Where do you start with a revolutionary series that redefined how a racing game should be?
You start with a prologue.
Many sleepless nights while driving
The first thing you'll notice about Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, outside of the extraordinarily gorgeous opening cinematics, is that it truly isn't your typical Gran Turismo that we've all come to love. To explain this further, let me start by talking about customization.
In previous versions of the game, you have the ability to actually change/upgrade portions of the vehicle as your wealth grows. So when you wanted to upgrade the engine on that pretty purple Mini-Cooper that you fell in love with and raised like sea-monkeys, you could. You could add the noisy muffler, the kick-ass engine, the sports tires, etc. You could spec out your Mini-Cooper to go head-to-head with a Dodge Viper. You could do this. In Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, you cannot do this. Now, instead of bashing it, like I'm positive some very illogical reviewers out there decided to do, you have to really sit back and view it objectively. First, yes it takes away all that lovely changeability that the previous versions of the series brought to the table. It won't give you an opportunity to get creative and personalize your vehicle to your exact specifications. That's definitely a disappointment. On the flip-side to that coin, I'm okay with that. I'm not okay with losing the personalization of the vehicle, but I'm okay with leveling the playing field with other players. I'm completely okay with that. When you can create a game where everyone has a chance, it creates a different challenge. Instead of depending on parts to win you the race, you've now got to depend on your driving skills. That's bringing an old-school idea back to a new-school game. For someone who has never experienced the previous versions of the game, this is a great chance to jump onboard for a fun filled time and fall in love with the series. That's huge for Sony, that's gaining an entirely new audience that didn't want the complication of the series and just wanted racing. Of course, when Gran Turismo 5 (the completed version) finally reaches the world's Playstation 3, then those newbies might want to a piece of the greater plan.
This alone makes the game brilliant in my mind. I don't have to customize in this version, I just need to race.
Speaking of racing, you'll love the controls for Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. Compared to previous versions, the controls certainly seem tighter and a bit more forgiving. GT 1-3 always seemed a bit loose, especially when your car started off-track or if you slightly bumped someone. That was probably one of the more frustrating aspects of the past games. At the drop of a hat you could spinout. While that may be true in some moments of racing, when you're going around the 200 mph+ range, it's certainly tough to do when you're barely hitting 100 mph. In GT5: Prologue you get a tighter grip on the steering functions. You always have a shot of bringing an out-of-control car back from completely hopeless. The game gives you a fighting chance and, in my humble opinion, truly reacts the way a car would if it slightly got bumped or if it drove off the track into grass briefly. It's one of those things that made GT challenging and frustrating in the past that finally got corrected in this recent version. On the other side of this story though, there still is a variation of driving techniques and steering wheel control that you need to have as you purchase newer/better cars. So a Integra certainly is a lot tighter to control at top-speed then if you were driving a Dodge Viper at its peak. In a word, the controls are perfect. Regretfully, to make them more perfect, I wasn't able to get my hands on a Dual Shock 3 in time for this review. I'm positive the experience would have been heightened a bit, and I'll certainly revise this portion of the review when that does occur. For now, this reviewer isn't going to B.S. you, the regular controller for this game works great, but if you've already had a taste of Dual Shock 3, I'm sure you can't go back.
Nothing wrong with variety, just slap some wheels on it and make it go!
While certainly two of the most important 'technical' factors of the game have been discussed in length, the gameplay itself should be singled out. It's basically broken into four modes: Single Player (which goes through the Classes C - A), Arcade Mode (Like Sega's Daytona USA, except cooler), Two-Player mode (head-to-head) and the long-awaited Online mode (guess what that does).
The Single-Player mode is remarkable. It sends you through a series of 'Classes'. For those familiar with the series, this is nothing new. For those not familiar, it's basically a series of races at different levels of difficulty and with special bonuses here and there. It's a great way to learn about the game. Instead of going through a licensing phase, which I just needed a break from in the series, you get to start racing from the get-go. I could not be happier about that. By the time the big version of this game is finished, I'll be in the mood for licenses, until then... this reviewer is happy! Anyway, getting back to it, in the single-player mode, you race through a variety of stages, some which require a certain type of car, some which don't, and you have to win to move on to the next class. When I say you 'have' to win, I mean you HAVE to win. It took me forever to move on from Class B to A. I had one single race that was holding me back. It required me to drive a crappy car, no exceptions -- it had to be this car, and start at the back, working my way up to at least third place. I had to nearly drive this particular track perfect. While frustrating, driving the same track over and over again is a bit much, it does help you become a better driver in the game. Ultimately, that makes life easier when you get to Class A. GT has always been known for this element, making you a better driver through frustration. It can only be compared to playing Resident Evil and completing a very stressful stage, turning off the game and declaring to the world your accomplishment. That's the same feeling and strangely enough it leaves you craving more.
