Gran Turismo 5: Prologue is some way off, but tearing around the famous Suzuka course in a Nissan GT-R with the lastest playable version of Sony's Real Driving Simulator makes us want to hibernate to pass the time until its launch, like children who go to bed early on Christmas Eve in anticipation of the treats to come the next morning.
To say we're fans of Polyphony's racing series in an understatement. Playing GT HD was amusing enough (despite it being the tightest, skimpiest demo offering in the history of videogames), but instead of impressing us, it left us with a worry that the next generation of Gran Turismo would do little more than add a few extra pixels to the resolution. We were wrong to worry.
The newer version of the game we've played is only a very small portion of what Sony's cooking up, but for racing nuts and series fans, it's pretty astonishing. If there's anyone out there that, even after Heavenly Sword, still needs a reason to justify the £400 notes they splashed out on that big shiny box, this will most certainly be it.
Playing GT5 feels like putting on your best suit and going for a no-expense-spared meal at The Ritz. Everything about it is lush. It's elite. It's the most upper class of racing game ever. And we're not just talking about the stunning graphics or super-satisfying handling of the cars.
The menu screens have a sheen - that extra touch of class - that forces home the fact that this is no budget project by some random garage developer. This is a proud team's work of art. Even the chilled, jazz-style music that backs the menus sounds like the kind of tracks you'd probably expect to hear playing quietly in the background in a five-star hotel lobby.
Enough about the menus though, because it's all about the drive. We've been thrashing around in seven cars in the new version of the game, ranging from the woefully average Daihatsu OFC-1, to the far more aggressive, utterly satisfying Nissan GT-R and we love it. Everything feels so brilliantly fine-tuned that, when sitting in the right car, there's immense satisfaction to be had every time you pull the perfect racing line and throw a car around a bend on the edge of its limit.
GT5 is still totally simulation, but it now feels so much more playable than the previous version of the game we played. This is far tighter. The cars are obedient, have a good sense of speed and the most realistic feeling of weight and traction of any racing game.
The version we have boasts the same performance options of the GT HD demo - ABS, stability management and a traction console - as well as a choice of racing and non-racing spec tyres, which means you can set up the game to feel how you want.
The only thing that drastically hinders this game from being everybody's dream simulator is the continuing lack of a damage model. You have these fantastic, photo-realistic visuals, insanely detailed car set-up options and amazing physics - but slam into another car and you bounce off each other like solid wooden blocks.
What makes it extra astonishing is that you get this solid-as-a-rock frame-rate without the loss of detail that most other games endure when they want to hit the 60fps mark. The cars look incredible. Picture perfect even. All the detail is there, right down to the lines in the plastic covering the headlights. There are 16 of these high-poly bad boys on the course at once, but the frame-rate remains unshaken.
Proper race geeks will be pleased with the new in-cockpit view in GT5, too. It places you right in the driver's seat, and the cockpit detail is, again, perfect to the real thing. All the buttons and dials of the real car are there, and all the dials are fully operational. You can see the driver steering and changing gear, and even leaning side to side slightly as you power into corners.
Loads of racing games have used the power of the current super-consoles to get all the shapes right in their cars. But the real difference in GT5 is the way these cars are lit. Fire up GT HD right now and watch a replay. See how flat the lighting is?
Since it put out that demo, Sony has upped the shine levels and enhanced the sunlight blooming effect. Nothing is overdone - so they're not wax-covered mirrors - but scenery reflects subtly and realistically off the polished paintwork, and the glare of the sun creates a blooming effect that you see a little of as you go through the GT HD demo's tunnel.
The game could look even better when it finally arrives in 2008. You've got the taster package - GT5 Prologue - to come. This will have a hefty 50 cars and choice of five tracks. It'll also have 16-player online to race against which should be incredible, but we hear Sony is having problems getting that to work in UK, but we're sure they'll have it ironed out in time for release.
We've already got our best racing wheels clamped to the table and braking points on the brain, because GT5 can't arrive a second too soon. We'll see you on the starting grid.
What makes it extra astonishing is that you get this solid-as-a-rock frame-rate without the loss of detail that most other games endure when they want to hit the 60fps mark
Thats a lot of rubbish. There some very ugly screen tearing along with slowdown.Not what you expect from a next gen console.
The GT prologue demo which was my first PS3 download was a massive disappointment. Hopefully GT5 will be different. It looks promising but ill wait and see.
I'm with you vercetti, I didn't buy my PS3 for Gran Turismo either. In fact I'd consider it one of the best reasons not to buy one. If I want something to put me asleep, a bottle of pills is much cheaper than a PS3 game.
I'm with you vercetti, I didn't buy my PS3 for Gran Turismo either. In fact I'd consider it one of the best reasons not to buy one. If I want something to put me asleep, a bottle of pills is much cheaper than a PS3 game.
