High octane racing simulator Gran Turismo 5 is one of the most long-awaited games in history but, after over five years in development, it’s finally here and the expert verdicts are pouring in. To save you the trouble of trekking all over the web, we’ve brought together a host of opinions right here in our Gran Turismo 5 review roundup.
The verdict of our very own Damien McFerran can be perused right here, but read on for more opinions on the PS3 racer – is it a finely-tuned supercar of a game, or just a weedy hatchback?
PS3
The PS3 exclusive has a lot of hype to live up to. But does it deliver?
PlayStation Universe certainly thought so, describing it as “the ultimate racing sim” and, like our review, pointing to the incredibly accurate driving physics as a high point: every car handles in a distinctly different way due to differences in weight, tyre treads and engine systems. The physics can be tough to master if you’re used to more arcade-like games, says the review, but make Gran Turismo 5 “incredibly satisfying when you nail it”. The reviewer also liked the huge range of cars, but lamented the inconsistency of their on-screen representation: some cars look excellent, while others are merely good.
Eurogamer’s review featured more criticisms, citing “archaic online multiplayer, an unwieldy interface, terrible optimisation and obtuse structure” as symptoms of Gran Turismo 5’s lengthy, in-a-vacuum development process. However, it also describes the game as, at times, “astonishingly real and beautiful”, lauds the sheer amount of features on offer and pours praise all over the realism of the handling. Handling is the Holy Grail of driving games, according to Eurogamer’s Oli Welsh, and Gran Turismo 5 hits the sweet spot.
Joystiq’s Randy Nelson was a little less enamoured of the way the game plays, saying that while driving he felt “cold, hard calculations and algorithms” rather than the impact of crashing into another driver or the g-force of taking a curve at high speed. He describes the game as “something only a subset of gamers will truly enjoy” – but still gave Gran Turismo 5 a positive review, saying that it’s “great at what it does”.
Verdict
The general consensus among experts is that Gran Turismo 5 is a flawed and sometimes frustrating game, but a masterpiece – or something close to it – in spite of that.
I find it hard to believe this game is any good considering I purchased it yesturday and have been trying to get it to play on my ps3 and have no luck, this is the only reason i bought my ps3 in the first place so needless to say i've just about given up on the ps3. Any ideas? I'm sure i've already tried a few of them but why not?
mlk007
The installation has been quite frustrating for me. It took close to 2 hrs for that to finish. During instalation, it said 35 secs more and took 40 mins. It said that if I deploy the game load times will be faster but the load time is really bad. Game as such is wonderful. Been playing for 2 days and just getting all my licenses.
themoshman
It's a good game but I really want to know where all that development time went. The gameplay is very similar to GT4, the graphics are underwhelming to say the least and the online is a bit of a mess.
Considering a good 80% of the cars in the game were ported over from previous GT4 titles it seems PD have spent too much of the last 6 years sitting around fantasising about cars. The premium cars look great but the standard cars range from appearing fairly dodgy to looking absolutely horrendous.
Even when installed the game takes far too long to load and the poorly thought out menu system helps make the experience even more sluggish.
The gameplay is pretty spot on but it was already polished in GT4 so I just don't understand why this was in development for so long. It's a 10/10 driving simulation wrapped up in a 6/10 game as far as I'm concerned.
High octane racing simulator Gran Turismo 5 is one of the most long-awaited games in history but, after over five years in development, it’s finally here and the expert verdicts are pouring in. To save you the trouble of trekking all over the web, we’ve brought together a host of opinions right here in our Gran Turismo 5 review roundup.
