5 years, was it worth the wait?

[Horrorshow]

Hey there, after reading the forums for a while and playing GT5 since it's release, I decided to register to voice my opinion of the latest Gran Turismo title

Now, firstly I've been a Gran Turismo player since day 1 and I've thoroughly enjoyed my experience, up until now. Gran Turismo 2 is still my all-time favourite title from the franchise, for many reasons and many memories. Along the way I've also played the entire Need For Speed series(albeit not a simulator at all, it's still a fun game sometimes) and the first two Forzas (Gran Turismo's only rival, honestly). What has immediately struck me at first with GT5 was the exceptionally long wait. Whether or not this has built up too much hype over the game and raised everyones expectations that it would be an absolute mindblower is questionable but far from impossible.

Everyone knows the "Wow!" factor of Gran Turismo straight from the get-go, it has been a brilliant series, with the first release back in early 1998 setting the standard for what everyone expected from a racing simulator. The game arguably improved in leaps and bounds as time went on and earlier releases still have replay factor because of the depth in which the game took you into the world of racing. So this leads to the latest release and the topic of my review/rant.

To be brief, of course the game looks (and sounds) amazing besides a few graphical glitches which will hopefully be patched up in the coming months, but I find appearances to be deceiving. I'm on the same bandwagon as anyone else who thinks Polyphonys latest offering is rather sub-par, given the time and money spent to produce it for the most powerful console ever released. My main gripe is the AI, they drive so erratically you'd think you were in peak-hour urban traffic and not on a professional race circuit. You could assume that the main part of a racing simulator that required the most finese and perfection aside from the physics would be the AI. It's a rather vital part of the gameplay experience, no matter how good the cars and track look, it's no fun if you either smash all the competition or get kicked hard to the curb. The main peeve I have with this AI is its addiction to unnecessary braking maneuvers, this is particularly annoying in tightly ran licence tests which require exceptional precision to get a good result (drafting for example, such as A10). Now, I'm not a perfectionist, I don't want to smash out 100% golds all the time and I never have, I'm quite happy to obtain silvers and anything extra is a very welcome bonus. Being PIT maneuvered by an AI car like it's on rails is just as frustrating now as it was 10 years ago, I'd have thought the so-called best racing simulator in the world would have worked out a way to make AI driving a bit more dynamic by now, but I see little to no difference in this regard since I first laid my grubby hands on Gran Turismo all those years ago.

On to the controls, lacking a steering wheel for my PS3 I cannot comment much on these - however I have read numerous issues with Logitech G25 and G27 wheels, which is a great disappointment. The G25 has been a very solid and popular choice of wheel since its release in 2007. I'd love to have a G25/G27 some day soon, maybe it can salvage some of my lost hope for Gran Turismo. I personally find it exceptionally difficult to control a Nascar effectively with the PS3 dual shock controller, the analogue stick is too sensitive and the D-pad isn't sensitive enough. A steering wheel would make this aspect of the game 1000x better, which is a great shame for those of us without a steering wheel. The only comment I could give with the default controls is that I love flying around hard corners at high speed with my horn blasting away, nice touch!

Look, I'm not great at writing expressive reviews but I could sum up all I really want to say with one very truthful comment...

I'm really tempted to get an Xbox 360 with Forza 3, and eagerly await Microsofts response to Polyphonys latest "offering". Whether or not it's released on the 360 or the next-gen Xbox I don't know, but I honesrly wouldn't care, Forza definately has more of my attention now then it used to.

Don't get me wrong though! It's a great game, but is a huge let down for the wait we all endured to see it playing on our TV screens. There are many nice aspects to it, but the list of disappointments that is building up the longer I play for is getting very long.

