Gran Turismo 5 Prologue

[Youlikeyams?]

Be warned guys, this is a biggun'. Any criticism will be duly taken on board. Hope you enjoy reading it! (2 part review)

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
Racing/PS3 (Download/Blu-Ray)
Polyphony Digital/SCE
£24.99, PEGI 3+
250KB for save file, 6GB for install data
Linear PCM 7.1/1080p supported
granturismoworld.com (http://www.granturismoworld.com)

Gran Turismo 5 has been a very long time coming. In fact, it still is coming. It's not actually out yet. Naturally, the development team at Polyphony Digital are very much aware of this, but have listened to the fans complaining that the downloadable sample game GT HD is simply not enough to whet their appetite until the finished product appears. So, in response to this, Polyphony put together a collection of some brand new cars and some old favourites, combined them with a varied selection of tracks and cobbled them all into one networked-up-to-the-eyeballs package. The result is Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.

Whereas GT4 Prologue was a bunch of glorified license tests and some time trials cumulating in a few extra credits to spend when the final game emerged in 2005, GT5 Lite is much more of a rounded-off, complete racing game. You're thrown straight in at the deep end (well, following a painful 6GB mandatory install to the hard disk) given 37,000 of the game's currency and told to go and buy a car and get racing.

Being thrown straight into an experience has never been so delightful, however. The menu stylings of GT HD – all black, shiny and sleek – have been carried over to here and it's worked to great effect. The main menu is referred to as “My Page”, and is decorated with the most pointless little networked-up gizmos. With a backdrop of your selected car and some pretty scenery, a calendar and clock dominate the top of the page, along with a global map of worldwide racing courses from Daytona to the Nürburgring and their respective weather conditions. Along the bottom lie your options, be it reading up on news, watching videos in GT-TV (more on this later), buying cars or watching replays. Oh, and you can also do some driving too.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2742/0003eigersq8.jpg
There's even people this time. Robots thinly-disguised as people, but people nonetheless.

It's when you've bought yourself a car from the 60-odd available, ranging from Ferraris to Lotuses – I personally bought a Suzuki Swift since I have a secret desire to be a 70 year old OAP called Deirdre – and selected your first event that things really get interesting. I'm not going to beat about the bush here; this game simply looks staggering. Every little detail that can be accounted for is, from the sheen of the bodywork to the stitching in the seats, and every little thing you'd find on the dashboard in the real thing is here too, which can be observed from the new 'proper' interior view.

The six circuits in the game, each with two layouts, are just as easy on the eyes with huge amounts of details and slightly robotic 3D spectators lining the tracksides. The tracks themselves vary from Daytona's famed oval circuit to the GT classic High Speed Ring, with the British capital making its appearance for the first time on a whistlestop tour of Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. There is occasionally a little bit of popup noticeable on the circuits as the game tries its best to draw all the spectators and trackside details as you approach them and the changes in car models from low-poly far-off versions to the high-detail closeups can be a little bit intrusive too. But that's just me being picky. Overall, it really is one of the best looking games on PS3.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1143/londonlarge131cx8.jpg
New cars such as the Nissan GT-R appear with every last detail intact...
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/9951/0013daytonadr4.jpg
...even down to the dashboard computer, designed by the GT5 dev team.
Try telling that one to your mates at work and see how quickly they walk away.

Once you're settled into the driver's seat, the interior view offering a clear view of all dials and mirrors, you can start to judge the handling of the vehicles and their realism. Using a basic physics engine that takes in essential parameters of the cars including wheelbase, engine size and power as well as weight and how it is distributed, the developers can easily and accurately recreate the handling of any given car and this works very well. Having been learning to drive in a BMW 1-Series hatch, I decided to give the 1-Series Coupe in the game a spin to see if they compared, the models themselves sharing similar stats, and even when using a controller I could feel the pull at the rear I experienced when driving the real thing.

