back to article Gran Turismo 5

After spending six years on the waiting list for Gran Turismo 5, new owners might be surprised to find that the pristine Bugatti Veyron 16.4 they thought they had ordered has rolled off the forecourt more like a cut 'n' shut. Gran Turismo 5 Straight into the lead For those unfamiliar with the term, a cut 'n' shut is the …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. ZX12R A1
    Alert

    Its all about the game play

    Yep not perfect

    Yep not as cutting edge as other things out there

    Yep takes a mind warping amount of time to load

    Yep the detail is poor

    BUT

    It plays really well and when you mod the cars it changes how they behave and if for nothing else its worth it for that alone.

    In all not a brilliant game by any sense of the word but well worth getting cheap when all the fan bois sell copies off in the not so distant future,

    I had my copy on order for the best part of 3 years and truth be told it was not worth the wait after all the hype. It is however far better to play than GT5 P and much more user friendly.

    If you want a semi sim racer then you will enjoy it if you want a arcade racer try about 100 other options first.

  2. Si 1
    Thumb Up

    A brave review

    It's a brave reviewer who dares to question why the emperor has no clothes, but I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the graphics are inferior to other offerings from this generation. It's a bit like Alan Wake, all that development time and yet it didn't look anywhere near as good as promised. That said, the lighting is very good and at times almost looks photo-realistic if you squint a bit.

    Of course it's not all bad, but the game does have some very significant rough edges given its prolonged gestation. In particular the Top Gear challenges were very annoying, just one bump with an early braking AI driver or cut a corner too far and you're disqualified and sent back to the start of the race. Surely Forza's punishment of adding penalty seconds to your lap time is better?

    1. Alex Walsh

      Brave?

      Try reading GamesRadars review (http://www.gamesradar.com/ps3/gran-turismo-5/review/gran-turismo-5-review/a-20101125101232492010/g-20070711154452396099).

      Or Stuart Campbells hilarious exposee of Eurogamers review (http://wosblog.podgamer.com/2010/11/24/the-unspoken-truth-about-gran-turismo-5/)

      I purchased the original GT on the Playstation on import. GT5 is years late (supposed to be a launch game) and still not up to scratch. It's tarnished the image IMHO.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Grenade

    question from ignorance...

    Would the strain of the new physics engine eating up clock cycles;reduce the ability to deliver eye candy?

    The Veyron reference doesn't work; whilst they're not puggly, they ain't a Ferrari to look at either.

    1. Annihilator
      Unhappy

      Probably

      Have tried it in a shop (and still play Prologue) and the graphics, although pretty in places, are very prone to "tearing", which I'd noticed in Prologue and assumed that in the past 3 years or so since then, they could have done some work on it. But no. From the looks of it they've kept the engine and just added content. Never been more disappointed in a game, but for me the hype disappeared years ago.

  4. Ben H
    Thumb Up

    Good review

    Reckon you got it about right. When it's great is GREAT, I'm loving the Nurburgring special event and I personally feel it looks great and runs really smoothly. I'm disappointed by the poor AI and the slow, slow menu system and long loading times. It's as if 90% of the effort went into 50% of the game.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Next-gen physics and car handling tarnished by last-gen design and visuals.

    And a few other issues, anyone who owns a Caterham will be sorely disappointed with the offering in GT5 its rubbish! no way near acurate. And what happened to setting your own gear ratios? now it seems it's box selection is limited to final drive only... Whats going on?

  6. Sam 5
    Unhappy

    GT5 Fan boi comming down off a hit

    I am and have been for a long time a GT fanboi. which is why it pains me so much to admit the failings of this game. But first, I must say I have yet to see better graphics in a racer? I have no idea how you can relate forza or any other racer in graphical terms to the premium cars in GT5?

    Failings:

    It breaks PS3's I know 3 people who's PS3's have given up within a week of getting GT5 all with Blu Ray failures.

    The Loading times are maddening, Its worse than GT4 and that was bad enough.

    The menu seems to have been made by loading every menu option into the barrel of a shotgun and recording where and how they hit.

    B Spec mode has been ruined. It could have been a killer feature but instead they made it a slow micromanagement boredom when it could have been a fast paced football manager style side game.

    Photo mode seems to have had some of the settings removed? Why can't I upload directly to faceache/ Flicker/ Picassa ?

    All in all it hurts most that this title was not available on PS3 release because if it had been its failings would have been accepted.

    Still the best racer out though, if you have a logitec g25/g27 setup :)

    1. Rosslee

      Well done for reading

      "I have no idea how you can relate forza or any other racer in graphical terms to the premium cars in GT5?"

      Well thats probably why the review said those cars were next gen standards but the others weren't.