I'm not sure if we will ever find out what went 'wrong' with Gran Turismo 5. Did Sony just push Polyphony to give it a release even though the game was still deep in development? It's possible when you see that more then half of the 1000+ cars in Gran Turismo 5 are taken straight out of previous titles with little or no change at all. The fact there is dozens of(Between 25-50) exceptionally slight variations of the same cars, like the Skyline and MX5 are even more hints that the game possibly didn't get finished properly before a rushed release. The tuning seems half-finished, there is no sense to be made from the used car dealership, the challenge events seem predictably unbalanced, the graphics and physics are noticeably rough around the edges for what should and could have been such a polished game, given it's predecessors success. Compare things like this to the brilliant sound track and the (at times) completely life-like graphics in still screens, the depth of the photography, the weather mechanics, the particle engine and the well thought out earnings system (there seems to be no 'easy farm' method like there was in previous titles for example) that makes you actually want to race.

I find it impossible to believe that Kazunori Yamauchi is truely happy with Gran Turismo 5 in the state it was released in. It really does look like he was gunning to make a world-beater but something happened along the way which has shattered a lot of peoples dreams, including mine.

Will the release of Forza 4 see the king knocked off the throne to become the jester? It looks that way to me

 

[jamesscotland73]

The entire 5/6 year development thing makes no sense at all to me.

Im really enjoying it but Ive just got this constant feeling of deja vous as nothing has really moved on at all except the physics.

The vast amount of hype has in the end turned out to be nothing more than a cynical marketing ploy.

Kaz has been placed on a mythical pedastal over the last four years or so and has been portrayed as some kind of mythical, legendary, games developing genius. I think he needs to be given a bit more flak by the media instead of behind held up as a god.

I honestly cant believe how utterly unimaginative the licence tasks are, its just so tired and stale and teaches people nothing about driving at all.

Why not get some of the stars of DTM, BTCC to do comprehensive driver training courses similar to the Tiff Needell training in Supercar Challenge.

Talk people through a lap as they drive round and offer advice on car positioning , braking and accelerating.

All we have at the monet is "here is a corner, drive round it please", "here is a corner, drive round it please","here is a corner, drive round it please","here is a corner, drive round it please","here is a corner, drive round it please".

The AI is a complete joke also, on numerous occasions i have been 40 or so car lengths ahead on the last lap of a race only for a hitherto "not in the race" car to suddenly find nitrous speed and try and blast past me as if i were standing still. (i just block them)

The constant braking is also utterly bizzare, one car braked off the start line the other night and there was nothing near him...lol.

In my opinion the wait was not worth it and GT5 is just more of the same and is only marginally better than Forza 3.

I gaurantee that Kaz`s first interview after the release will (as usual) be an exercise in brown nosing when instead he should be getting told a few home truths.

This release is a massive opportunity missed, that said im still enjoying it as I love the series.

 

[danowat]

In short, no, not really worth the dev time IMO.

The genre has moved on a lot, but GT seems stuck in the 90's

 

[Darji8114]

In short, no, not really worth the dev time IMO.

The genre has moved on a lot, but GT seems stuck in the 90's

Like all Mario and Zelda games?

GT has still this classic feeling that i really love. I dont like the cold streamlined menus in the other Racer sim. And honestly i think GT5 is the best GT so far. It has that magic GT1 had for me when it was released.

Many people bitch about the standard cars but I on the other hand see it more like a bonus. Aslo a game with 200 Cars and 800 bonus cars. Its like GT3 which also had like 200? cars.

GT5 is just the start and he will imrpove it on the long way until GT6 will be released in like 3 years with more cars more tracks and so on^^

 

[LostBoyNZ]

That was a good read. I think sadly GT5 has gone the way a lot of titles under such long development times go. The developers lose touch with the progress other titles make, and what was once amazing is actually sub-par in some areas when it finally releases. Make no mistake, some areas are amazing, but as reviewers have mentioned it's very un-balanced.

I would imagine the development was very messy, probably including several re-writes of the code. It also feels to me that Kaz is perhaps still trying to make the GT1 he originally imagined. Therefore the series isn't really evolving, but instead he's perfecting a 13 year old game. The addition of NASCAR, Karts, Weather / Time and such are great, but after such a long time I think fans were expecting more, perhaps expecting the impossible.