Keeping the serious driving fan in mind, the racing junkies at Polyphony have included a “Realtime Adjustment” feature and a new Professional physics model to allow alterations to be made to the car you are driving on the fly. With a little adjustment of the in-game controls, traction control, torque distribution and brake balance can be changed to affect the car's handling mid-race just in case you made a wrong decision before the race started. Casual drivers need not fear however, as this can be completely ignored in favour of the Standard physics model with driving aids cranked up to the max. Either way, any racing fan will be catered to with the range of options available.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/5300/londonthumb14tm7.jpg
It's London! The capital is faithfully recreated, taking in Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus on a high-speed circuit.

[Youlikeyams?]

The one area which GT5P lets itself down in mid-race is the music. In the game menus the typical plinky-plonky jazz music favoured since GT4 is fine and dandy, but it's when you start a race that things go a little pear-shaped. Presumably in trying to get the attention of as wide an audience as possible, Weezer and The Mars Volta are among the artists included on the mid-race soundtrack, and to be frank this doesn't fit in with the game's aural stylings at all. You'd be best off turning the in-game music off, in my opinion, as the engine noises sound so much sweeter.

What makes Prologue so significant to the GT series is the new introduction of an online mode. Although the fourth installment shipped in an online edition in limited qualities, this was purely intended as a beta test for what would follow in later years, as has happened now. Obviously, like an excitable child on their first visit to a sweet shop, GT5 has gorged itself on network features. The aforementioned weather map dominates the menu screen, but also featured are news bulletins (currently related solely to game features but soon will extend to real-world motorsports), world rankings, downloadable videos and online racing. The “GT-TV” service (currently empty save for the game's very loud, very glossy introduction sequence) will later deliver racing clips and 40 episodes of Top Gear, along with other motoring snippets, but due to its current emptiness it's not worth touching on for now.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1641/gttvmainft7.jpg
Imagine this with The Stig and you're getting there.

As for the racing, it's a well-balanced new addition to the series, but it's not without its faults. The lobby system the game chooses to use involves selecting a skill level, a circuit and a class of car, and it can be a little confusing at first. Only the Beginner skill level is available at first and further levels are only available upon completion of all of the game's offline events, and only two of the six tracks are driveable in these lobbies. It's a little frustrating, but the more advanced lobbies are an incentive to improve your skills and advance through the game. Once you are into a lobby and have been paired up with others by the matchmaking system you are dropped into a race of up to 16 players, the game basing how many should race on connection speeds. Any lag is accommodated for by rendering troublesome drivers transparent, avoiding any unnecessary and frustrating collisions.

However, the system is not flawless, as not everyone who skids is rendered as a ghost and so someone else's mistake can ruin your race. Also flawed is the attempt at a penalties system, where unruly driving, shunting and corner-cutting is rewarded with a metaphorical slap in the face and a temporary restriction in engine power. The number of occasions where I have been rammed off the track and penalised for corner-cutting while my attacker drove off scot-free is more than I can count on both hands, and this is considering my owning of the game for just over one day. That said, there are occasions the system works and you can have some extremely satisfying races where everyone follows the rules and generally has a nice time. If the penalties system can be ironed out, Polyphony have a killer online game on their hands.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/9388/0001daytonayk7.jpg
Presumably to please any Americans who don't know that racing involves right turns as well as left, Daytona's oval has been included.

Obviously, there are some other little criticisms of the game as a whole. The mandatory 6GB install to the PS3's hard drive will irritate many a person, especially given the 20 minutes or so it takes to perform, followed by an update that must be downloaded and installed before you can play online. You can't have a custom soundtrack, as Sony seem to be reluctant to let anyone include this, and there's still no damage, but whether the latter is a bad thing is questionable. Kazunori Yamauchi, the series creator, has been quoted as saying that around 80% of the crashes that take place in an average GT session would result in a retirement in a real race, and with the development team not wanting to detract from the series' "Real Driving Simulator" tag, many a simple mistake by the average player would result in a frustrating and unsatisfying end to a lot of races. Factor in the unpredictability of online races and you've got yourself a crash course (pardon the pun) in how to make an unfulfilling driving game. Many a naysayer will say that Forza and Project Gotham have damage, but it's worth nothing that Gran Turismo's developers don't have deep lined pockets with which to grease the palms of any stern manufacturers.

