After 1200+ miles, driving different events, chasing licenses, etc. I think I can finally give my honest opinion on my take on Gran Turismo 5. The content of this game is simply astonishing. First off, the cars are at a massive 1000+. 200 are extremely detailed and gorgeously designed. These are your premium cars and the rest are your standard cars which do lack the detailed premium cars. However, they still look ok in their own rights and with the massive car collection it’s simply fun to collect. There are 20 tracks with 70 + variations of the tracks. I have been a fan since GT1 and this is complete heaven for me. While I do wish all cars were premium in the long run it doesn’t affect the game to me much. The only big gripe by most is the standard cars do not have cockpit view. While it is unfortunate I can see why personally.
So getting down to it, if you’ve played Gran Turismo you know about the License tests. These are still rather difficult at times to get gold on. You can achieve the licenses with bronze and it’s not quite as daunting as it used to be in my opinion. Given it’s been long enough for a whole new generation of racers I think this is perfect. You can bronze, still get licenses but you still have the challenge of going for gold. You will want to practice on these tests anyway as it teaches you true fundamentals of racing techniques.
A-SPEC mode is where you’ll jump into specific races and race for victory and credits. You will win cars. One thing I might gripe on here is if you allow yourself to cheat(take shortcuts through grass, tune up monster cars specific for the race, etc) you can blow through a lot of these. If you can resist that temptation because it will only teach you how to be a better racer and you will be more fulfilled by completing each race. While leveling makes it feel like an RPG at times it’s definitely not a grind if you enjoy racing.
B-SPEC mode is where you controll A.I. drivers with their own “personality” and basically coach them on the same racers given in A-SPEC. Your driver levels up just like you do when you are racing. Most of my time spent here was more of more learning specific tendencies of the tracks, when to take over spots and staying cool. It’s actually informative but you A.I. drivers can be a bit testy. I suppose we all are at times though. You will be able to train up a whole team of drivers which is quite fun. In December, according to PD, they will release an option to remote race these drivers. You will be able to make your drivers available online, set courses and yes, race remotely. Don’t get fired when this comes out. If you do it’s not my fault.
There is now special events to race too which I am absolutely loving. You now have kart racing, NASCAR, Rally events, grand tours(personal fav as it feels it has a bit of story through the visuals) and as you probably heard Top Gear events. As you progress your leveling through the game more of these unlock to you and are quite a meaty addition in my opinion. Different styles of racing, weather and cars which you will need to learn skills to fulfill each event. Excellent addition in my opinion. Although, NASCAR seems like it could’ve went a little more in depth. This is the only event that seems a bit unpolished as it should’ve been. However, I’m not a huge NASCAR fan. I will say I do have more of respect for what goes into NASCAR after what I’ve played so far though.
Arcade mode is there if you just want to get in and drive. Always a fun feature and it offers split-screen coop for you and your coach driving buddies. This is also where the popular drift trial mode is and is a complete blast. Drifting being big in GT? I’d have never thought. This mode also helps you practice, get tracks down and techniques perfected.
In GT Life, there is a lot of community functionality which I’m really enjoying. You and your friends have a lounge where you can all hop in and race. Or for that matter, just drive different cars on different tracks. Voice chat seems to need some tuning though. Sometimes it does seem difficult to hear but I’m sure that will be patched for optimization. If you are in your friends lounge, had to many beers, or just want to chat you can also watch your buddies race. Very cool functionality in my opinion. You also have private messages, a message board and can show off pics you create in the photo mode. You can also share tracks that you’ve created in the track editor which I’ll go into below. Also a handy gifting cars function if you need one for a specific race or want to try it out before you spend 10m of your credits on one car.
The track editor is not anything you’d see of mod racers. Basically you pick a design, and modify curves, difficulty, width of lanes, etc. Not at detailed as some were hoping but it’s extremely easy to use and get tracks out there for you and your friends.
If you don’t know you can also tune your cars and for me it’s pretty in depth. I’ve heard some people asking for more but I see this easy to learn. I am not a mechanical person personally but the depth offered here in the tuning is more than enough for me. I already see some functionality I will need to discuss with friends of more mechanical nature. Besides finally tuning your rides you can do car washes, install body kits, change wheels, change oil, overhaul an engine and plenty of other toys to play with. Pain jobs are unlocked by having certain cars that add to your pain collection. I would much rather be able to modify with all colors but this is a minor complaint. With the detailed of some of the cars I don’t blame them for going this route.
One thing extremely cool and I’m quite addicted to is the photo mode. On the premium cars, you gain access to locations for photo travel mode. The details of f-stops, lens speeds and many more options that photographers love are here. It’s insanely accurate to the limited photography experience I’ve had. If you are reading this I’m sure you’ve seen some of the pictures from GT5. It’s nearly impossible to tell a snap shot you take from a real life car.
I feel like could literally write a novel on this review but I won’t bore you. The Gran Turismo series is the only racing series I play and this one is much easier to start getting into if you haven’t owned any of them before. It’s content is well worth the wait, the online is lag free from my experience(including a solid 2 hours in a friends lounge) and it’s simply a blast to truly feel like you are racing. If you are looking for an arcade racer though I can’t suggest any of the GT series, especially this one. This is titled a simulator for good reasons and you might find yourself unhappy with the purchase if you are looking for an arcade racer.
Minor complaints I personally have are some screen tearing at times on certain tracks and some blocky shadows as well. However, the good outweighs the bad here in my opinion. I know a lot say they spent 6 years and should’ve been more polished. To me, it’s polished where it should be, mind blowing realistic at times and I can sacrifice a bit of the nit picking for an absolutely solid game play experience. PD has been on the ball with two patches out already and from the sounds of it many more to come down the line. This game will evolve with time and I can’t wait to see where it leads. Also in December PD will be releasing more options on damage modeling and I’m sure some more goodies we don’t know of. If you are a fan of Gran Turismo this is a must have, if you are shaky on racers because all the arcade racers I’d say jump in and test drive GT5.
GT5 isn’t something you pick up and automatically experience. It grabs you when you least expect it but you have to take the time to let it. Practice, race, tune and welcome the smell of burning tires. I am in no way disappointed and I have a game with way more depth that I ever dreamed of. While there are some minor complaints, PD seems to be on top of updating and evolving this game into a complete lifestyle.
9.5 out of 10.
