Wesley J
CAGiversary!
Gran Turismo has always been the real deal when it comes to driving simulators, and GT 5 does not fall behind. Polyphony Digital has been developing GT 5 for several years with a little taste of Prologue in middle. The game finally came out at the end of last year and I have been playing it for hours on end. First i suggest something. The optional initial install for the game is a must to play this game or the menus will be "dirt" slow. When the game launched there were many problems with online connection and downloading updates, it was total mess. By the time all that was clear the online integration and community works just fine. GT 5 is a great driving game I have to say. I'm impressed with the interface, when I know a lot of people think down on the menus. I think it is laid out simple and everything is accessible from one local spot in GT Mode. GT mode is the career mode where you can either race as an a-spec driver or train up 6 AI drivers in b-spec mode. Both modes feature the same set of races and events. A-spec events basically have no tire restrictions when it comes to what you can use, where as b-spec the tire type is restricted.
The b-spec mode is a great addition to the whole career. Communicating to your drivers can only be done by either telling him/her to pace up, pace down, maintain pace, or pit. This is key. The AI driver will not make critical passes unless told to by you. The drivers have a hot and cold stat which basically plays as the nerves really. If the driver is too hot he/she will not perform to full potential and will lose strength quicker. If the driver is cold he/she will be too relax and tend to slow down gradually. Their strength and mental strength bars will drain based on their skills and experience earned by driving and winning events. In Forza 3's take of AI mode, "hire driver." The driver would just paid to race and based mostly stats on how you would drive the course. In GT 5 you control multiple drivers at a time, and take them up in experience and levels. B-spec is very handy when it come to driving endurance race, which you will need minimum of 4 skilled drivers. We all know how long theses races can take, up to minimum of 2-3 hours long a piece.
Both racing modes have a level cap of 40, which will take you a long time to achieve. A-spec is your typical race events and championships where you compete to earn xp and credits to purchase new cars and upgrades. The cars are classed into premium and standard, basically new car dealership and used cars dealership. This is a big deal to me. I love to race in the in-car view for the full effect of the experience, and all the standard cars don't have this view or proper damage either. In the long run it really didn't matter to me cause I was impressed with the premium cars and race with them the most. The models on the premium cars are the best car models in any video game to date, hands down. It is basically photo realistic right down to the rubber on the tires and the high beam are "on" indicator in the cars dashboard cluster. Amazing. Driving in the rain with the wipers on is something else too, just intense. The standard cars feature none of this, and are just really up-res car models from GT 4. The overall damage to the cars I found is very lacking to say the least, just poor. The cars will have dents and scraps on them, with no impact on the appearance of the car really. Coming from Forza where literally you can loose bumpers, hoods, and mirrors in the first turn. GT 5 coming out and saying it will have damage support, is disappointing to me.
The GT shop is where u can wash your car if its dirty or change your oil if you have put some major kilometers on it. Most the other modifications like changing rims and purchasing a race model of your car can only be done only with the premium cars. So basically anything that you can see, can't be done with the standard cars, besides maybe a on generic side skirt or over-sized wing. The racing modification is pretty sweet. I have two of the same Honda Civic Type R's and when I changed one to have the racing model, it changed the interior and exterior all out creating a new in-car view basically. That I was not expecting. The tune shop is where you can do all your modifications to the cars engine and exhaust and what not, same business as usual for a GT. On premium cars you can add a carbon fiber hood to some cars and take out the glass to replace with a lighter material. The car customization feature to me is still way behind what Forza has done with changing every little piece of the car exterior and then painting or layering with decals to boot. The AI racers in the game seem to be a little on the slow side, as in not smart. The just basically hold their line and that is that. Yes there are more cars on the track this time. Up to 16 in some cases, but just not enough "simulation" about them.