  7. PaulR79

    Seems about right

    Having pre-ordered the game and played it for most of the time since then I can safely say that the review is pretty accurate without going into too much detail about flaws. There are some really frustrating and frankly amateur decisions in the game that have had me literally screaming at the game. Yes.. a grown man screaming at the game. There really is no other way to describe how annoyed I was after racing through a championship in the "Extreme" category, winning three of the first five races and coming to the last two only to be defeated by the same AI from the first GT causing me to finish last in both races and losing the championship.

    I am, of course, talking about the same AI that never faulters, never leaves the racing line and if you dare so much as try to overtake or take any different driving line you can be sure that the AI will help you find the nearest wall by delivering an almost perfect PIT manoeuvre at 200mph+ on an oval. Failing that it will be at a lower speed on a tight corner you thought you'd use late braking on and be nudged off followed by cars ploughing through.

    The "Premium" and "Standard" cars is ludicrous. I don't mind that I can't drive from the driver's perspective in the "Standard" cars but it's a massive step back when you can't even change the wheels or paint the wheels in those cars. Yes it's a minor thing but GT4 had it and possibly GT3, I can't remember that far back.

    Something the review only briefly touched on I found a big surprise and an unwelcome one - levelling. As a new person to the game series I could understand it but I've been playing them since GT on the original PlayStation. I was a little rusty but after an hour or two I was back into the swing of things. The problem comes when you can safely beat most of the game and race comfortably in any category but the levelling system means you're stuck in that same set of races, tracks and..... cars.

    Level locking the tracks and competitions is somewhat ok and feels like the old license restrictions of the older games. Level locking the cars you can drive and purchase is dumb. I can see the point of restricting a level 20+ car from competing in a level <10 race but why can't I buy it?! "Premium" cars it isn't a problem, they're always there to buy later but the used car area changes often. I've missed out on a few that I could easily afford due to this stupid limitation.

    I could go on but I'd be writing a whole review myself if I did..

  8. Matt 21

    If you ignoer the hype

    ..it's a nice game, even a great game with a clumsy interface and a few failings.

    To say the visuals are not up to Forza 3 seems way of the mark to me. The standard cars are by and large very nice, they just look poor if you compare them to premiums.

  9. Smallbrainfield

    Is the opponent AI as bad as in previous GT versions?

    I used to hate the stupid slot-car AI and non-damage cars of GT. It sounds like Sony got tired of waiting for the developers tweaking when they should have been polishing to me.

    Online play sounds good though again there's a big flaw in struggling to find your mates online. Maybe they'll fix this at a later date?

    1. PaulR79

      Yup..

      Follow the leader AI present and accounted for.

  10. Erroneous Howard

    Here's hoping.....

    With any luck they can (and will) patch some of the flaws, such as the game invite system and allowing you to have privacy on a race so your friends can actually get in to it!

    I must admit, after so long in development I was a little disappointed that it was not perfect in every way although it is a very enjoyable and playable game. The little niggly-type issues are actually really annoying as you would have expected it to be a bit more.....polished.....after so many delays.

    I almost chucked my controller (and it's a wheel) across the room while being repeatedly disqualified on the Top Gear challenges for the most silly things. Being disqualified for hitting a cone which was knocked onto the racing line by one of the CPU controlled cars was one step too much.

    Unfortunately Sony, it just came too late.

  11. whats the point of kenny lynch?
    Heart

    for proper muck and crashing...

    get dirt 2, a right laugh and bonkers menu system.

    gt1 was stunning on the ps1 but gran turismo is now a shoulder shrugger....

    1. OrsonX
      Happy

      GT1 on PS1

      Was, indeed, the best!!

      [GT3 on PS2 pretty good too]

      GT5 looks like an exercise in tedium.

  12. Shades

    Nooooooooooooooooooooo!

    Dear Sony,

    GT was the reason I bought my first PSX. GT3 was the reason I bought my PS2. Purchasing a PS3 now looks in doubt... Unless you (as Polyphony Digital) can get your act together, and very quickly, for GT6(?)

    I Never thought I'd say this but the 360 is looking more and more appealing. Are you listening?

    Signed, A loyal customer reconsidering his loyalty.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      WTF?

      Loyalty? Or sanity?

      Erm, so you haven't bought a PS3 or 360 so far, and only buy for GT games, yet are now considering an 360? That sounds a bit crazy... and not exactly "loyal".

  13. TheRealRoland
    Thumb Up

    On the other hand...

    No one is forcing you to immediately upgrade each car to the max -- i've raced a couple of races with an almost standard one, which was a nice challenge. Granted, racing tires are required (35k?) if you want to stand a chance when trying to make any corner on the track.

    That approach will give you the best of both worlds: a nice challenging race, and you're left with more money since you're not doing the level3 weight reduction, level3 engine thinger, etc. on all your cars.

    What i'm reading in other reviews, in a similar way to damage, is that AI will get better as you progress through the game. Haven't experienced that myself, currently a level 11 driver.

