Gran Turismo 5 (PS3)

Very dissapointed, not with the game, the game is top drawer, but with the people who have reviewed it after only a few hours of play.

So then, the review, yes it starts off with a 20 minute installation and an update or two to download, didn't bother me. The menu music, I have read people complaining about the menu music. I don't understand why people would complain about this. Yes some of the tracks may not be to everybody's taste but since there are options to change the menu music to one of over a hundred built in tracks of different styles, I'm fairly sure there will be something there for everyone. Maybe we just need to take the time to read the manual or check the options.

Next thing, damage and AI. Would you play a game like Zelda or Final Fantasy, expecting to walk straight into the hardest battle in the game during the first 5 minutes of play? Gran Turismo 5 has taken on an RPG element and this is where most "racing" fans are misunderstanding and therefore criticising GT5. This game is a racing RPG and i personally believe it should be judged in its own category as there are no other games like it.

A levelling system has been introduced, you obtain "experience" points based on your finishing position in a race. You start off at level 0. Only beginner level 0 competitions like the Sunday cups etc are available. Opposition car behaviour is very basic, damage is practically non-existent.

As you increase in level, you are able to enter more competitive races, unlocking cars and obtaining credits (money) for various wins along the way. On top of these competitions you will unlock special events to take part in at particular levels, level 2 unlocks a particular event with two courses. The first course you are eligible to race on with your free awarded car, the second race you will have to save up enough credits to buy a car that meets the requirements so you will be coming back to this at a later stage. These events seem to award greater experience points and greater credits, increasing in challenge as you continue to progress and "level up".

Damage also increases as you level, difficulty changes behind the scenes from beginner to amateur, through professional to expert and by then your car really will be vulnerable to shunts and barriers. I just get the impression that a lot of people have started the game and played the first couple of races against poor AI and no damage and accepted this as the standard for the rest of the game. Not true. The game grows, I guess calling it GT life mode is a stroke of genius from the developers as it is more than an appropriate name for this RPG style of racer. What starts off like playing against a baby, soon develops in difficulty, size and beauty into a monster of an experience.

Don't judge a book by its cover, and certainly don't judge this game by its first few hours of play. Games are changing, it is no longer viable to play a top game and make an immediate impression. If you did this with other games such as Assassins creed 2, you would think that Desmond is the main character. Gran Turismo 5 is a truly great game that grows to become better and better with each race and with updated support coming thick and fast, it is one of the PS3's best titles of recent times.

Having given GT5 several hours yesterday, I'm starting to make friends with it, but it's not without niggles.
It looks as incredible as promised with jaw dropping visuals and presentation in places, but not without some tearing here and there (this was a surprise). Sound is also great and inclusion of Nascar racing and karting is a pleasant change.
Career mode is more accessible and you can shortcut to levels and events you really want to do without having to take extra license tests etc.
The handling it has to be said, is sublime with huge differences in the feel of cars as you would expect. On track they perform brilliantly, particularly as you get up into the real racers.
One thing that really annoyed me about Forza was that once a car got into a slide it was uncorrectable, yet on GT5 you can get really out of shape round a corner and still save it if you fight hard enough. Traction control needs to be turned down to get this effect.
On the other hand you can be happily steaming round a corner when the slightest bump or loss of traction can send you flying off course, yet this is an equally satisfying aspect as it is realistic! These cars are definitely not on rails, the depth of control is vast.
Sountrack deserves a mention too as it features Them Crooked Vulutres, Queens of the Stone Age AND Eagles of Death Metal!! Awesome.
Otherwise though, if you've played earlier versions of GT, it all feels very familiar, and this is where my biggest problems with this long long awaited game lie....
Silly license tests, still there (although you can thankfully skip many of them now).
Samey race categories and some age old tracks, still there.
Samey mismatched CPU cars that always finish in same order (bar Nascar).
Stupid AI, still there - CPU cars will still drive into the back of you rather than attempt to pass.
Being disqualified from some races (Top Gear Test Track) for as little as going off road or hitting a cone!! That's annoying.
But my biggest issue so far is with the so-called damage modelling. If it's working as intened (speculation of patch on official launch day?) then it's barely noticable. You can get into some almighty scrapes, intentionally once I suspected the damage wasn't up to much, yet your car stays 99% intact!! A wing might fall off if you're lucky, but otherwise the age old trick of using a line of traffic as an auto-brake still works horribly well. And that's a shocker considering how long this game has been in development.
Yes it looks amazing, and will be a great demo to show off your PS3 and mahoosive HD TV, but, GT has always pitched itself as "The Real Driving Simulator", and nowhere in the real world can you plough into a wall/other car at loony MPH and get away with it.
So, it sets new standards in graphics and handling, but is stuck in 19998 when it comes to simulation.
No doubt millions will love it though.

Top game
Better than the earlier versions. Damage on the cars is a nice feature. A must have game for any collection.