This all said and done, there will be some who question Prologue's lifespan and scope – after all, 60 cars and 12 tracks (when alternative layouts are taken into account) can only last so long, can't they? As true as this is, there are many 'complete' games which offer a smaller number of cars and less varied tracks – looking at you, Ridge Racer 7 - and it will take a while to accumulate the money needed to buy the best cars, from the Audi R8 and the Aston Martin DB9 to the Holy Grail of all GT cars, the Ferrari F1 machine, which will set you back a cool 2 million. The online play hardly grates either save for the occasional unfair judgement. Plus, with 40 free episodes of Top Gear and online rankings to complete with, who's going to complain for 25 quid?

If you are unsure as to whether you think you'll keep it for long, pick it up on Blu-Ray and then you're safe in the knowledge of being able to trade it back in. But, if like me, you're a longtime GT fan or simply the only person in your group of friends who finds carbon driveshafts fascinating, the Network download is only a few minutes away. As a game in its own right, never mind a taster of what is to come, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is replayable, enjoyable, gorgeous to look at (although not so gorgeous to listen to in a race with the music on) and quite simply the closest you can get to driving on a circuit without splashing out on a racing license. Compared to even its closest rival Forza, there's just no competition. You wont find a more complete driving game on any console – and hey, this one isn't even complete yet. For £25, Prologue offers greater value for money than many full-price games currently on the market, making it a must-have bargain. Bring on GT5 Polyphony, but take your time – this one's going to keep me entertained for a while yet.

Overall: Not without its faults, but still an absolutely sublime driving experience.
I dare you to hook it up in HD, crank up the volume, and watch the intro without breaking into a huge grin. 9/10

Post-review comments - apparently I did it right, to Paradigm^'s standards, despite not having read his guidelines at all. Schwing!
Legal stuff - All images are taken from granturismoworld.com and are property of Sony Computer Entertainment.
Comedy stuff - Hit up this link (http://www.granturismoworld.com/en/gt5_prologue/garage/view_all_cars/nissan/gt-r_r35/index.htm) and have a giggle at some Lorem Ipsum text being left on the finished website.

[Paradigm^]

I love you I love you I love you.

This is how to do it, people.

Looks gosh durned pretty, too.

[basstard]

I like the review, though I've a couple questions about the game itself. You bemoan the ingame soundtrack - is there an option to use a custom soundtrack at all?

Two, the GT-TV stuff will be free? I thought they were all going to be done by micropayments...

And three, the biggun. You did touch on it in the last paragraph, but if GT5 is on our must-buy list anyway, is it really worth getting this, especially at £25?

edit - and no mention of lack of damage?

[Youlikeyams?]

All accomodated in the review now, with some extra checks done on grammars and words replaced if I felt I was repeating myself. :]

[weebl]

can it be a bit shorter?

oh and maybe mention that you're essentially paying for a very fancy demo.

[Youlikeyams?]

You're contemplating this for the site?

(Not trying to hint, genuinely wondering if you are since you're suggesting it be shortened.)

[Paradigm^]

You're contemplating this for the site?

(Not trying to hint, genuinely wondering if you are since you're suggesting it be shortened.)Presumably yes, since he's asking you to make changes.

I'd be surprised if his only intention was just to go "DANCE FOR ME, FORUM MONKEY!" and see if you'd do it, put it that way.

[Youlikeyams?]

How many words/characters would you want me to shorten it to, weebl?

