by Jonathan Greengrass

Created on: July 23, 2011

Gran Turismo 5 is possibly one of the most anticipated driving games to be released in the last five years. The game has been talked about for a long time and has been anticipated since Gran Turismo 4 was released in 2005. However, whilst the game has some new features, in other areas it does seem to be a trumped up version of Gran Turismo 4.

Graphically, the game lives up to its usual high standards, the lighting effects and detail in some of the premium cars is excellent. The photo mode shows off the best of what the game's programmers have done with the graphics system and the results are certainly impressive. However, when it comes to some of the more standard cars, it seems that the cars have simply been lifted from Gran Turismo 4 and some cars lack a proper cockpit view. The detail of the new damage feature is good, which adds to pleasure of the new feature. 

As always, Gran Turismo 5 features a plethora of licensed cars, with everything from a Toyota Yaris to a Bugatti Veyron. It's pleasing to see two Italian greats finally part of the console series with Lamborghini and Ferrari making their bows on the PS3. Unfortunately their inclusion has seemed to push out some of the smaller independent car makers that have featured in previous games. But overall, the quality of the range of cars is above anything else on the market. The inclusion of licensed NASCAR cars is also a nice touch, which links in well with the new special events races on the career mode. 

In terms of playability, there is always a large degree of longevity with an expansive single player career mode. With this edition the creaters of the game have changed the style of progression through the career mode. In previous games, the player had to accrue certain licenses before they could compete in some races. In this game the requirement for licenses have been done away with and replaced by a level system where experience is gained by winning raises, completing license challenges and completing special challenges. This has made the game more playable and the licenses themselves have been cut down from 18 challenges to 10, which cuts away some of the less entertaining aspects of the last games. The special challenges add a lot to the game, especially the NASCAR challenges that add a lot of variety. This makes up for the shedding of a lot of standard races from the last game.

Overall, the game is very playable, and is definitely worth the asking price. The graphics are impressive and there have been sufficient additions to make the game different from previous incarnations. However, in other areas, there have been regurgitations of features from Gran Turismo 4, which means that whilst the game is good, it falls short of being great.

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