    I'm hoping that small things (do i see some buttons here and there in the GUI that are currently switched off?) can be 'relatively easy' (end-user speak here...) switched back on. If so, the gear box ratios could possible be made accessible through a patch.

    Yeah, it's a downer not being able to drive 80% of the cars from within the car -- even a generic 'inside view' would be most welcome.

    And regarding load times -- 30 secs to load a track for a race in my opinion is not too bad. Fifty mins for a pre-game install (+patch) is a bit much though. What's even more galling is that the screen happily says that it would take around 20mins... Expectation management anyone? On the other hand... 5 years instead of two ;-)

    Granted, last time I played GT was on a PS2 (GT2), so I'm just totally happy -- bought a PS3 for this game alone.

    Karting: fun. Nascar: wow. Nurnburgring: yaay!

    One more last gripe: the complaining about screen tearing, etc. Is that really so much of an issue? So far during racing i haven't noticed. Too busy remembering the ideal race line through all corners. I do understand that when you make screenshots, these may not look perfect. But is that the ultimate goal of this game? Or the experience of speed, racing and gameplay? I'm sure the graphics engine is tuned towards providing the racer with the best impression of speed possible -- not the readers of magazines who want to drool over screenshots.

    Happy Roland.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If you want a brain-melting discussion of the graphics

    grab a strong cup of something and feast your eyes on this:

    http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-gran-turismo-5-tech-analysis?

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Alien

    what?

    ive seen a few reviews where the graphics are getting bashed but when im playing it it looks amazing :s can't notice anything that looks crap...

    that eurogamer article made me feel less crazy though :D

  16. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Yawn

    Here we go again, more useless reviewing. By having such a gap between releases, and the constant media ranting on about delays, GT5 has set itself up to be a target, so it's not uber-cool to diss GT5 (in the say way Microsoft manipulated the media into hating the PS3 for being expensive/trojan Blu-Ray/removal of OtherOS etc etc etc).

    How anyone can think that Forza3 is better than GT5 is beyond even credible. GT5 has awesome physics, a generation ahead of Forza, the graphics are substantially better too, with dynamic lighting, dynamic weather, try Nurburgring in fading light in the rain.

    The Ai is pretty good when you get to about level 15 (which is when the damage starts becoming apparent too).

    I'm guessing this "review" was written by a Forza fan who set out to hate it, never really gave it a chance and never bothered getting above level 5 in A-Spec mode.

    All rather pathetic. El-Reg epic fail. You have discredited all your reviews in one single sweep with this tripe.

    This game is EASILY a 95% game, my only gripe is the clunky navigation system, otherwise it's driving perfection.

    It's just a shame that GT5 is being reviewed against a different yardstick to all other games, because it was in the making longer than most games.

    1. Stef 4
      FAIL

      Wow...

      ... You must really hate Forza.

      Your suggestion that the reviewer is a Forza 3 fan, and therefore hates GT5 is somewhat stupid. Does the release of GT5 somehow delete every copy of Forza 3 in the universe? Does it somehow stop people playing Forza 3?

      GT3 was the reason I bought the PS2, and I was eagerly awaiting GT5. So far, it feels just like GT3. Admittedly I am only level 10, but I've been racing over the same tracks as I did in GT3, and they don't look that much better at 1080p on a 42inch plasma. (Please feel free to post your anonymous comments about the poor quality of my TV, or the poor quality of my eyes etc etc, or how I am being paid by the Forza 3 team etc etc).

      The menu system is ridiculous, but I can live with it. The fact that I can't change gear ratios, just the top speed on a Fully Customizable Transmission is a serious pain (And surely redefines the meaning of the word "Fully"?)

      The graphics are unimpressive, but graphics do not make or break a game for me, so that isn't really an issue. I do wonder why all the GT5 fanbois are so obsessed with the "Amazing next gen graphics" though. Is that all they care about? It seems to be their one defense against any criticism of the game.

      80% feels about right for the game. The long loading times on an installed game is very annoying, especially when trying to complete the licenses.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        FAIL

        Do you own the game?

        From what you write it does not sound like it. The graphics are massively ahead of all current-gen games, as is the physics and AI (when you level up enough).

        Most of the pathetic AC posts here are from Microsoft shills, as they know GT5 will be the thing that puts the Xbox in last place (despite the 16month headstart).

      2. PoorLumpyPony
        Paris Hilton

        Yeah gotta love that

        Negative comment about GT5 = Shill to Microsoft

        Your opinions can only be bought and sold whereas my feelings for GT5 are pure I tell you!

        Paris for the pure feelings rather than bought or sold of course

  17. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Confused

    Did someone put a copy of GT4 in your GT5 box?

    As clearly anyone that thinks GT5 does not play and look a generation ahead of the existing games is clearly either biased beyond belief, blind or has been paid off.