I'm sure the AI and other aspects were heavily worked on, but they sound un-polished too. James, where you say a car suddenly speeds up on the final lap like they have nitrous, I imagine the underlying idea of that is that racers give 110% on the last lap. That's probably what the AI is doing, and the idea is realistic, but the execution is poor and un-polished.

Kaz is a fantastic producer and I think few worldwide can honestly claim to love cars as much as he, but I wonder if maybe it's time to pass the series onto someone else? If he stayed in the team of course, but someone else lead it, they'd bring a fresh take on GT and ask new questions like if the license tests really need to be in there for a 6th time.

Finally though, I bet the pressure coming from Sony to release was massive, and I'd wait until we see all the updates that Kaz makes over the next few months before anyone gives a final judgement on GT5. After all, in a way what we're playing on now is Sony's GT5, and Kaz is still working on his.

 

[VeyronGlen]

I couldn't agree more with what you just said. I am seriously dissapointed with this game, something i didn't think i would ever say about Gran Turismo 5. In early builds of GT Demos the AI looked good, where they would actually avoid hitting you by going round you if you spun out but the AI just seems the same.

The car and track list is probably the most dissapointing thing of the game. Over 1000 cars and about 50 variations of Skylines which i don't think we need. There are not enough modern cars in IMO, no Focus RS or any new Hot Hatches, not enough supercars especially in Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Maserati and Ferrari, i would like to have seen an Exige over an old Elise, the Audi RS4 B7 and some more AMGs, they are only a few. Also the choices of Standard and Premium cars. Making cars like the old Fiat 500 and Peugeot 307 CC Premium actually angers me, they could have made something like a Veyron, which people will drive, a Premium instead.

The track list was dissapointing in some ways also, what happened to Valencia from GT PSP? All the classics from previous GTs? Some of it was good though, The Top Gear Test Track is my favourite as I'm probably the biggest Top Gear fan, The Nurburgring GP Courses along with Monza I love racing on as well.

Now this is probably the part i hate most about GT5. Selecting which cars you can drive in Arcade Mode. I think there are 50 cars which are unlocked and playable straight away, but 50 is nowhere near enough. The game has over 1000 cars and they only give you 50 to play with!?!? I was hoping it would be like Forza 3, where all the cars are available straight away, or atlest a few hundred like in GT4. Plus, when you eventually level up and have enough credits to buy the car, it still isn't available in Arcade? You have to put it in favourites right?

In addition, i believe that the dealerships are an absolute joke. Only being able to buy Premiums when you want is stupid. You can't buy 80% of game's cars when you want because they are in the Used Car Dealerships and they change all the time. It's so frustrating when you see a car in the used dealerships which you want to buy but dont have enough credits, so you save up and do a few races until you have enough and then when you look, everything has changed.

I could go on and on about the dissapointing stuff in this game but it would be pointless. I keep thinking that I have a big demo of the game and it's not the final build. "/

However, when you find the right car on the right track, it is pure heaven. The physics are just AMAZING along with the graphics on the Premium cars. The engine sounds have massively improved and the smoke is just awesome!

There are hundreds of races which keep you away from boredom and it is just so addictive, especially with the Course Editor and awesome Special Events and Licences.

The positives outshine the negatives in this game and i think i agree with IGN's overall review. It's a 10/10 simulator in a 5/10 game.

Still my favourite game by far and it humiliates Forza and NFS!

Can't wait for GT6!

 

[Mortuus]

Hell no, 5 years wait and we got 200 premium cars only? i dunno what took em so long..

 

[SubaruWrXSt!]

Na, but hey, lets see what happens in GT6. Hopefully in won't take as long to produce since they're gonna use this game as the base for it.

