Gt5 The Review, The Return of the King(of all driving Simulators) Tim's Take

After nearly six years in development, Gran Turismo Five has finally arrived, was it worth the wait?
Gran Turismo Five (GT5)
Released November 2010
Developer Polyphony Digital
Publisher SCEA
Genre Racing/Driving
Type Simulation
Platforms Playstation3 (Exclusive)

Highs: Massive Depth, robust online play, near perfect physics, AI (later stages), huge track variety, the ability to customize and tune car performance, Beautiful car models (premium cars), the ability to create courses, uploading your own music collection to use in the game.

Lows: some minor graphic glitches, “standard” cars look dated, not for those seeking quick gratification

Racing/Driving simulators on consoles are a rarity in the game world. In the current generation of systems, only five such games have been released, two belong to the Forza series on Xbox 360, two are part of the Gran Turismo series and then there is Need for Speed, Shift. Gran Turismo as a series is the most famous of these “sim” racers, with over forty million copies sold since the original game was launched in 1998. There have been five subsequent installments (2, 3, 4 Prologue, and 5).

Structure:
For those of you familiar with Gran Turismo, much remains the same. There is an arcade mode as in previous titles, if you simply want to get in a few laps. The real meat of the game of course, is the simulation mode, or GTlife as it is called here.
The menu has been revamped from previous titles, so now everything can be accessed directly from your “home base”. Some reviewers did not like this feature, but personally I found it far more efficient to use than in past itinerations.
The heart of the game remains the same. Pick a “clunker” with the little starting cash you are given, win races, make money, buy nicer cars, and then upgrade them into fast and ferocious beasts. In addition to the regular menu of races, there are a series of special events. These are challenges that can be used to earn extra money. I found them fun for the most part. One includes NASCAR training with a virtual Jeff Gordon, guiding you through a number of exercises. Another involves Rally great Sebastian Loeb. My favorite though is on with the PDK class carts. The little things go 85 mph and were a blast to drive.
One of the past criticisms of the series is the ability to simply “buy” your way to progress. An RPG-like leveling system is now implemented to make the player work for and earn their progress. As the player wins more races and succeeds in more challenges, points are awarded. As the player levels up, they gain access to more expensive, exotic cars and more challenging races.
In addition to the A-spec, the B-Spec is ported over from GT4. The way B Spec works, you act as a manger, create a “driver” and enter him in races for money. The B spec driver also gains experience which translates into better performance on each race.
There is also a photo mode. This feature allows the player to pick one the of their prize cars, park it in a beautiful location and snap a high resolution photo to save, show off or even print.
One last new feature is the “Course Creator” this allows you to use several preset environments and modify the track accordingly, determine the number and severity of turns, elevations, etc. Once the course is complete you can upload and drive anything from your garage on it for fun.
In addition to all the offline stuff, GT5 comes with a long awaited online mode. Here you can enter tournaments and race opponents from around the globe. Players can upload their favorite saved replays on something called GTV (sort of like youtube) The online stuff works very well and even with sixteen other racers in some races, there was not a slowdown to be seen (Sony set up some seriously powerful servers to handle this baby) Also there as shop with additional cars to buy and download. One newly implemented feature (via DLC) is the ability to set up “friends” and borrow their cars to campaign with in the online races(very nice) it really is very well laid out community that will grow with time.

Gameplay:
Of course I have been on and on so far, but the question I know many of you want to ask is how do the cars drive? One of the strongest points of this series has always been a meticulous attention to making the game’s cars feel like their real world counterparts. Front drivers under steer, rear drivers smoke the tires and all wheel drive cars drift nicely on the dirt. In order to pull this off with 1000 plus cars in this game, the developer needed a lot of “horsepower” (no pun intendedJ) and fortunately the Playstation3’s mighty cell CPU is up to the task. Get into a 458 Italia, do a few hot laps at Monza, and that will be the closest you will get to being in a Ferrari short of winning the powerball or getting a record deal. The game does a superb job translating the feel of everything from humble econobox, to blistering GT Prototype with unerring accuracy. Car effects like acceleration, brake dive and nervousness in some cars at very high speeds are represented with the series trademark realism.

