Gran Turismo Races to Victory
By Connect2Mason reporter Daniel Sims
As the 12th best-selling game franchise in the world, any new release concerning Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo racing simulators is sure to be one of the most important on the Playstation 3, even if it’s basically an oversized demo.
It’s kinda hard figuring out exactly what to call Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. From the free Gran Turismo HD Concept that was offered in 2006 to the over half a dozen trailers put out for GT5 Prologue, the “demo” itself which is $40 on the Playstation store or at retail, and the promised updates for it in the future, the whole experience could be called a sort of continuous appetizer displaying why Gran Turismo 5 will be better than Gran Turismo 4 when it comes next year.
<GT5 Prologue brings in a little bit of every major feature so far promised by Polyphony to be in GT5: more cars, more advanced racing physics, online play, and freaking ridiculous graphics.
GT5 Prologue is the most realistic-looking game I’ve seen this side of Crysis. The GT games have always been among the best looking on Playstation, and GT5 Prologue’s immaculate cars and excellent use of effects retains that status. What really drives it home (no pun intended) here though is the new in-car view that shows off a fully-rendered dashboard unique to each of the game’s 70 different cars. All the screenshots in this article are of actual gameplay.
GT fans will definitely notice a difference in the feel of the cars in GT5 Prologue as everything feels slightly heavier, and generally tighter than in GT4. Unlike the robotic, “perfect-driving” AI of before, computer-controlled cars here will commonly make errors on the lower levels which makes them feel like more believable opponents.
Overall though, GT5 Prologue seems to be made somewhat more accessible by GT standards for the sake of essentially being a demo. Nearly every event can be easily won with the right car, car classes are much broader, and there are even options to do things like tone down the physics and reveal a suggested line for driving. Car Tuning isn’t unlocked until all events are beaten.
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The one major thing that hasn’t changed so far in GT5 Prologue, unfortunately for fans, is that there is still no car damage. The absence of consequences for aggressive driving and slamming into opponents for many has turned this realistic driving simulation into something resembling bumper cars which can and often does compromise the challenge of many races, especially online.
The online mode in GT5 Prologue is extremely basic, offering only automatching. The quality of those matches is extremely dependent on the network connection. In matches that do run smoothly, players are frequently seen sliding all over the road and purposely slamming into each other which changes the whole dynamic of the game. Polyphony plans to add a car damage update this fall.
Polyphony Digital is also using the “GT TV” section of GT5 Prologue to continually offer videos of car shows and promotional videos for the eventual full GT5.
Right now GT5 Prologue’s graphics alone make it definitely one of the best showcases for what the PS3 can do. It’s continually updating online content though should prove interesting depending on how Polyphony provides the public with more and more pieces of its game.