 

[GTracerRens]

The standard cars do annoy me a bit too much. As I race with a wheel and with cockpitview, I don't like them. When you are racing there is a big difference visible between standards and premiums when you look at the models of the cars and the details of them. A couple of times I see some nice cars on the track, but when I look for them at the dealership, they seem to be standard cars. For example with the "European Hot Hatch" event, only European hatchbacks allowed.. If you want to join that event, you have only a couple of cars to choose from. The rest are standards.. Still, the game was worth the wait. The game's got almost everything in it. But when I look at Colin MCrae Dirt 2 or F1 2010 both from Codemasters, than Gran Turismo 5 isn't that much better graphically. The only very big difference with GT5 is that Gran Turismo is (almost) complete. That makes it awesome.

 

[CerealKiller]

200 premium cars is not the only thing that changed from GT4 to GT5. We have a new physics engine, drastically upgrade graphics, day night, rain, snow, etc. I think a lot of the time was spent on infrastructure. In the midst they also had to get GTSP out the door and this surely was not a quick task.

We also need to remember that things do not move as quickly on this current generation of games, it no doubt takes longer to model tracks and premium cars for PS3 than it did in the days of GT4.

I say yes, definitely worth the wait, I'm absolutely loving the game. It has some weak spots, indeed the standards do look kind of crummy, but I've been surprised actually by how much fun some of them are to drive. I stumbled onto a 90's Mazda RX-7 that was just a boatload of fun.

A few little missing things I could nitpick on, but overall GT5 is an awesome game in it's own right, and surely a stepping stone to a more expansive GT6 now that a lot of the groundwork is laid. Even if it was another 5 years away, I'm absolutely certain I'd be playing GT5 the whole way through and happily.

 

[colt16v]

In my honest opinion, no, it was not worth the wait, could have been, but it isn't.

The game is pretty much just GT4 with better graphics (tracks, premium cars) and worse graphics (standard cars), useless and not wanted xp system, even more annoying menu interface and less options for tuning your cars.

Breakdown of what i like and dislike:

I like:

- Premium cars, they look superb
- Sound, sound have vastly improved since GT4, although still missing that extra something.

- Driving physics, got a G27 wheel, and it feels really good.

- More cars on track.

Dislike:

- Standard cars. Seriously, they look terrible. The wheel arches aren't even round. And the list of premium cars makes no sense. Why do the old useless VW Bus have interior when one of the most popular tuner cars, the Toyota Supra mk IV, does not? Its beyond absurd imo.

- No support for G27 wheel = no horn, handbrake or control of wipers, and im not sure if its the game or the wheel, but if you dont use clutch when using the H-stick, it will just put it into neutral. Really ****ing annoying.

- AI's, they are still stupid and will push you off track if you are in their way, and they randomly break on long straights.

- The races are boring and without variation, you dont feel like you're in a racing event, more like a trackday or something, and lack of qualifying round is bad.

- The races are too random and without much competition. Take as an example the tuning cars event in expert series, i have a Evo X with 430bhp which is enough to make it compete against 8 of the other 9 on the track, however, the Amuse S2000 just blows away like a rocket, leaving me with no chance at all. Then i need to further tune my car, cool, but now the race suck, cause the only competition i have, is the S2000. I wish they would have paid more attention to such details.

- Experience is bad. I wan't to be able to buy and drive any car in the game from the second i got the cash, i don't care if i can only use it in sunday cup or practice. Having 3 things you need to grind in one game is bad, really bad.

I got more things on my list, like graphical glitches etc, but i'll leave it for now.

 

[LostBoyNZ]

Long development time and faults that made it feel like it was rushed... reminds me of Windows Vista. Maybe GT6 will our Windows 7.

 

[GTracerRens]

In my honest opinion, no, it was not worth the wait, could have been, but it isn't.

The game is pretty much just GT4 with better graphics (tracks, premium cars) and worse graphics (standard cars), useless and not wanted xp system, even more annoying menu interface and less options for tuning your cars.

Breakdown of what i like and dislike:

I like:

- Premium cars, they look superb
- Sound, sound have vastly improved since GT4, although still missing that extra something.

- Driving physics, got a G27 wheel, and it feels really good.

- More cars on track.

