Review: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
Having played Gran Turismo 5 Prologue for the past couple of weeks, and read assorted reviews, both online, and in magazines, I feel the need to express my own opinion on the subject.
First, the basics.
The Tracks:
You get 5 tracks, each featuring either a reverse option, or a variation.
Daytona International Speedway (+Road Course)
Fuji Speedway F (+Fuji Speedway GT)
Eiger Nordwand (+Reverse)
Suzuka Circuit (+Suzuka Circuit East)
London (+reverse)
So, Prologue being just a glorified preview of the full game, slated to come out next year, you can't really complain about the limited number of tracks.
Saying that though, I can't help feeling more than a little short changed by the choice of tracks. Not only have we seen several of these tracks before, all but the London and Eiger circuits are, if we're really honest about it, fairly featureless and dull. For a demo that's supposed to be showcasing glorious new graphics, being faced with a super-wide slab of John McAdam's finest, and pretty much no scenery worth mentioning... it's a far from astounding experience.
There really are only so many times you can be impressed by the grass blowing slightly in the cars' slipstreams before you start thinking "this really is kinda dull looking".
To put it all very briefly, the detail is very impressive, the graphics engine is amazing, but on the majority of the tracks, all of that is simply wasted.
Game Structure:
The game structure is rather different from previous GT offerings, though probably only as it's just a demo. Gone is the licence system, and thankfully so, as on such a small game, it would've been a waste of time and space.
Instead, you have the fairly traditional "win races to win money to buy cars and open up new races" format. It's nothing special, but it works just fine.
There are also assorted arcade and head to head modes, which are much as you'd expect, and the online mode, of which I'll speak more later.
The Cars:
The cars themselves are as you would expect. Absolutely beautiful, with a wonderful selection of droolworthy machinery. And best of all... at least, best of all if you're at all like me... there are Ferraris. Okay, so there's no 308GTS, but what the heck, the 512BB is almost as beautiful, and the F430 sounds absolutely awesome.
The full list is as follows:
Acura NSX ‘91
Alfa Romeo 147 ‘06
Alfa Romeo Brera ‘06
Audi R8 ‘07
Audi TT ‘07
BMW Z4 ‘03
BMW 135i Coupe ‘07
BMW M3 Coupe ‘07
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 ‘06
Daihatsu Copen ‘02
Daihatsu OFC-01 ‘07
Dodge Viper GTS ‘02
Ferrari 599 ‘06
Ferrari F430 ‘06
Ford Mustang GT ‘07
Honda Integra Type R ‘04
Delta HF integrale Evoluzione ‘91
Lexus IS-F ‘07
Lotus Elise 111R ‘04
Lotus Elise ‘96
Mazda ATENZA Sport ‘07
Mercedes Benz SL55 AMG ‘02
Mitsubishi LANCER Evolution IX ‘05
Mitsubishi LANCER EVOLUTION X ‘07
Nissan SKYLINE R34 GT-R ‘02
Nissan Fairlady Z ‘07
Nissan Skyline V36 Sedan ‘06
Nissan Skyline Coupe Concept ‘07
Nissan Skyline Coupe ‘07
Nissan GT-R PROTO ‘05
Nissan R35 GT-R ‘07
Renault Clio v6 ‘00
Subaru Impreza WRX STI ‘07
Suzuki Cappuccino ‘95
Suzuki SWIFT Sport ‘07
TVR Tuscan SPEED 6 ‘00
Golf GTI ‘01
Now, for the fancy stuff...
The Physics:
The new "professional" physics modeling.
This is optional in the main game, and to be honest, if you're racing to win, be if coz you need the credits, or to get through to the next level, the chances are, you'll leave it set on "standard".
"Professional" is indeed harder, but there's more to it than that. The level of realism in the car handling is fairly astounding.
Accelerate too hard or too early and the car will spin its wheels, spin out, understeer, become entirely unstable, or any number of other undesirable possibilities.
Braking too late or too hard has similar results.
Enter a corner at speed, and even if you brake in the right place, if you're off the racing line, you'll probably lose it, and wind up in the gravel.
The simple truth is, with physics set to "professional", you have to drive the car properly, or it absolutely *will* chew you up and spit you out.
The Penalty Feature:
Okay... now while most of the game is excellent, and it's few failings are at least forgivable when viewed in the context of what is merely a demo... this feature makes me mad.
In all previous Gran Turismo games, you could drive your car like an idiot.
Ram into another car at speed and use it as a convenient braking point in a tight corner?
No problem.
Tear into a corner at ludicrously inappropriate rate of knots, and slide round on the outside using the armco to keep you on track? Yup... that was fine too.
Now while these tactics were convenient for the lazy or just plain crap driver, they weren't exactly sporting, and Polyphony Digital have addressed this issue.
So now, ram into another car... penalty! Your engine cuts out for a few seconds, while every other driver, his family, his dog, and his pet sloth come piling past you.
Touch the barrier... penalty! Your engine cuts out, and... you get the picture.
Now this, to my mind is actually perfectly reasonable. It stops you from cheating, and if that was as far as it went, I would be entirely happy with it.
However... there is more.
Turn into the corner, when you are quite clearly ahead of the next car and have the racing line, only for him to dive up the inside and hit you... penalty!
Your penalty!!!
Brake just a few feet earlier than the recommended braking point, but one that seems entirely reasonable for the speed you find yourself traveling at... get hit up the rear by the car behind you... penalty!!!
Not his! Yours! You get penalised because the guy behind you isn't on the ball and didn't hit the brakes in time.
