WeView Verdict: Gran Turismo 5

Oh Gran Turismo 5. You were in development so long you had to be doomed before you even started. No game could possibly live up to the hype and expectations that had been piled upon Polyphony Digital’s sim racer. It seemingly had the hopes and dreams of the entire PlayStation brand piled on it before its release, it stood as a beacon for just what the PS3 is capable of. With that kind of pressure on it how on earth could it be expected to come across as a resounding success?

In fact some of you echoed exactly this sentiment, such as ratkiller75, who felt that the game’s install overturned all of that hype instantly.

Overall the hype for GT5 was huge and only built up further as it was delayed as people thought it to be more spectacular. However, the massive install was frustrating and not a great way to start. As a driving simulator GT5 can be good but fun it is not. The supposed racing line tells you braking points that are simply not needed, far too early or even far too late. It may have stunning visuals in terms of the cars and some scenery but its the gameplay that matters.

Of course, this was a divisive title again, with a wide range of opinions appearing, even inside the same review. There were several of you who just couldn’t seem to make up your mind about the racer, even if you couldn’t quite work out what you disliked like Origami Killer.

However, although i am a big fan of realistic driving games and motocross games such as GRID and Mx Vs Atv this game sometimes just has no appeal for me. I found the single player repetitive after a few hours of playing and the online frustrating. The gameplay its self is fantastic, the cars feel so real to control, driving on the game just feels so enjoyable. There is a certain buzz this game gives me when your driving 200mph in a Zonda around hair pin turns which quite frankly no other game can provide me with. Once again though i lose interest in this game quickly, i just don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the sheer size of the game which makes me want to put off getting into playing it regularly.

On the other hand there were those who were more than happy to absolutely rave about the game. In fact some of you found it so good that it brought you back to the series, like bravotangosix. Although he lost faith in the series after Gran Turismo 3, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue started to bring him back round and the final product completely brought him back into the fold.

I bought GT5P just because the graphics looked so good at the time and a friend lent me his DFGT. That convinced me to get back into the GT world. Oh god what a game. I’m completely hooked so much more than I’ve ever been hooked on a driving game to such an extent that I want to see how far I can go with simulated driving. I’m on the verge of buying the T500RS wheel and am about to have my Rensport wheel stand delivered this month. I’ve become obsessed! All because of GT5, the DFGT and the driving sensation they create together. Without a good Steering wheel this game is maybe a 6-7/10 but with a wheel it very quickly becomes every petrolheads waking wet dream.

My favourite review of the week came from tonycawley who managed to put a spin on GT5 that I haven’t seen before. He considers it in terms of an RPG rather than a racing game, which is an interesting idea.

Gt5, the rpg for driving fans. Level up, unlock and buy new stuff, continue with game, unlock and so on. Highly addictive. It has many issues, but I saw past most of them and truly enjoyed the game. Loads of problems, loads and loads of them, too many to mention in fact, but they can all be ignored so easily.

Finally, although tonycawley may not have wanted to list those flaws, teflon was more than happy to point out exactly what’s wrong with the game. In fact he breaks it down pretty nicely for you.

It’s got tons wrong with it:

• Standard cars
• Stupid networking issues
• Insanely boring B-Spec races
• Too few restrictions in A-Spec leading to total run away races
• Takes forever to get going
• Horrible menu system

Now, to the verdict. Whilst a lot of you seemed to um and ah within your reviews, the actual decision was fairly conclusive. There almost wasn’t any split at all, out of 22 votes, 3 were cast for Avoid It, 1 was cast for Rent It, and a staggering 18 of you recommended to Buy It. For clarity’s sake I should point out that several of you voted for more than one option, and in that case I simply took your first vote. It was the easiest option.