Then if you dislike the game so much why are you reading and responding to an article related to it?
Surely if it's the game you like the least you'd ignore the piece and read something else?
the real reason i bought a ps3 was because i smashed my 360 in a rage.. gran turismo, in all its forms is f**king dire. i wouldnt be paid to play the demo never mind shell out for it.
i completly agree gran turismo is an exausted franchise which just does not excite me at all its boring!!!!!!!! drive safely!!!
As someone who has never purchased any of the GT games I am curious as to your opinions on the following matter.
One of the reasons I never warmed to it is the feeling that I could just bounce around the track. When I first played GT - here's what I did:
* Accelerate * Hit barrier * Bounce off * Accelerate * Hit barrier * Bounce off
and so on and so on.
Now you might think that I am just rubbish at racing games (and maybe I should try steering ) but this along with the lack of a damage model has really kept me away from the game. Now don't get me wrong - I cannot deny that based on screens and videos that I have seen it always looks amazing, but it's just not enough!
I'm with you vercetti, I didn't buy my PS3 for Gran Turismo either. In fact I'd consider it one of the best reasons not to buy one. If I want something to put me asleep, a bottle of pills is much cheaper than a PS3 game.
Then if you dislike the game so much why are you reading and responding to an article related to it?
Surely if it's the game you like the least you'd ignore the piece and read something else?
I dunno about that. Just because you don't like something, doesn't mean you don't want to talk about it.
i tried getting into Gran Turismo with GT1, GT2 and GT3, and just couldn't do it. way too much of a sim for my taste. it is the most gorgeous racer ever though, but still i'll probably just pass.
And people who want to show the world how bad they are at driving games via how damaged their car is
*ducks behind table evilfoxhound has hid behind*
Maybe it doesn't have damage because they want to make the cars look the best they can. I want to look at amazingly detailed cars, not scraped/dented/smashed pieces of ****
GT5 is still totally simulation ... The cars are obedient, have a good sense of speed and the most realistic feeling of weight and traction of any racing game.
Did the marketing people write that preview? I'll believe that when I see it. The series has always been touted as being "realistic" when it was nowhere *near* the level of realism offered by several PC-sims.
Im struggling to find a reason to keep my PS3 at the moment and GT5 is doing nothing to justify owning one. I downloaded the demo from the Japanese PSN and it wasnt great - yeah it looked pretty but it just wasnt intense enough. Sony really need to get their finger out with the DualShock 3 (or whatever their gonna call it) cos there is no feeling or weight to the games. At the moment I cant leave my 360 alone and I feel like I wasted a ton of money on my PS3. The future isnt looking particularly bright...
Im struggling to find a reason to keep my PS3 at the moment and GT5 is doing nothing to justify owning one. I downloaded the demo from the Japanese PSN and it wasnt great - yeah it looked pretty but it just wasnt intense enough. Sony really need to get their finger out with the DualShock 3 (or whatever their gonna call it) cos there is no feeling or weight to the games. At the moment I cant leave my 360 alone and I feel like I wasted a ton of money on my PS3. The future isnt looking particularly bright...
Im struggling to find a reason to keep my PS3 at the moment and GT5 is doing nothing to justify owning one. I downloaded the demo from the Japanese PSN and it wasnt great - yeah it looked pretty but it just wasnt intense enough. Sony really need to get their finger out with the DualShock 3 (or whatever their gonna call it) cos there is no feeling or weight to the games. At the moment I cant leave my 360 alone and I feel like I wasted a ton of money on my PS3. The future isnt looking particularly bright...
Go get Motorstorm then if it's not intense enough for you. Or DirT even. ps. The future is brighter for PS3 then X360. X360 has a horrible 2008 lineup and is losing marketshare all over the world.
Hell no... I bought a PS3 to play the likes of MGS4 and FF13 not to play a HD version of the last GT game...
ps. The future is brighter for PS3 then X360. X360 has a horrible 2008 lineup and is losing marketshare all over the world.
I don't think we can talk about 2008 line-up in full yet as im expecting alot of stuff to be announced for both consoles. Although, if you want to talk about that now, I believe 360 has the better line-up;
PS3 MGS4 GT5 Tekken 6 Little Big Planet Killzone 2 Resistance 2
360 Halo Wars Alan Wake Fable 2 Too Human Ninja Gaiden 2 Perfect Dark 2 Banjo 3 Gears of War 2 (rumour) Splinter Cell Conviction Lost Odyssey
Then if you dislike the game so much why are you reading and responding to an article related to it?
Surely if it's the game you like the least you'd ignore the piece and read something else?
Well actually, it was because the homepage is telling me "Here's the real reason you bought a PS3", so I thought I'd come in and say that it was quite the contrary. That's all, no big deal.