While I won't get into the arcade mode too much or the two-player mode, those are pretty self-explanatory, the online mode sure is fun, but unfair at times. While the world has truly been waiting for this mode to come alive, the world is an unfair bastard. I weep for the future drivers of the world, especially the US, who have no concept of a brake. The red line on the road, which is an indicator to brake during the game, seems to make most of the kids want to go faster. Why is this a problem? Well, when one of them crashes, they all crash. It's like watching synchronized swimming in the Olympics. It's choreographed perfectly. You could have used the music from the Hitman movie trailer to see what is most certainly always a catastrophe in perfect harmony. In all seriousness though, the online mode works great (outside of the bad drivers). No lag at all, you have no delays, nothing to keep you from swinging your car out of the way of the bad drivers. In fact, it works like a Halo type of online would. The service compares your driving stats, cars and abilities to those online, searches and finds you a perfect group of terrible drivers to drive with. What makes this even deeper is that it breaks the rooms, or tracks, up into a series of categories (depending on car type) and gives you options. In the online world of console gaming, you don't get a lot of options thrown your way. And what could make this even better? When they update tracks for online use, you aren't charged a single penny. When I cranked up the game tonight it had me update GT. After such an update, I had new tracks online (and a calendar on the main screen). I can only hope and pray that Sony keeps this trend up.
So do you get enough depth here between these four modes? I would say so. Think about it, there are some good racing games out there (none which I can recall at the moment) that certainly don't match this smaller version of Gran Turismo. It's frightening to think what is to come after the prologue. Truly frightening.
Thank you for not including damage, my car would have never survived the first race
Speaking of racing, the race tracks in this game are unbelievable. They're gorgeous! Details, details, details! When you go to race at Daytona, it looks like Daytona, down to the last bit of fence. When you're racing in the mountainous areas of Europe, it looks like actual mountains and a lusty green field of grass, sitting perfectly in front of those snow-capped towers. The amount of tracks you get, again for a game that is truly a prologue, is pretty impressive. On top of these tracks, you also get to race them backwards which means you can enjoy the other side of them.
Of course, the cars are probably the real bread and butter here. I was very impressed when GT4 hit the market some years ago. I felt like it had pushed the limits of the PS2 and produced something truly remarkable. That, of course, was because I had GT3 to compare it to. If you put them side-by-side, you would see the remarkable difference. Fast forward some years to the Playstation 3's first attempt at the series and you can already tell the capabilities of the system. Looking at GT4 now it looks like a first-generation PSOne game compared to Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. It truly is that big of a difference. In the Blu-ray documentary that is included on the game disc, you hear about what they had to work with to put the models together. They basically were sent high-quality CAD files of the car bodies and worked with very high-end modeling software to make these suckers look sweet. The shaders that the PS3 produces also helped, and the lighting (which has always been a huge deal for Sony systems) looked unreal. When your car is racing on the track and it shifts positions with the sun, the shadows inside and outside the car properly (and accurately) adjust accordingly. The game does small things like that and it also does other things such as when you enter a tunnel, the entrance of the tunnel reflects off the dashboard instruments until you're out of the tunnel. It adjusts according to speed and type of dashboard. That's fine details that you can't see in any other racing game to date. You'll notice these things as you play GT5: Prologue. The shine of the logo, of the hood of the rims on the tires, they're all mesmerizing. You won't be able to take your eyes off the details, which makes it incredibly difficult to keep concentration during a race.
So is there a visual disappointment in the game? Yes, just one. I hate the crowd. They actually hurt the game a bit. If they had been left out, I would have been happier. They were put in, they look like something on the Playstation 2. You'll see my point when you drive on the Daytona track and hundreds-to-thousands of little colorful sticks are in the audience. They're not nice to look at or appreciate. Thank goodness they're minor in the scheme of things, but regretfully they're noticeable. Even in the mountain region, the crowd with arms just doesn't look PS3-esque. Again, it's a minor complaint, but certainly one that I noticed.
You'll ultimately forgive Sony and Polyphony for this when you see all the tracks and cars in the game. Those are healthy distractions.
She handles well, but what's the mileage?
I had some concerns when we received this game for review. I knew that it was going to pack a punch, without a doubt. Could it satisfy people for a long period of time? Could it give that long-lasting feel that GT 1-4 provided on so many cold nights? There's enough gameplay here to last a while, at least 10-20 hours. On top of this, you have plenty of surprises to find in the game and records to top, which extend the replay value well beyond that. The online mode alone could keep you occupied for at least six months. This game was made to satisfy long enough for the real-deal to hit the shelves, when it's damn good and ready.
So with that said, this is a must-have for your Playstation 3 console. You cannot go wrong with Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. It zigs when it should zig, it zags when it should zag and it certainly is a beautiful prologue to something potentially epic.
In Hollywood, they say the first 10-pages of a screenplay sell it. If this is the first 10-pages of Gran Turismo 5, I'm sold!
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