Gran Turismo 5

[miffy495]

Well, every now and then I get gripped with the urge to play a racing game. I don't know why this is, seeing as I can't afford a car in real life and have only my time going through driver's education to know what it actually feels like behind the wheel, but that's how it is. The feeling struck again this last week, and in my weakness I purchased both Wipeout HD and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. My thoughts on Wipeout are not so fantastic, but man am I loving this GT.

After finishing both the C and B classes, my thoughts:

Love love love the cockpit view. Granted, Project Gotham has been doing this incredibly well also, but that game has so much emphasis on style and showing off your driving that I find I do better from an external view. With GT's focus on actually driving your car rather than showing it off, the cockpit view is a far more natural fit. And it's beautiful. My mother's boyfriend dotes over his car like no one else I've ever met (a 2003 BMW Z4) and this car just happens to be in the game. Bought it, in the same colour he has, and showed it to him the other night when I went for a family dinner. Looks just like the real thing, and he played for about 2 hours just drooling over the realism. First time a cockpit view has been my preferred way of playing a game. Would've probably done the same in Forza, but for whatever reason that game doesn't give you the option.

Speaking of Forza, I see the guideline they pioneered has made it into other games as well. This is my first Gran Turismo, so I don't know if it was in any of the earlier iterations, but I think I prefer this guide to Forza's. Not only is it more subtle, but if you're going way too fast around a turn, the game will actually tell you a recommended speed at which a sane person would take the turn. Very helpful, and has greatly improved my virtual driving. Seeing as the first Forza was the game that made me give driving games a chance, largely because the guideline so drastically helped me figure out how to play them, any refinement to this system gets a big from me.

Also, realism. I've taken to watching race replays simply so that I can marvel at how damn good the game looks. If it weren't for the occasional fake-ish looking tree or the way that grass only waves in chunks, I'd think this was a TV feed. Those small details are pretty easy to ignore as well. It took me a few views of race recordings to realize they weren't done perfectly either. Beautiful, beautiful game. I'll be using it to show off graphical prowess in the future. GT5 is now my benchmark for realistic graphics.

On the subject of realism though, I do want to complain that you can't damage your car. I'm not asking for Forza's level of detail where specific parts of your car get damaged and it can hurt your performance, even a Project Gotham level of detail where your windshield will crack and your mirrors fall off would be decent. I know manufacturers don't want their cars to be smashed up by the game, but most of the cars are so pretty I'm desperately trying to avoid doing so anyway. Would it really hurt to make the impact of brushing a rail as I drive that much more obvious, rather than something I forget about 3 seconds after it happens because it has no real bearing on the game?

Free DLC is a plus as well. When I bought the game, I had an extra 15 minutes to wait before I played it because it had to download all the extra content that had been released since the game came out. That's what I get for waiting 5 months, I guess. The fact that I don't need to pay for these bonuses is greatly appreciated. I'm looking at you, Forza. I'm not going to pay $2 for a car I'll have to unlock later anyway.

On the subject of DLC, the stuff you can pay for is pretty cool. All of it video through GTTV, from what I can tell. This makes it the first legal way I know of to own episodes of Top Gear in North America. So rad. Love that show. So what if it's only 3 episodes right now? More shall come, I'm holding out hope.

...wow, that's a lot of thoughts. Keep in mind this is coming from someone who is not really a racing enthusiast. My backround for these games consists of PGR3 and 4, both Forzas, a bunch of Burnout, Mario Kart, and F Zero. I'm stretching it out to include Mario and F Zero just to make the list longer. PGR3 and Forza 1 both came free with my 360 and original Xbox respectively, and Burnout 3 with my PS2. Gran Turismo is the first time I've bought an automotive racing game that wasn't a sequel to one I've already owned. I gotta say, I absolutely love it. I'm not sure how the online works for it, I only had a quick poke around and didn't see any options for inviting friends or anything, but if there's a way and any Thumb wants to race, let me know. I'll probably lose horribly, but what the hell, right?

