There is no doubt Gran Turismo 3 is quite possibly one the greatest racing games in existence for any console. It's just too bad the game wasn't made for more than the PS2. Flash forward to now, with Empire Interactive and Razorworks teaming up to bring Total Immersion Racing into the spotlight, a game which is very similar to the GT-style racers of the past, with a few new niceties.

Graphics are mucho nice, almost on par with GT3. Environment mapping isn't quite as much as I would expect from a game in this genre as of late, but they won't mess up the gameplay. Tracks and skies are beautiful, though, and the interface is not bad, either.

Sounds are also pretty good. The tinny sound of the engines is realistic, and wrecks are convincing. Being a techno man myself, the futuristic music is fun to race to, although I have to admit it doesn't quite fit the scene very well.

The game is fun, and probably more realistic than some previous racers. You should notice that these tracks are based on actual GT tracks in the U.S. So, in a way, this game can get very repetitive because of its realism, since there is one objective, to go in the same oval over and over again, for laps upon laps...

As with most games of the same genre, there is a Career mode. This one is a little bit more interesting than the norm, though. As normal, you can join a team and go from there. What I liked in particular is the way this was done. At the beginning you are given the option to choose one of the two available teams, after which you have to impress the team managers by finishing a few test laps before a given time. If he's happy with it, you're on the team. Once in, you can earn tracks and cars as reward for your achievements, which can then be used in the single race mode if desired.

Another neat feature is the emotion system the developers tried to implement into the races. Essentially, this is a caution meter for each car in an eye's distance which tells you how aggressive, afraid, headstrong, etc. an opponent is. This should affect your techniques of passing them. I really didn't use it all that much, but the feature is there, and it does what it intends.

The game isn't easy at the beginning. Getting used to the sensitive controls and car setup will take a while (not to mention some of the opponents are really good in the later stages). Anyway, get used to setting up new parts on your car, since this is required early into your career. Besides, it's fun.

As noted briefly before, the joystick is pretty sensitive, and will probably throw you off at first. Also the framerate can lag a few times if the scenery becomes very complex, and obvious bugs in replays come out very rarely.

To finish, I really enjoyed Total Immersion Racing. There is no doubt there are better GT games, and if you don't have Gran Turismo 3 then there is no question that it should be your first purchase. If you are a GT fan and have GT3, then this one is for you.