Dislike:

- Standard cars. Seriously, they look terrible. The wheel arches aren't even round. And the list of premium cars makes no sense. Why do the old useless VW Bus have interior when one of the most popular tuner cars, the Toyota Supra mk IV, does not? Its beyond absurd imo.

- No support for G27 wheel = no horn, handbrake or control of wipers, and im not sure if its the game or the wheel, but if you dont use clutch when using the H-stick, it will just put it into neutral. Really ****ing annoying.

- AI's, they are still stupid and will push you off track if you are in their way, and they randomly break on long straights.

- The races are boring and without variation, you dont feel like you're in a racing event, more like a trackday or something, and lack of qualifying round is bad.

- The races are too random and without much competition. Take as an example the tuning cars event in expert series, i have a Evo X with 430bhp which is enough to make it compete against 8 of the other 9 on the track, however, the Amuse S2000 just blows away like a rocket, leaving me with no chance at all. Then i need to further tune my car, cool, but now the race suck, cause the only competition i have, is the S2000. I wish they would have paid more attention to such details.

- Experience is bad. I wan't to be able to buy and drive any car in the game from the second i got the cash, i don't care if i can only use it in sunday cup or practice. Having 3 things you need to grind in one game is bad, really bad.

I got more things on my list, like graphical glitches etc, but i'll leave it for now.

I totally agree with you... A bit disappointed. I played F1 2010 just before GT5's release and those practise rounds, qualifying and races are so much more exciting than GT5... :S The races in GT5 are just to easy. If you want to have a bit of a challenge, you have to go online or go to arcade mode and set the AI a bit higher.

I've been racing for Hours, weeks, months in GT5 Prologue for all those cars. And if I want them in GT5, I have to buy them again...

But I drive with the DF GT and can use a horn and control of wipers. Are you sure you cannot set them in the option menu? I have the horn on the L1 button and the button with the GT-logo, the wipers on R1 button..

And I also agree with you about the AI, cars are too easy to outbreak in races, it makes it all to easy. And they always hit you when you overtake them in coners. I hope for an AI-update or something...

Gran Turismo is an awesome game, but after all those years they could have come up with better stuff... Look at Codemasters and what they brought is in 5 years!!!

 

[cygnus_zero]

Its impossible to know what all this time was spent on, but playing this game, I dont believe all that time was spent on this game. It's not even really as good as Forza 3 which only took 2 years. So Im convinced they were just hung up on Prologue, GTHD and the PSP game.

There is just too much wrong with this game for it to be 5 solid years of development. No way.

 

[sheferd]

For me, I'm glad to have the game.
Some major disappoints though.

there seems to be less races than the last game. and also the fact that I can't change wheels on "standard" cars is annoying and the paint booth also is a little annoying in the way that I have to Aquire paint colors. What happened to the wide selection of wheels and the 'used' wheels this for me made GT4 a whole lot more interesting.

Another let down is the chase cam in racing, it's far to static behind the car, which makes the physics seem a little stiff (although I mostly use internal view, I like to look at the cars) Also when looking left and right in chase view I'd expect to see the left and right from the out side and not be put inside the car.

The Lack of photomode locations is also a little dissappointing and the invisible barriers to some of the tracks also (eg the top gear track and probably all the others).

And lastly, what is annoying, is the amount of times I have to hit X just to replay a licence test if I dont do well, (like get a bronze but aiming for gold)... Results screen pointless video screen (man with clip board) then results and menu screen just give me a screen with results and options to select! (this is similar in other parts of the game). After every race or test or event the first screen you should see after you finish is a selection of options related to that event.

This all hold this game back for me I hope this stuff is looked into for future updates


I think most of the 'Dev' time was put into getting engine sounds and building the insides of cars and while this is all nice there is so much more I expected this game to offer

 

[curtis_boy]

standard cars look like crap and online lobby system is similar to mario kart its random and pointlless there is no way to invite friends or join friends

 

[redda2]

I completely agree with what has been said on here.

But my biggest disappointment is the lack of mechanical damage. I don't really mind the minimal physical damage, but mechanical damage is a must. Without it races just turn into bumper cars, there is no punishment for driving like a retard.