The track selection is huge like usual, with tons of real tracks from across the world and classics from the GT franchise. The night time feature is one of my favorite, driving around with the headlights on and seeing the cars instruments working is where its at. The tracks are modeled very well, if you watch a replay or your b-spec driver drive around it is almost photo realistic to me. The game is very polished all together and runs at a solid frame-rate for the most part. Some screen tearing here and there. The other mode to talk about is challenge mode. They set me up with tons of challenges in different type of driving styles really. You can chose through NASCAR, WRC, Top Gear and others. These modes I found are pretty easy to blow through and get some good experience and credits. The only thing is some of them are awful, they make you drive hurting cars that are just not fun to drive. Like the VW station wagon van thing, wtf. I still wonder why they modeled all these garbage cars, and there are a lot of them. Instead of digging into the catalogue off 700+ standard cars and fully modeling them out. The rally stuff was the one I had the most fun with, different change of pace and looks and controls spot on. The license mode is same as usual, put you through basic and advanced driving techniques. They are optional really, you are not required to do them to race certain events like previous games in the series. More for trophies and bragging rights.
The online component is pretty confusing at first. The community tabs are where you can look at your friends profile and see what they have completed in the game, look at their pictures, write on their wall, and just gift them parts or cars. This is done in a clean fashion and easy to see right in the GT mode. Getting online with some friends can be tricky I found. If I wanted to get into a game I would have to go and create a room and name it and a friend would have to search it out, not well done to be honest. If i go to my lounge i can invite my friends to race around, but you cant just match make a game like that. Which you should. Instead you just drive around with your friends. They recently updated the online to incorporate xp and credits for racing online, which helps out. They also allow you to set the perimeters for the race, like HP rating and what not. The games are hard to get into and when you do sometimes waiting for people to finish their race sucks. Even before the race you can go out and just do laps, which is okay to test out your car but no good when your trying to get a serious race going.
The best addition so far would have to be the online seasonal challenges. I love this, or at least did. When it first came out they posted up new events for you to race in. Theses consists of five new race events in which you would have to pick a selected car, and only use what perimeters they let you. Then you would have to tune the car and race around in an "over take" format style race to win the race. They are very challenging to do, but the true rewards is huge xp and credits bonuses. They have rolled out five so far, and closing them when the expiry date comes. I say I use to like this cause they cut out the restrictions on tires and HP. Now you can just soup the car up and put the best tires on and blow away the competition, takes away the raw challenge for me. All in all I think GT 5 is outstanding driving simulator for sure, I wish they would have done so much more with it with all the time they spent on making the game. Hopefully next time Polyphony Digital will tune up this racer to be something unbelievable. I still love it though.
8.5/10
Buy - Tons of gameplay
The b-spec mode is a great addition to the whole career. Communicating to your drivers can only be done by either telling him/her to pace up, pace down, maintain pace, or pit. This is key. The AI driver will not make critical passes unless told to by you. The drivers have a hot and cold stat which basically plays as the nerves really. If the driver is too hot he/she will not perform to full potential and will lose strength quicker. If the driver is cold he/she will be too relax and tend to slow down gradually. Their strength and mental strength bars will drain based on their skills and experience earned by driving and winning events. In Forza 3's take of AI mode, "hire driver." The driver would just paid to race and based mostly stats on how you would drive the course. In GT 5 you control multiple drivers at a time, and take them up in experience and levels. B-spec is very handy when it come to driving endurance race, which you will need minimum of 4 skilled drivers. We all know how long theses races can take, up to minimum of 2-3 hours long a piece.
Both racing modes have a level cap of 40, which will take you a long time to achieve. A-spec is your typical race events and championships where you compete to earn xp and credits to purchase new cars and upgrades. The cars are classed into premium and standard, basically new car dealership and used cars dealership. This is a big deal to me. I love to race in the in-car view for the full effect of the experience, and all the standard cars don't have this view or proper damage either. In the long run it really didn't matter to me cause I was impressed with the premium cars and race with them the most. The models on the premium cars are the best car models in any video game to date, hands down. It is basically photo realistic right down to the rubber on the tires and the high beam are "on" indicator in the cars dashboard cluster. Amazing. Driving in the rain with the wipers on is something else too, just intense. The standard cars feature none of this, and are just really up-res car models from GT 4. The overall damage to the cars I found is very lacking to say the least, just poor. The cars will have dents and scraps on them, with no impact on the appearance of the car really. Coming from Forza where literally you can loose bumpers, hoods, and mirrors in the first turn. GT 5 coming out and saying it will have damage support, is disappointing to me.