Don't suppose there's any danger of them releasing a screen shot that isn't a replay, you know... so wee can see what the game looks like when we're actually playing it?
Hell no... I bought a PS3 to play the likes of MGS4 and FF13 not to play a HD version of the last GT game...
ps. The future is brighter for PS3 then X360. X360 has a horrible 2008 lineup and is losing marketshare all over the world.
I don't think we can talk about 2008 line-up in full yet as im expecting alot of stuff to be announced for both consoles. Although, if you want to talk about that now, I believe 360 has the better line-up;
PS3 MGS4 GT5 Tekken 6 Little Big Planet Killzone 2 Resistance 2
360 Halo Wars Alan Wake Fable 2 Too Human Ninja Gaiden 2 Perfect Dark 2 Banjo 3 Gears of War 2 (rumour) Splinter Cell Conviction Lost Odyssey
i think we'll hear a lot more about the 360 line up for 2008 when we get to 2008... unlike other, more expensive consoles, there were actually games released in 2007 that were worth bothering with for Microsoft to concentrate on sellin, not just a constant stream of bulls**t about games that might be out in 2008... delays pending.
so GT5 is on it's way, and it's too late. I was a GT fanboy from GT 2 onwards, I even rebought a PS 2 to play GT 4 as mine had packed in but in all honesty the new one is offering less than most current racers. the customize options in Forza 2 have far more features than the new GT and in all honesty the graphics on most racers on next gen are pretty much identical regardless if it's xbox or sony. this series should have either been a launch title or put to bed as it just looks pretty standard at the moment and not worth buying a ps3 for, although I've yet to see a ps3 game that's going to make me glad I wasted my money on this oversized pile of crap!
Playing games is one thing. "Playing" Gran Turismo is another. You can bounce off other cars, walls, rails and such. But doing so will destroy any chance of being the quickest. Being the quickest is the name of the game. Gran Turismo is the only driving simulator for the PS3. From a drivers point of view, GT-HD is the best so far. GT5 Prologue will be even better, because of the online racing option. I cant fault it, but then I grew out of playing games a long time ago when computers were useless. I think some of you ladies should grow up, get a job, and stop bitching about things you know nothing about. i.e. If GT is that rubbish, write a better one yourself. Oh, but you cant, coz your thick!
As someone who has never purchased any of the GT games I am curious as to your opinions on the following matter.
One of the reasons I never warmed to it is the feeling that I could just bounce around the track. When I first played GT - here's what I did:
* Accelerate * Hit barrier * Bounce off * Accelerate * Hit barrier * Bounce off
and so on and so on.
Now you might think that I am just rubbish at racing games (and maybe I should try steering ) but this along with the lack of a damage model has really kept me away from the game. Now don't get me wrong - I cannot deny that based on screens and videos that I have seen it always looks amazing, but it's just not enough!
Discuss.
I fully agree with you here, but for those reasons the game has always been pants in my opinion.
The handling has always been very poor, and all that the GT series seems to have going for it is decent graphics.
I have no fun in watching a car crash into a wall, then bounce back only to show that no damage has been dealt to it what so ever.
Real men play Burnout.
Seriously though, it's all down to personal opinion at the end of the day, but I just flat out hate the GT series as it doesn't ever offer anything new, and each game is always rather samey.
So, to CVG - This isn't the reason why I bought a PS3. In fact, the reason why I bought a PS3 was to be able to play the big guns (e.g. Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Final Fantasy XIII, Devil May Cry 4, Metal Gear Solid 4, Timesplitters 4, Haze, Tekken 6, Kingdom Hearts 3, God of War 3, Little Big Planet and hopefully a new Jak and Daxter game, as it's been said that one is coming out. Always preferred Jak to Ratchet anyway).
Playing games is one thing. "Playing" Gran Turismo is another. You can bounce off other cars, walls, rails and such. But doing so will destroy any chance of being the quickest. Being the quickest is the name of the game. Gran Turismo is the only driving simulator for the PS3. From a drivers point of view, GT-HD is the best so far. GT5 Prologue will be even better, because of the online racing option. I cant fault it, but then I grew out of playing games a long time ago when computers were useless. I think some of you ladies should grow up, get a job, and stop bitching about things you know nothing about. i.e. If GT is that rubbish, write a better one yourself. Oh, but you cant, coz your thick!
Not all of us sit at home playing games all day in fact I play about 5-6 hours a week as most of the time I am at work (40+ hours). In fact I use my PS3 more to surf the web and as a movie and music center then I do to play games.
Oh ya I have just seen over on the forums that GT5 will have damage and good damage at that!!! I wait to see this but for now I am not holding my breath.
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) but this along with the lack of a damage model has really kept me away from the game. Now don't get me wrong - I cannot deny that based on screens and videos that I have seen it always looks amazing, but it's just not enough!
Let me know if you can crash the car yet 