I remember in GT2 when there was mechanical damage, if you drove into a wall your suspension was broken. This meant my mindset when driving was completely different, you cannot make a mistake and be very careful. LIKE RACING IN REALIFE!

Grand Turismo 2 is still easily the best in the series. Apart from having mechanical damage, it had all my favourite tracks as well. (btw what was that track where it is high speed and you were racing at sunset and there were lights lighting up the track? I loved that track so much).

As much as I hate Forza, I think Forza 4 will rip GT5.

 

[430_Riviera]

Well, I have had all the GT titles, including GT5P before I sold my PS3. I specifically rebought a PS3 for GT5 when I finally believed it was actually going to be released.

It is a huge disappointment. Tonight I have finally given up with it, taken it out of the PS3 and will wait either till they fix the damn game or release GT6.

I have got Forza 3 out to be reminded what a well rounded, exciting and detailed racing game should be about. First thing I did was go straight into the free races and pull a f355 gt out onto the 'Ring. Revelled in the (proper) sound of a small capacity, high revving V8 coming on pipe at about 6k and banshee howling all the way to 9.2k. Then I paused it at an opportune moment to take a picture of the car two wheeling over a curve, nice and close so it's possible to see the sidewalls of the two tortured tires with the misfortune to still be in contact with the ground flexing with the load. Then I went into the main game and got my mildly tuned Clio V6 on Road Atlanta to hear the soulful grunt of the mid mount v6 and feel the slightly wayward handling of the misproportioned monster clio. I called up the real time telemetry to see where my setup wasn't working, seeing the suspension bottoming out just a tad under compression coming down the long straight into the braking zone for the chicane, causing what I could feel as a squirm under braking, unsettling the car and causing it to lock up early on the anchors. Having made a couple of changes I went back to it, pleased with the feel, I got complacent and got it a tad wrong through the first corner, resulting in backing it into the tyre wall at around 90. Bits everywhere, car airborn, wrecked suspension, steering and engine damage.

The problem is that GT5 is GT. As Gran Turismo has always been. It stands alone as a stubborn salute to the past. Meanwhile the competition has moved on dramatically. When I say competition I mean, of course Forza. The only franchise ever to hold a candle to the mighty GT. In the development time of GT5 we have seen a couple of evolutions of Forza and they have moved the game on with both. Whether this has panicked PD into rushing features into a game which doesn't really need them (my main love of GT has always been modding and the cars, I couldn't give a monkeys about weather or day and night) meaning they have ended up with a game that is so unfinished that they are simply going to be unable to patch it all up through DLC is anyone's guess.

What have they been doing for 5 years? That's a hell of a long time. Modelling 200 500,000 polygon cars? Yeah that's great, now if you could just get the game to run smoothly so I can drive without getting a headache that'd be dandy.

Seems that recognising your own and your technologies limits is an important part of game design. It may well be believed that the 45,000 or so polys used in Forza's useable car models is not enough, but seeing that game run butter smooth at 60FPS is a sight to behold. You may call me a fanboy for the comparison, but it won't matter to me, I paid the best part of 350 quid to play this game, and I am sorely disappointed that a game released a year ago on a (supposedly) inferior console, with half the development time (even if you include Forza 2 you still don't get to the time GT5 has been in development) is better, and that the next version of said game is more than likely to blow it into the weeds.

My feelings, do whatever you may with them. 👍

 

[Voltaic]

GT4 in HD. What they did all these years is a mystery. I actually think the AI (or lack there of) is the worst in the series, a step back from Prologue even. I mean Grid's AI is awesome compared to this. No need to mention the graphics. And the sound, come on, a "slight" improvement from other GT games. 5/6 years? Are you kidding me?

Hopefully the online play will make up for some of these HUGE shortcomings.

 

[barometer]

I completely agree with what has been said on here.

But my biggest disappointment is the lack of mechanical damage. I don't really mind the minimal physical damage, but mechanical damage is a must. Without it races just turn into bumper cars, there is no punishment for driving like a retard.