Now I know Polyphony Digital would say these penalties are fair, and are to discourage "brake tests" and cutting up the guy behind you, but really, they are waaaaaaaay too strict.
We're gamers, not Formula One drivers, and in truth, many of the calls made by the stupid penalty system would be very hotly disputed if they were made in an F1 race.
In short, this feature has the potential to totally spoil your game. Polyphony seriously need to tweak this before they release the full game, if they aren't going to ruin everyone's fun entirely.
Online Play:
The structure of online play is much the same as the main game.
There are different levels of play, and you can only access these if you either have the right car, or have passed the appropriate levels in offline mode.
Actual gameplay is.. well... you'll know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you're playing against real people, and not computer controlled drones.
They tend to be one of three things.
1: Very, very good, and often quite sporting. More than once I've been racing someone who knew how to drive, when there were only a few other racers there... I crashed out, and for the sake of a challenging race, he waited by the side of the track, until I was moving again, before continuing to kick my arse.
2: Very, very crap. Everyone starts somewhere, and I have more than once been one of those people who just couldn't keep his car on the track. At the merest sniff of a corner, the cars go flying off into the scenery (or at least, they would if there actually was any scenery, but enough moaning about that).
3: Bastards. They can't beat you by fair means, so they ram you, or push you off the side.
It would be very annoying, but for two things.
(a) That's how we all used to drive Gran Turismo, against the computer... isn't it? Come on... be honest.
(b) In the higher levels, such behaviour attracts penalties. Oh wait... the penalties are wrong half of the time, and you get penalised when the other guy rams you.
DOH!
But anyway... it's flawed, but in truth, online play really is great fun, and makes Prologue entirely worth buying, no matter how limited the rest of the game may be.
Here's a short video clip of some online play, just to give you a feel for it.
I must apologise for the belching at the start of the race... I was drinking coke, and for the poor video quality. My good camera had a flat battery at the time.
Gran Turismo TV:
This is a cool feature.
As well as the usual video clips taken from within the main game... Starting Credits, Ending Credits, etc, you get the inclusion of car related documentaries.
Curiously, they aren't viewable initially. I'd been playing for a few days before I discovered three programs, featuring Polyphony Digital staff, driving/testing the Mitsubishi EvoX and Nissan GTR.
More stuff is supposedly to follow, including, if reports are correct, episodes of Top Gear.
Size Matters:
There is a price to be paid for all of this video footage goodness. In truth, I'm not sure how much of it is down to the video footage, and how much is down to the complexity and detail of the game itself, but get this...
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, on BlueRay, takes up ***6 GIG*** of your precious hard drive space.
This is a demo, for goodness sake! How big is the full game going to be?
I really do think Sony and/or game developers are getting it wrong here.
Sony tell us that the PS3 should be current technology, and not due for replacement, for around seven to ten years. Okay... that's pretty cool.
Sony decide "60 or 80 gigs is too much storage for you people, so we're going to give you something smaller and cheaper" Hey presto, 40 gig PS3s are all you can buy now. Fair enough, people like cheaper stuff, and PS3s really are still very expensive, so whatever helps people buy them can't be all bad.
BUT....
This new **DEMO** of a soon(ish) to be released game will take up 6 gigs of your lowly 40s gigs. Assume the full game will take up even more, and along with that 7-10 year life span... something has got to give.
Either you have to
(a) Buy fewer games per year.
Not very good from a marketing perspective.
(b) Fit a bigger hard drive.
So why not just have big drives as standard?
(c)Delete game data from games you've finished playing.
But what if you want to play it again a year or so on? Do you really have to go through that convoluted installation procedure again? This is supposed to be a games console... not a PC!!!
Some developers are smarter than this. Colin McRae: Dirt gives you the option of installing data, for faster loading, or loading from disk, and accepting longer loading times.
Polyphony Digital. I love your games, but please... get a clue! Give us the option here to not fill our hard drives if we don't want to, beyond the option of simply not buying your game.
Collision Damage:
Much has been said, by many people, about the forthcoming inclusion of crash damage, and I feel I must say something on the matter.
Ever since the very first installment of Gran Turismo, there has been no crash damage. That to me, is just fine. It's how the game has always been, and it's always been amazingly good fun.
So now they are going to add collision damage in a forthcoming update, and I have to say, I'm worried. The potential to get it wrong is huge.
Gran Turismo, to my mind, has always been about the cars, and the racing. It has never been about crashes.
If seeing your car flying through the air, flipping over, or falling apart in dramatic fashion, was what you wanted, you'd be playing Burnout, or Need For Speed... not Gran Turismo.
Now I guess seeing a few scuffs or dents here and there wouldn't be a bad thing, just to let you know you've hit something. It would serve to remind you that hitting things is not a good idea, if you wish to keep your beautiful cars in pristine condition.
Having said that, if the flow of the race is suddenly broken up, while you're forced to watch your pride and joy deform in slow motion, with high definition chunks of bodywork flying in all directions, as the opposition scamper off into the distance, I will not be a happy man.
In Conclusion:
So, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is flawed, in more ways than one. Some are forgivable, some are not, but you must always remember that this is still just a demo.
What it shows us is that Polyphony Digital could, if they get it right, be bringing us a spectacularly good game... possibly the best game ever... in Gran Turismo 5.
BUT... they have shown that they can get it wrong. There are things wrong with Prologue that must be addressed if they are not to upset an awful lot of people... including myself.
To Polyphony Digital I say this... fix the stupid penalties, give us the option to not install, or at least, have a minimal install, and please, please please, don't screw up with the crash damage.
To everyone else I say this... buy Prologue, and prepare to be impressed, but don't expect perfection.
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