circuit.

There are several bonus codes available for Pro Race Driver. These are entered in the Bonus folder of the Options file cabinet. Codemasters provides two bonus codes simply for registering the game and for Code M (Codemasters' online newsletter concerning its current and upcoming games, combined with its special members-only section of the Codemasters Web site); without giving anything away (hopefully), these two bonus codes definitely make the game a little more challenging, especially on tight street circuits such as Vancouver.

Overall, players will likely be spending A LOT of time with Pro Race Driver. To my knowledge, this game has the highest number of real-world race venues of all auto racing games available for PlayStation2; this fact alone makes it an excellent "collectors' item" for diehard racing gamers. Some of the circuits in Pro Race Driver include Hockenheim (both the short and long versions), Monza, Fuji, Aida, Zolder, Silverstone, Donington Park, Brands Hatch (two configurations), Nurburgring, and many, many more. The ability to truly customize races and even race series within Free Race Mode adds tremendous replayability to Pro Race Driver, in a way that Gran Turismo 3 and other PS2 racing games simply cannot achieve.

Handling doesn't compare to GT3, but once you get the hang of how it feels, there's plenty to enjoy. Highlights include the real tracks and cars from the British, German and Australian championships, and the interesting interface for choosing which championships to compete in. At any given time you can have up to 6 or 7 choices about how to progress.

The AI in the other cars is really great. This about the only racing game where I end up shouting obscenities to the other drivers for boisterous driving. They will get mad at you if you push them off, and will call you names!

This isn't GT3, but hey, sometimes you need a break from the cool, relentless efficiency of GT3, and crave something a little more rambunctious. PRD is a good option...