The GT shop is where u can wash your car if its dirty or change your oil if you have put some major kilometers on it. Most the other modifications like changing rims and purchasing a race model of your car can only be done only with the premium cars. So basically anything that you can see, can't be done with the standard cars, besides maybe a on generic side skirt or over-sized wing. The racing modification is pretty sweet. I have two of the same Honda Civic Type R's and when I changed one to have the racing model, it changed the interior and exterior all out creating a new in-car view basically. That I was not expecting. The tune shop is where you can do all your modifications to the cars engine and exhaust and what not, same business as usual for a GT. On premium cars you can add a carbon fiber hood to some cars and take out the glass to replace with a lighter material. The car customization feature to me is still way behind what Forza has done with changing every little piece of the car exterior and then painting or layering with decals to boot. The AI racers in the game seem to be a little on the slow side, as in not smart. The just basically hold their line and that is that. Yes there are more cars on the track this time. Up to 16 in some cases, but just not enough "simulation" about them.
The track selection is huge like usual, with tons of real tracks from across the world and classics from the GT franchise. The night time feature is one of my favorite, driving around with the headlights on and seeing the cars instruments working is where its at. The tracks are modeled very well, if you watch a replay or your b-spec driver drive around it is almost photo realistic to me. The game is very polished all together and runs at a solid frame-rate for the most part. Some screen tearing here and there. The other mode to talk about is challenge mode. They set me up with tons of challenges in different type of driving styles really. You can chose through NASCAR, WRC, Top Gear and others. These modes I found are pretty easy to blow through and get some good experience and credits. The only thing is some of them are awful, they make you drive hurting cars that are just not fun to drive. Like the VW station wagon van thing, wtf. I still wonder why they modeled all these garbage cars, and there are a lot of them. Instead of digging into the catalogue off 700+ standard cars and fully modeling them out. The rally stuff was the one I had the most fun with, different change of pace and looks and controls spot on. The license mode is same as usual, put you through basic and advanced driving techniques. They are optional really, you are not required to do them to race certain events like previous games in the series. More for trophies and bragging rights.
The online component is pretty confusing at first. The community tabs are where you can look at your friends profile and see what they have completed in the game, look at their pictures, write on their wall, and just gift them parts or cars. This is done in a clean fashion and easy to see right in the GT mode. Getting online with some friends can be tricky I found. If I wanted to get into a game I would have to go and create a room and name it and a friend would have to search it out, not well done to be honest. If i go to my lounge i can invite my friends to race around, but you cant just match make a game like that. Which you should. Instead you just drive around with your friends. They recently updated the online to incorporate xp and credits for racing online, which helps out. They also allow you to set the perimeters for the race, like HP rating and what not. The games are hard to get into and when you do sometimes waiting for people to finish their race sucks. Even before the race you can go out and just do laps, which is okay to test out your car but no good when your trying to get a serious race going.
The best addition so far would have to be the online seasonal challenges. I love this, or at least did. When it first came out they posted up new events for you to race in. Theses consists of five new race events in which you would have to pick a selected car, and only use what perimeters they let you. Then you would have to tune the car and race around in an "over take" format style race to win the race. They are very challenging to do, but the true rewards is huge xp and credits bonuses. They have rolled out five so far, and closing them when the expiry date comes. I say I use to like this cause they cut out the restrictions on tires and HP. Now you can just soup the car up and put the best tires on and blow away the competition, takes away the raw challenge for me. All in all I think GT 5 is outstanding driving simulator for sure, I wish they would have done so much more with it with all the time they spent on making the game. Hopefully next time Polyphony Digital will tune up this racer to be something unbelievable. I still love it though.
8.5/10
Buy - Tons of gameplay