After five years in the making, Sony has finally released the latest instalment to its blockbuster racing series, Gran Turismo 5 (GT5), which is exclusive to the PS3 console.
Life-like graphics and good-looking visuals have always been this series’ major strengths. GT5 does not disappoint, with plenty of eye candy in store. However, it falls a little short when it comes to the most important part of this game – the cars.
GT5 divides its roughly 1,000 available cars into two main categories – premium and standard. While the premium cars, which number about 200, are given the royal treatment of being painstakingly rendered, the standard cars look quite plain when viewed up close. Even the shadows cast by standard cars onto the race tracks sport obvious jagged edges.
A number of new features have been added to the game, of which perhaps the most significant one is the levelling system. In this version, players can earn experience points in addition to in-game credits after completing a race. Chalking up experience points and levelling up is the only way players can unlock advanced features in the game and earn the right to buy better cars.
This levelling system is a great addition as it gives players a better sense of direction in the game.
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New players stand to benefit as it lets the game gradually introduce the racing system to them while seamlessly folding in new features as they gain experience.
As realistic as you can get on a console
On the other hand, experienced players will likely find the first six hours or so of the gameplay a little too easy. The artificial intelligence of your computer-controlled competitors is dumbed down and races are hardly challenging in the initial stages of GT5.
Once you progress through the game though, it all gets better. Races become significantly more challenging and opponents start to become more intelligent, even cunning. You will also find that the game becomes a real test of skill as races cannot be won just by out-muscling the competition with a better car.
Another new challenge with GT5 comes in the form of car damage manifestation. If you drive carelessly and crash, your car will get visibly damaged and its performance will suffer.
This feature comes across as pretty unrealistic early on in the game, since the full damage system will not kick into place until you unlock it at higher levels. But once it is enabled, the challenge it brings makes it worth the wait.
Weather effects, also new to GT5, are very well simulated. This is both enjoyable and challenging, and takes the level of the game up a notch as players have to hone their driving skills according to the elements.
There are plenty of nuances to savour, such as car physics and car tuning in which even the slightest driver response affects how the car reacts. This system is impeccably created, but chances are the effects will only be noticed and appreciated by car lovers with real technical knowledge.
Aside from the main GT Life mode, the game also offers an Arcade Mode for casual one-off races and an online mode that pits you against other players via an Internet connection.
I found the online play mostly smooth and, if you enjoy racing against real people, significantly ups the game’s re-playability quotient.
In all, GT5 is a very successful driving simulator that mostly succeeds in creating as real a driving experience as one can get on a video-game console.
My main gripe is that while there are many new features, there is still too little to differentiate GT5 from its highly successful predecessor GT4. Indeed, there were many a time when I was racing on one of the many recycled race tracks and I did not notice that GT5 is a brand new game.
Still, my gripe is largely because the GT4 had set such a high bar. While there are some minor kinks, GT5 is still one of the best racing titles for the PS3.
Download Gran Turismo 5 now.
The key is to maintain their stamina and pace across the race and supply them with race winning material. I truthfully think there is not a game in the world that features so many autos in this quantity of detail.
The game simulates the utilising of fuel, tyre wear, bumps, weather, curbs, banks and the physics of the automobile which will or not may not be precisely on the mark.