#1) Physical damage increases after a certain level. I didn't notice it at first, but after a while, single crashes were having a greater and greater effect on my car.

#2) Supposedly mechanical damage is coming soon as a patch.

GT4 in HD. What they did all these years is a mystery. I actually think the AI (or lack there of) is the worst in the series, a step back from Prologue even. I mean Grid's AI is awesome compared to this. No need to mention the graphics. And the sound, come on, a "slight" improvement from other GT games. 5/6 years? Are you kidding me?

What's so bad about the AI? At first I had a lot of trouble too with the AI performing PIT maneuvers on me, but when I started driving more carefully and giving up position to drive clean, I noticed the AIs responded by not driving as aggressively themselves. I suspect that the AI drivers have a "temperament" just like the B-spec driver, that increases as you put pressure on them.

Also, have you played it with a decent FFB wheel yet? I think the biggest difference in the "feel" you get through the wheel.

 

[Goa]

I enjoyed Prologue, for being a foretaste of the ''real deal'', but as I'm currently reading the reviews there seems to be a major dissapointment amongst both GT fans and others. It's sadening. I was expecting way more positive reactions after more than 5 years in development, nearly 6 to be correct. I've always been a huge fan of the series but now I'm having serious doubts about the game at the moment.

I mean, what's up with not being able to change the rims on standard cars? Still having to race the worthless AI?

I've also been reading about people whom already got to the ending movie. With regards to the massive content it's ridicilous.

 

[tinram]

Yes.

 

[C_Raccoon23]

No, it wasn't.

I really feel bad for the people who have been waiting for 5 years. GT5 is a good game no doubt, but some things were handled so badly. The way the used car dealer works is stupid along with the paint system, features that should be in the game from day 1 aren't in, annoying level system, licenses have lost their purpose, you have to UNLOCK damage instead of being able to turn it on/off, etc. I can keep going.

It's still a great game to play, but the way some things work is just completely unreasonable and ridiculous and it affects my overall experience in a negative way. 👎

 

[mafia_boy]

I have been looking at this from both sides of the fence since I bought the game a couple of days back and I've looked at it from several different angles. These areas include:

- Physics change from GT4 to GT5 (I didn't play GT5 as I don't play prologues!)
- Car Lists (used & new)
- Features from older GT's being incorporated
- Features in general

For me, as a pad player, I've found that the physics change from GT4 to GT5 has been subtle in some areas and glaringly different in others. For instance, the main change for me personally has been the inclusion of compression braking when downshifting. In the past you could slap it back 3 or 4 gears and have no major consequences. In GT5 however, you have the car locking up brakes and stepping out on you and giving a more realistic feel with how the car reacts. The GT5 AI is a fair bit quicker in some challenges but others make it seem as slow as the GT4 AI.

The car lists are pretty good, the only thing that has been a major gripe for me has been the Car Delivery system, just give me the damn car already, don't make me do an extra unnecessary step. Also, no FPV's in the used car lot is a glaring omission for an Aussie player such as myself. By the way, WE'RE SICK OF THE FORD (AU) V8 SUPERCAR!!

When it comes to features from previous GT's, this GT has given itself a pretty poor mark. No Test Course, No Midfield, No Infineon, No Costa Di Amalfi, No Citta Di Aria, No El Capitan......all great tracks taken off the Gran Turismo map, with Midfield & Test Course being staple tracks of the Gran Turismo series for so long. No 400m, 1000m & Top Speed for me though is almost a cardinal sin and unbelievably foolish to leave out of a series that it's had included since the very start. We're here to tune aswell as drive, we want our cars to be perfect like Kaz wants the perfect car game and restricting the familiar options of the fully customisable gearbox seems crazy!!

