Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
Developer: Polyphony Digital
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Genre: Racing
Release Date: April 15, 2008
Platform: Playstation 3
Reviewer: Dan
To put it simply, I learned how to drive because of Gran Turismo.
Before I even had a learner's permit, I knew how to hit the apex of
a turn to maximize my speed and minimize my lap times. I knew how
react to oversteer and customize my gear ratios for any condition
before I ever got behind the wheel of a car.I've put hours into the
previous 4 Gran Turismos and the first thing I downloaded on my
PS3 was the Gran Turismo HD Concept Demo. Needless to say, I like
the series. Even though Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is essentially just
a feature-rich game demo, it's still a fantastic demo.
You can get GT5 Prologue on plain-old disc or through a download
on the vastly improved Playstation Network, much like
Warhawk. However, you can tell
right away that this game will go through some growing pains on its
way to the actual release of GT5. After the lengthy installation
wait, I was hit with an update for the game that I needed to install.
So after that was finally done, I was able to start racing. The first
thing you'll notice right away is that there are no licenses to get.
You just buy a car and start racing. This was always one of the
biggest complaints from casual players in that they had to struggle
through these tests in order to progress in the career mode. I have
mixed feelings about the missing license tests. On one hand, they
kept you from the game, but on the other, they actually showed you
useful racing techniques. So, I hope they return in the full version,
but maybe not as many tests.
After you buy your first car (I suggest the Honda Integra Type-R),
you can race the Events, just drive in the Arcade, or for the first
(actually second if you knew the unofficial way to race online with GT4)
time, go Online to race other random people. Beyond this, there is not
much else to do in this game, which is a good indication on why this
will only cost you $40 brand new. The game is not very deep...yet.
You have a limited number of events to drive in and a very limited
number of tracks on which to drive. The arcade does add another
dimension that previous GT's lacked. The arcade now allows you to try
your hand a drift racing, which assigns points based on how stylish
your driving is rather than how fast you can make it around a track
(I've always considered Drift Racing the figure skating of motorsports
(but I really wanna try it)).
The online mode is actually pretty simple in setup. There are no
user-defined options and the tracks are all pre-determined. You just
select what race you want and GT5 does its best to match you up. The
first night of this release, there seemed to be big problems with the
system, but they've seemed to have been worked out. You can still
sorta tell that this is their first try at online. It's not a very
rich experience, but it runs well enough. The cars do some sort of
"ghost" thing when you make extremely unpredictable moves, like not
slowing down at all to take a turn and using an opponent as a brake.
At times, it seemed like I was the only one trying to drive correctly.
But besides the bad driving of other players, you actually earn credits
(money) in the online mode, which allows you to (obviously) buy new
cars.
But GT5 Prologue really wasn't meant to be a full game, just a bone
to toss to the fans while we wait for the full version. There are,
however, two reasons to make me very excited for the full version.
First is the obvious visual greatness of this game. This could very
well be the best looking game made for the PS3. 60 frames per second
at full 1080p make this look even better than real life. Speaking of
real life, each car in the game has a fully rendered interior with
working gauges and driver animations. I can probably go write another
full-length review on the visual aspects, but I'll leave it at that for
now.
The other reason to get excited about the real version is the fact
computer drivers are now somewhat unique. In previous GTs, computer
drivers might as well have been railroad cars following the same
imaginary groove around the entire track. I can remember in a
previous version where the same car kept losing control at the exact
same spot every single lap. In this version, however, computer
drivers act more human by taking different lines and actually defending
their position on the track. I've also noticed that you can get a
drafting partner for the oval tracks in this game. The computer seems
smart enough to realize when they're getting bump-drafted, which can
actually help you in the long run. The AI in this game definitely got
quite a boost, and for a racing simulator, this is actually a big deal.
There are some other nice properties of this game that just seem to
add the necessary polish to make it worth the money. The surround sound
it pushes to my speakers is excellent and actually helps me in the race by
letting me know when someone is closing on me. The controller buttons are
completely mappable, giving you complete control over which button does what.
There is also the GT-TV feature, which doesn't have much to it now, but I'm
hoping takes off. GT-TV is actually a quasi video-on-demand service that
allows you to view various racing programs from around the world (oh please,
oh please oh please start showing episodes of Top Gear).
Final Verdict
I can probably go on for a lot longer on the tiny little things I've
found in this game, but I'd rather leave you to discover all of them
on your own, and hopefully be just as amazed as I was. I don't want
to give this one too high of a rating simply because I think it's
priced $10 too much. However, there are plans to release content as
it's completed, as well as rumblings that damage modeling might be added
later on. For now, I'm going to say that it is a must-buy for fans of
the series and at least worth a rental for everyone else. Because of
the price, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue gets 8 out of 10 (and keep in
mind that I'm sort of rating this as a demo).
Gran Turismo 5 E3 '07 Trailer