[Paradigm^]

I think three words would be about appropriate. Sadly though you wouldn't even be able to fit in the name of the game :(

"GT5P is great"

[Youlikeyams?]

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
Racing/PS3 (Download/Blu-Ray)
Polyphony Digital/SCE
£25, PEGI 3+
2GB (Download)/6GB for install data
Linear PCM 7.1/1080p supported
granturismoworld.com

Gran Turismo 5 has been a very long time coming – it's still coming, in fact. It's not out for a good while. Naturally, the development team at Polyphony Digital are very much aware of this and are aware too of fans saying that download game GT HD is simply not enough to whet their appetite. So, in response to this, Polyphony has taken 70 cars and 6 tracks – each a mix of old and new - and cobbled them all into one networked-up-to-the-eyeballs package called Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.

Whereas GT4 Prologue was a bunch of glorified license tests, GT5P is more of a 'proper' racing game. You're thrown straight in at the deep end (well, following a painfully long mandatory install to the hard disk) given 37,000 of the game's currency and told to go and buy a car and get racing.

Being thrown straight into an experience has never been so delightful, however. The menu stylings of GT HD – all black, shiny and sleek – have been carried over and it looks expensive and classy. The main menu (called “My Page”) is decorated with little network gizmos including a calendar and AccuWeather-powered forecasts for circuits the world over. Along the bottom lie your options, be it reading news, watching replays and videos (more on this later) or buying cars. Oh, and you can also do some driving too.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2742/0003eigersq8.jpg
There's even people this time. Robots thinly disguised as people, but people nonetheless.

It's when you've bought yourself a car from the 60-odd available, ranging from Ferraris to Lotuses to special tuned models – I personally bought a Suzuki Swift, fulfilling my desire to be a 70 year old OAP called Deirdre, then realised I could've had an RX-8 – and selected your first event that things really get interesting. I'm not going to beat about the bush here; this game simply looks staggering. Every little detail that can be accounted for is, from the sheen of the bodywork to the stitching in the seats, and every little thing you'd find on the dashboard in the real thing is here too.

The six circuits in the game, each with two layouts, are just as easy on the eyes with huge amounts of detail and oddly robotic spectators decorating the tracksides. The tracks themselves vary from the famed Daytona oval to the GT classic High Speed Ring, with London being thrown into the mix in its debut appearance. There is the occasional bit of popup as the game tries its best to draw all the spectators and trackside details as you approach them at 150mph, but that's just me being picky. Overall, it really is one of the best looking games on PS3.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/9951/0013daytonadr4.jpg
The interior of the new Nissan GT-R with dashboard computer designed by the GT5 dev team.
Try telling that factoid to your mates at work and see how quickly they walk off.[/size]

Once you're settled into the driver's seat, the new 'proper' interior view offering a clear view of all dials and mirrors, you can start to judge the handling of the vehicles. Using an in-house physics engine that takes in essential parameters of the cars (weight, power, iPod compatibility, et cetera) the developers can accurately recreate the characteristics of any given car. Having been learning to drive in a BMW 1-Series hatch, I decided to give the respective Coupe a spin to see if they compared - even when using a controller, I had a sense of driving the same machine.

Keeping the serious driver in mind, the racing junkies at Polyphony have included a “Realtime Adjustment” feature to allow alterations to be made to the car you are driving on the fly with a little adjustment of the in-game controls. A Professional physics model also offers a more delicate, realistic way to drive. Casual drivers need not fear however, as these can be completely ignored in favour of a Standard physics model and driving aids. Either way, anyone is catered for with the range of options available.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/5300/londonthumb14tm7.jpg
It's London! The capital is faithfully recreated, taking in Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus on a high-speed circuit.

One area which GT5P lets itself down in mid-race is the music. In the menus the plinky-plonky jazz music is fine and dandy, but it's when you start a race that things go a little pear-shaped. For some reason, Weezer and The Mars Volta are among the artists included on the in-game soundtrack and they just don't fit in with the rest of the aural stylings at all. For now, you'd be best off turning the race music off until Sony let you have a custom soundtrack, which is notably absent.