With the new features that are incorporated into it however, I am quite impressed. The course editor is a wonderful addition. Okay, I can't make it 100% like I want it, but I can create a couple of thousand variations of all the tracks available so that should satisfy my track making cravings. The change of the Special Events to include the Karts, NASCAR School, Top Gear Challenges & WRC with Loeb are wonderful things to bring into it. The X1 is a wonderful car to add and I'm of the opinion that some Escudo vs X1 drag races would be epic along SSR7 in the near future. The Level system vs the A-spec point system is a drastic improvement too, as you aren't focusing all out on handicapping yourself and focusing more on the drive.

My overall impression is that GT5 is a brilliant game and has been worth the wait. It's not quite there in being the perfect driving simulator but it keeps evolving into something a little bit better in some areas. Gran Turismo's problem lies in that it doesn't retain the good things that it has created from previous GT games. If you mixed some aspects of ALL 5 GT's (from the crazy race cars in GT1, to the drag cars and the used car sections in GT2, to the data logging and unique tracks created for GT3, to the nitrous inclusion and world map menu layout in GT4, to the graphics, gameplay and online aspect of GT5) and even sprinkled in some of the car editing options that you get in Forza 3 then you would be getting close to finding game simulator perfection.


Until then, we search ever more to find that holy grail..............

 

[tecknical]

short answer: no.
long answer: ****ING HELL NO

 

[mekonrider]

I am terribly disappointed with this game. Nothing is complete.

My wife's first remark was 'it looks like computer game, a bit cartoony' as she saw said disappointment written all over my face. Having lego generated shadows doesn't help....and jagged wheel arches!!!

What is up with the force feedback as well?!? I'm not talking about the physics, I'm on about how the g25 interprets those physics. Personally I can't feel the grip differences at all, all I seem to get is 'kickback' when the back end starts to loosen up. Play something like Live for Speed back to back with GT5 and you'll instantly feel the difference. Just out of interest I drove on GT5 snow.....and I drove on REAL snow on the way to work today...no comparison to real life at all.

One side of me wants to simply say 'hey this is GT, you know what you signed up for' and another is bittery annoyed. Generation for generation this feels like a step back from GT4 on a ps2, at least I felt GT4 really did get the best out of the ps2.

 

[chrisrar]

i think 5 years to produce a game of GT's name was more than enough.

while there are huge things which really make gt5 awesome... there are a whole slew of things which drag it down somewhat.

personally I love it for the driving experience. but everything else they've done has been a bit haynecked/ rushed... whatever you want to call it.

things will surely improve with patches... but there is so much inconsistency across the game its going to take a hellish amount of work to iron out all the bugs.

I just dont get kazunori's comments from literally a week before release... we wont rush the game as he had the same experience with motor toon gp.

he was either preparing us all for the news that sony had forced him to release it... bugs and all to maximise sales.

but there are huge fundamental flaws in how the game is put together.

2 years to model a track is ridiculous by todays standards.
6 months to model 1 car.
most games now allow for change of weather on all tracks.
mos games now allow for customisation. visually.

they either need to invest in some new tech or start scanning models or looking at other ways to optimize stuff.

the q.a department really should be shot. try importing the ferrari f1 2007 from gt psp... it truly looks hideous. must have like 1500-2000 polys.

its a real shame that gt5 has these features and havent truly been maximized....which is really odd given that previous gt games have had far more consistency.

again i love gt5. but at the same time im waiting on the days for a damn big patch to fix all the massive holes.

i bought gt5 signature edition so i guess you could understand a bit of my displeasure.

 

[Daddybird]

NO

And I've said this before and everyone thinks it's a joke; this could really be the end or a demise of the franchise.

 

[Daddybird]

Na, but hey, lets see what happens in GT6. Hopefully in won't take as long to produce since they're gonna use this game as the base for it.

And then there's GT6.... Well let's see what happens in GT7! Being critical is the only way to shake up these people who've been living under a rock since 04 and have never heard of Forza Motorsport 3, let alone the upcoming FM4.

End of story.

 

[amar212]

...Being critical is the only way to shake up these people who've been living under a rock since 04 and have never heard of Forza Motorsport 3, let alone the upcoming FM4.

End of story.

I love your avatar, kitty.