The track variety is enormous. The game imports a number of fantasy and real world locations from past games. Courses like the high speed ring, Deep forest, Trial Mountain, Grand valley, etc are all implemented as well as many city circuits like, Tokyo (my favorite) Madrid, London, and Rome. For the first time in the series, we have the Daytona Speedway and the oval at Indianapolis. In addition to all of the road courses, there are of course, dirt and snow tracks as well for your inner rally champ, including a lovely one that is set in Tuscany. New to the series is changing weather, which affects the cars’ performances and forces the player to adapt to different conditions.

The AI is a mixed bag, at the earlier levels; they seem like the same lame drivers that mindlessly follow the same line, regardless of what you do. As the levels progress and the races are more challenging, the AI character evolves and the opponents become much more aggressive. The change is gradual, giving the game a nice learning curve. Late in the game car damage is implemented which, unlike other race games effects car performance on the track.

Graphics and Sound

The visuals are somewhat of a mixed bag. Some parts of the game look incredible. The scenery is can in places be quite lovely and highly detailed. This is especially true when watching replays of your races or playing B-spec mode. The audience unfortunately still looks a bit cartoonish, and there are some areas that have blurred textures, and pop in. The game does an admirable job maintaining a high frame rate, even with a lot of cars on the screen and in online races as well. Weather effects such as rain and snow are well executed and are particularly good in a “premium” car that has actual working windshield wipers (nice touch) Day to night transitions in some events is also on par with the best around.

Tuscony as the sun sets


The car models themselves are hit and miss. There are two types of cars in the game. 80 percent of the cars are “standard” these are models that do not show interiors and appear to be brought up from GT4 and slapped with a high-def coat of wax. They still look good in the replays though. Twenty percent (around 200) of the cars are “premium” and these models are some of the most well rendered objects ever placed in a video game. With detailed interiors, flawless paint, working gages, and windshield wipers, these cars give you such a realistic experience; you can almost smell the leather. Recent downloaded content has upgraded some of the standard cars, with more promised in the future.

Premium Model


The sound effects are right on the money, especially if you have a good home theater system. There is a lot of detail here, with engine, exhaust, wind, tire and suspension noises well balanced. The cars all sound like their real life counterparts, everything from the rumble of the big block 60s muscle cars, to the banshee-like shriek, of the Lexus LFA V10 are represented very well.
As for the game’s sound track, I am not really feeling it on this one. Of course these things are a matter of personal taste, and there are a lot of songs over multiple genres represented. The good news for those who are not enamored with songs that Polyphony has picked out is that thanks to a recent download, you can upload your own MP3 collection to use in the game.

Kids Corner
The game is rated E and is safe for anyone to play. Other than the occasional car crash there is no violence to speak of in the game. No nudity is present and there is no objectionable language even in the song lyrics. The online community for this title is a safe and polite group. However younger players will most likely get bored if they have no passion or interest in cars. On the other hand your child really wants to learn about cars, the game can be a wonderful teaching tool.

In Summary:
Though not perfect, GT5 is still the premiere driving simulator. The game remains the single most immersive automobile experience in all of gaming. With flawless physics, massive content and a continually evolving online experience, GT5 remains a “gearhead’s” dream. So if you are a car enthusiast, who happens to own a Playstation3, I whole heartedly recommend this one, but be warned, you will be busy for months.

Here is Lamborghini Gallardo on the Le Sarthe track, site of the 24 Heures De Le Mans

Great write up. I have played all the GT series so far. It was GT that caused me to upgrade to PS2. Maybe it will cause me to upgrade to PS3 now.

I am glad you liked my review. I got my PS2 in 2001 as part of the GT3 bundle, a really great deal at the time. I have all versions of the game that have been availible in North America.

For the content alone this one is worth buying, along with the PS3. The real kicker here is all the DLC that has come out since its launch free of charge, Polyphony really takes care of its fans.