[Thrik]

I got this a while ago, but I did enjoy it. The multiplayer is by far the highlight of the game, really well implemented and also gives you points for buying new stuff with just like the single-player campaign.

I did hear the final game will have damage modelling of some kind, so I anticipate seeing whether or not they follow through on that. Still, it doesn't really detract from the actual point of the game; even without visible damage, you can still arsehole people by nudging them in the right way, etc.

[Cigol]

The game is good but it's a little sterile so if you don't appreciate race craft you're not going to get much out of it I don't think. I imagine a lot of people take it for a spin and instantly decide; booorrring, because as amazing as the graphics are they really only come into play with the replay & garage. Those attracted by eye candy alone are undoubtedly disappointed.

Still the graphics are, as you say, amazing, which [fanboy rant] is why it annoys me people still say the PS3 has difficulties displaying textures without blurring them (case in point; a lot of third party, multiplatform, titles) but take it round London in GT5p and it'd completely end that discussion I'd have thought (but no). [/fanboy rant]

I'm looking forward to GT5, the increased number of cars and more importantly tracks is going to be enough to get me interested again - the addition of damage and various other gameplay improvements will be the icing on the cake... of course, when will they ever finish it?

BTW if you like racing games you should try GRiD. It's arcadey with a nice selection of vehicle types and a fancy damage model. I found it a lot of fun, especially online. The demolition derby cars are great.

I got this a while ago, but I did enjoy it. The multiplayer is by far the highlight of the game, really well implemented and also gives you points for buying new stuff with just like the single-player campaign.

Multiplayer works (and is good in the way it rewards you with points) but from my last play-through it's full of rammers (!) and with no private rooms or control over the way server selection works you are automatically paired up at random. It was fun from time to time but I like longer races, and there's no pit stops or fuel & tyre wear to make it interesting. My experience was typically getting knocked off the track in the first corner on purpose, nnarrgh!

[Cigol]

[Cigol]

Taken from GT5's photomode, obviously, but just goes to show the absolutely ridiculous levels of detail they've put into it.

New to GT5 is a 'Course Creator' that allows you to generate a full course from scratch using sliders and drop down selections. You can alter various settings such as course length, weather, time of day, banking, frequency of curves, number of sectors, course type (one-way or loop), sharpness of corners (etc). You can then personalise the generated track by individually editing each sector (so one sector can have a long straight, the others twisty hairpins, etc). These tracks are then shareable online and apparently generate very quickly.

When I first heard the rumour I was honestly expecting nothing more than the ability to arrange some cones around on a test track. Mind boggling when you consider the game will supposedly have something like 70+ unique tracks (on release!).

They've also announced B-Spec mode which is a driver management feature carried over from GT4 and expanded upon. In it you get to be a team boss and can hire and develop up to a maximum of 6 drivers with differing personalities and abilities. Instead of driving yourself, you watch the race live and use pre-set radio commands to manage your drivers throughout (such as asking them to pit, pushing them, calling them off). You can monitor tyre wear, positions, timings (etc) from something called the command hub;

Online mode also looks interesting with a new hub for each individual player that allows as many as 32 players to connect, but only 16 at any one time to race; "In My Lounge, it is possible to set race regulations and tracks of your choice, and hold racing events with your friends. Up to 16 players can participate in the race, and even if you are not in the race yourself, you can watch it through a variety of race cams. You can also participate in free runs before the start of the race."

Game will also have dynamic weather, day & night cycle, full damage system with deformation and mechanical failures, skidmarks (finally?)... and lots of other stuff I forget and was announced long ago. Game sounds absolutely bloody amazing.

Edited August 19, 2010 by Cigol

[Randall Theil]

I'm definitely getting this. I put dozens of hours into GT3. Of course, their last full game came out 6 years ago, and the racing genre has moved on since then. Forza 3 was my favorite game of 09. I'm not expecting them to compete with Forza as far as online systems go, mostly I'm just looking for a more developed campaign mode and larger selection of cars/tuning stuff.