What makes Prologue so significant a GT milestone is the new introduction of an online mode. Like an excitable child on their first visit to a sweet shop, GT5 has gorged itself on network features. The aforementioned weather map dominates the menu screen, but also featured are news bulletins, world rankings, downloadable videos and online racing. The GT-TV service (currently empty save for the loud, glossy intro) will deliver racing clips and Top Gear in the near future.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1641/gttvmainft7.jpg
Imagine this with The Stig and you're getting there.

As for the online racing, it's well-balanced but not without its faults. The lobby system involves selecting a room with preset skill level, car class and track, with no option to create a custom room available. Only the Beginner lobbies are available at first with others unlocked with offline progress; it's a little frustrating but also a small incentive to work your way through the game. Once you're in and have been sorted by the matchmaking system you're dropped into a race of up to 16 players. Lag is relatively rare and any connection errors are dealt with by rendering troublesome drivers as “ghosts” as so to avoid race-ending collisions, but this system is not perfect.

Also flawed is the penalties system, where unruly driving, shunting and corner-cutting is rewarded with a text-based slap in the face and a temporary restriction in engine power. The number of times I was rammed off the track and penalised for corner-cutting while my attacker drove off scot-free on the first day of owning the game is more than I can count on both hands, and the redesigned 'aggressive' AI has also pulled this trick on me offline. That said, there are occasions where the system works and everyone follows the rules and generally has a nice time. If the penalties can be fixed, Polyphony have a killer online game on their hands.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/9388/0001daytonayk7.jpg
Presumably to please any Americans who don't know that racing involves right turns as well as left, Daytona's oval has been included.

Obviously, there are some other little criticisms of the game as a whole. The mandatory 6GB install to the PS3's hard drive in the Blu-Ray edition will annoy, especially given the 20 minutes it takes, not including the download that follows to enable online play. Also, despite next-gen hardware available to produce realistic-looking damage, there still isn't any. However, the series creator has said that many crashes that take place in an average GT session would result in retirement in real life, so pairing this with Polyphony's love of realism wouldn't be the best idea. Factor in the unpredictability of online races and you'd have yourself a crash course (pardon the pun) in how to make a frustrating driving game.

Also, there will be some who question Prologue's lifespan and scope – after all, 70 cars and 6 unique tracks can only last so long, can't they? It's just just a glorified demo, isn't it? In fact, GT5P offers more variety and challenge than many other 'complete' games can offer (looking at you, Ridge Racer 7) with several different modes available from races to drift challenges and more to keep you entertained. The online play hardly grates either save for the occasional poor judgement and with free episodes of Top Gear thrown in who's going to complain?

If you are unsure as to whether you think you'll keep it for long, pick it up on Blu-Ray and then you're safe in the knowledge of being able to trade it back in. Of course, if you're a longtime GT fan the Network download is only a few minutes away. As a game in its own right, never mind a taster of what is to come, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is replayable, enjoyable, gorgeous to look at (although not so gorgeous to listen to in a race with the music on) and quite simply the closest you can get to driving on a circuit without risking life and limb for real. Compared to even its closest rival Forza, there's just no competition. You wont find a more complete driving game on any console – and this one isn't even complete yet. For £25, Prologue offers greater value for money than many full-price games currently on the market, making it a must-have bargain. Bring on GT5 Polyphony, but take your time – Prologue's going to keep me entertained for a while yet.

Overall: Not without its faults, but still an absolutely sublime driving experience.
I challenge you to hook it up in HD, crank up the volume, and watch the intro without breaking into a huge grin.9/10

Legal stuff - All images are taken from granturismoworld.com and are property of Sony Computer Entertainment. Low-resolution as so to fall under fair use rationale; will not alter Sony's ability to profit from the game.