Gran Turismo 5
Gears of awe?
Review After spending six years on the waiting list for Gran Turismo 5, new owners might be surprised to find that the pristine Bugatti Veyron 16.4 they thought they had ordered has rolled off the forecourt more like a cut 'n' shut.
Straight into the lead
For those unfamiliar with the term, a cut 'n' shut is the police and DVLA name for a car made from two different vehicles - usually write-offs - where the back end of one is welded to the front of another. In the case of Gran Turismo 5, the back end of that cut 'n' shut is a 1200bhp driving simulator of unparalleled engineering, whereas the front end is a hulking, rusty jalopy of a game.
What GT5 gets right, it gets near flawless. An unimaginable finesse permeates the driving physics through over 1000 cars, 70 track variations and several disparate driving styles. The handling is noticeably more refined than GT4 and GT5 Prologue, with every car feeling unique. Front-wheel drives are unpredictable when tuned with too much power, and rear-wheelers struggle to maintain traction in the wet. And every supercharger, sports intake manifold and chassis weight reduction fine tunes your ride with tangible subtlety.
Just deserts
The attention to detail in handling is matched only by the comprehensiveness of GT5's driving options. If you just want to take a spin, GT5 offers a practice mode to hone your driving skills or break-in new cars, or you can try the full Arcade mode, which offers straight races without class restrictions. But, to progress through GT5 and start collecting some cars, you'll have to compete in the standard GT Mode, which sees A-Spec and B-Spec racing joined by a new Special racing mode.
Next page: Stig it to 'em
COMMENTS
Wow...
... You must really hate Forza.
Your suggestion that the reviewer is a Forza 3 fan, and therefore hates GT5 is somewhat stupid. Does the release of GT5 somehow delete every copy of Forza 3 in the universe? Does it somehow stop people playing Forza 3?
GT3 was the reason I bought the PS2, and I was eagerly awaiting GT5. So far, it feels just like GT3. Admittedly I am only level 10, but I've been racing over the same tracks as I did in GT3, and they don't look that much better at 1080p on a 42inch plasma. (Please feel free to post your anonymous comments about the poor quality of my TV, or the poor quality of my eyes etc etc, or how I am being paid by the Forza 3 team etc etc).
The menu system is ridiculous, but I can live with it. The fact that I can't change gear ratios, just the top speed on a Fully Customizable Transmission is a serious pain (And surely redefines the meaning of the word "Fully"?)
The graphics are unimpressive, but graphics do not make or break a game for me, so that isn't really an issue. I do wonder why all the GT5 fanbois are so obsessed with the "Amazing next gen graphics" though. Is that all they care about? It seems to be their one defense against any criticism of the game.
80% feels about right for the game. The long loading times on an installed game is very annoying, especially when trying to complete the licenses.
ho ho ho
Been playing this non-stop for 2 weeks now and have to say that graphically, anyone who thinks that the visuals are PS2 quality have broken eyes, a crap TV or shares in Microsoft. Haven't experienced any tearing whatsoever on my rather modest Evesham HD Panel and it's an old un. So in a nutshell don't buy crap TV's then blame the games for the TV's crap performance with fast moving images.
Yeah gotta love that
Negative comment about GT5 = Shill to Microsoft
Your opinions can only be bought and sold whereas my feelings for GT5 are pure I tell you!
Paris for the pure feelings rather than bought or sold of course
In all honesty...
If you liked GT4 you'll like GT5 ... just maybe not enough to splash out for a PS3 and the game.
Don't get me wrong, GT5 is a great driving game - but so was GT4 (and 2 and 1 - never owned 3 for some reason) - if you're a fan of the series and already own a PS3, buy it. If you don't own a PS3 this is probably not enough reason alone to get one - it's not without its pimples.
Still, there are plenty of other reasons to get a PS3 - BluRay player, ability to stream videos from a media centre PC, online film rentals, iPlayer on your TV (not an issue with Virgin Media admittedly) and plenty of other good games.
Confused
Did someone put a copy of GT4 in your GT5 box?
As clearly anyone that thinks GT5 does not play and look a generation ahead of the existing games is clearly either biased beyond belief, blind or has been paid off.
To even suggest it does not look as good as Forza3 is laughable to the extreme. Do hang your heads in shame for jumping on the bandwagon.