    To even suggest it does not look as good as Forza3 is laughable to the extreme. Do hang your heads in shame for jumping on the bandwagon.

  18. GrantB
    Boffin

    User Interface

    I have designed the odd User Interface for various bits of software and website, but anybody who has done any UI analysis, would quickly be able to pick out a number of glaring (and easily fixable) issues with the previous GT4 menus and general UI.

    With other companies, I have spent time sometimes documenting a few key issues and emailing the company some ideas. With Polyphony I found that like so many companies, they are not interested in hearing from fans. A few years ago when I got really frustrated with a couple of glitches in GT4, I tried contacting Polyphony but gave up - it was too hard.

    I really hoped that Polyphony would have least spent some time doing UI analysis, looking for beta tester feedback or brought in some very good designers to fix it.. but apparently not. Makes me wonder if the designers are complete tech heads who spent 5 years tweaking the car's responses to road camber and just not noticing that the menus' are slow clunky and illogical.

    Hopefully fixable with patches, but I suspect they just don't get it. I brought my PS2 when GT3 was released and was about to buy a PS3 for Christmas this year with GT5.. and probably still will... but hope like hell I don't have to wait until GT6 to see any improvement.

  19. Sonny Jim

    Still no decent AI?

    I seem to remember playing TOCA on the PS1 that had better AI than GT4, you give an opponent a nudge and it would remember, giving you a little ding back a few laps later, it really added to the racing aspect and I was really hoping that GT5 would focus on this a little more rather than the who'e 'buy car, tune it beyond oblivion and win regardless of skill' gameplay.

    I'll admit to being a full on GT fanboi, same as a lot of people here I got my PS2 exclusively for GT3/4 and I'll still flick it on for a quick spin around the Nuremburg ring and was really hoping that GT5 was going to be the reason for me to bite the bullet and get a next gen console, but looking at the reviews it looks like I'm not going to bother.

    1. CD001

      In all honesty...

      If you liked GT4 you'll like GT5 ... just maybe not enough to splash out for a PS3 and the game.

      Don't get me wrong, GT5 is a great driving game - but so was GT4 (and 2 and 1 - never owned 3 for some reason) - if you're a fan of the series and already own a PS3, buy it. If you don't own a PS3 this is probably not enough reason alone to get one - it's not without its pimples.

      Still, there are plenty of other reasons to get a PS3 - BluRay player, ability to stream videos from a media centre PC, online film rentals, iPlayer on your TV (not an issue with Virgin Media admittedly) and plenty of other good games.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: In all honesty...

        Good info. Not made the jump to PS3 as GT was the only reason for owning any of my PS consoles (GT1 & 2 on the PS1, GT4 on the PS2). I've been holding off getting a PS3 until the price got to a sensible level (some second hand models are nearly there, but still about 50 quid over the mark yet) and GT5 was released. As it is, I think I'll wait a year or two before picking up a PS3 with GT5 at a greatly reduced price... I've still got the PS and PS2 with the earlier GT games to keep me plenty amused until then ;)

        None of the other 'features' of the PS3 have any relevance - I won't be buying any Blu-Ray movies (no point buying yet another format which I'll probably need to replace yet again in a year or two!) and everything else you mention is already more than catered for thanks to a MacMini hooked up to the cinema amp.

        So, sorry Sony (and Polyphony) - no sale here, yet. Maybe later, but not yet.

        Any news on a TOCA coming out on PS3? I have TOCA 3 on PS2 and it beats GT4 hands down for difficulty and AI (and this coming from a big time GT fanboi!) :D

    2. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      the AI is great

      The reviewer didn't spend long enough playing it to discover that.

      It only gets challenging around level 17.

  20. MJI Silver badge

    My thoughts

    The menu system is painfull.

    Still trying to get two steering wheels working in Arcade.

    No Nurburgring in Arcade as you buy it (best bit of GT4).

    Actual fun - not as good as some other racing games.

    Practise does pay off.

    For driving good, fun local multiplayer racing Motorstorm Pacific Rift is more fun

  21. Lionel Baden

    wey :D

    nice to see Blur get a mention

    Although i thourouly enjoy blur it looks like activision have killed all support from it :(

  22. Iain Hamilton

    ho ho ho

    Been playing this non-stop for 2 weeks now and have to say that graphically, anyone who thinks that the visuals are PS2 quality have broken eyes, a crap TV or shares in Microsoft. Haven't experienced any tearing whatsoever on my rather modest Evesham HD Panel and it's an old un. So in a nutshell don't buy crap TV's then blame the games for the TV's crap performance with fast moving images.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Up

      blimey, someone that does not

      put a fantastic game like GT5 under a microscope just because it took a while to arrive.

      Seems people are far happier having much lesser games like Forza and buying new versions every year...

      Me, I prefer to wait for the real deal and buy once.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like