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Senior Member
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GT5 Prologue
Ok, so I have been anticipating GT5 for quite some time. I tried to stay abreast of latest news of the latest addition to the famed GT series. Mind you, I have never raced the earlier versions as I am still quite the Newbie to gaming, and have only had any consoles just over a year now. But reading what the game developer had to say, this game is really going to be best racing simulator to date. The reviews from the gaming web pages all seemed to confirm this. The best graphics, the best refresh rates, the best cars, the best game. So when it was released, I decided to take the download approach, and waited to Thursday, then downloaded it. Did not really get a chance to run it until Saturday night, Sunday afternoon. Thought I would share my thoughts.
The Good:
Graphically the best looking cars I have seen in a game yet. Makes sense as I expect all of the next games to come out to be just a little bit better. But the developers really did a good job with the environment. At first I thought the surrounding landscapes of the tracks were not as good looking as they should be. I still think that about some of the closer things like trees, just don't quite seem as natural as I would hope. But the more distant landscapes are pretty fantastic. The sky is about as real as they come, about like looking out the window.
The sun and shadows is also excellently done. Racing the streets of London, the shadows the buildings cast on the race course can really be quite disconcerting at times ass you run from bright to shadow and back at high speeds, something I feel a real race driver has to deal with. On the open courses as the turns take you directly into the sun, the track reflects a lot of glare back into your eyes, just like I have seen from in car views of various different racing series. Then as you round the next curve, your car shadows shifts with the new angle of the sun. Really well done. Did I say the cars look good? In between events the game sends you back to a lobby called "My Page". It is where you can make menu selections to enter the next event, go live, go buy another car. Here the background is the car you were just driving set in a scenic little picture. And it does look like a photograph of the real thing.
The AI in this game is pretty good as well. It does not automatically slam into you if brake early, or happen to be where it usually runs. It can and will actually adjust to your position, most of the time, but there will be accidents, as there should be.
Ok, you may have noticed I have not actually mention the racing yet. On to the next section.
The Bad:
The racing. Period. Can you say PGR. PGR is a very good game, but a racing simulator it is not. I do not believe this new release even comes close to a racing simulator. First, let me give you some background on how the game runs. Single player: There are three classes: C B and A. These are not car classes, but driver classes. Nothing wrong with this. You start in C class and can not advance to B class until you have completed all of C. You have events like a race. You start on a rolling start, about half way back in the pack, and have like 2 or 3 laps to try to win. 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place allows you to complete the event, and receive a trophy. (PGR again). You also have time trials, where you have a set lap time to try to beat, as well as over take events, where you start at the end of the pack, and must work your way up in one lap. Nothing wrong with this, especially in the single player, but I swear I kept waiting to see if I earn any "Kudos" for the event. But, there is No Damages!! How can a game even call it self a racing simulator is there is no damages. If I hit the concrete barrier at 140 mph , I should have at the very least, a dented fender. Not in this game, you just get back on track and continue racing like nothing happened. And this is just single player, lets talk a little multi player.
As I waited for the game to be released, I was already planning a race series for the potatoes who own a PS3, and there are some very good racers among us with the PS3. So I hooked up with a friend Saturday night to do some online racing. Went to set up a room for us, but hold on, you can not set up a room. I thinking now, how the hell can you race with your friends. So first, my buddy and I had to fire up our Xbox's and start a private chat. PS network does not yet have the ability to have a private chat and play a game at the same time. So we go the multi player menu, look over the events. We find one we would like to race together, so we count down from three and hit the enter button at the same time. Well, we were racing the same race, but never placed in the same room. There is no way to invite friends to this game either. So we are both racing against 16 of our closest strangers. Again no damages. This only encourages people to beat and bang one another, no friends, no damages. Now if a car is sideways on the track, you can drive right through it. But if a car bounces off the guard rail, comes back on the track and hits you in the side, you will be wrecking as well. But don't worry, no damages, just get back on the track and go. Heck, get to the inside of the turn, and use the car to the outside to your advantage, you will send it wide, will keeping your traction and accelerate out of the turn well. Well as you can imagine, the live racing just was not to fun, no friends, no damages.
Oh, and where are the upgrades. So far at least, I have advance into A class, but you can not buy or add performance upgrades. You can only adjust the Traction control, turn stability control on or off, and pick racing, sport or normal tires.(most events require a particular tire level, so really you don't pick that either.) I think if I read the online manual correctly, once you complete the three classes, you can purchase tuned cars, and then adjust some suspension and power components.
Overall:
Well from my understanding this is not the final product. Again, I have never played the earlier versions of GT, so I am not sure if they are all like this or not. And if this is basically a $40.00 demo, I hope Sony listens up and listens well over the next several months. If you want to make a racing simulator, make a racing simulator. Adding parts, adjusting settings and yes, DAMAGES are part of what I call a racing simulator. They also really need a way for people to set up racing rooms, and invite friends. And would it have been too much to ask to let us put some stickers on our cars. I think most of us who enjoy Forza, also like to make our cars ours, by slapping some decals on the side.
So basically my opinion is this game falls way short of a racing simulator. It is only an ok Arcade racing game. I enjoy PGR series more. And If I want to run Arcade racing game, Most Wanted still is one of my faves. Again, maybe the final product will be better, I know I will definitely be reading the advances on the game to see if Sony is listening, In the meantime Forza 2 is the racing simulator for consoles.
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Re: GT5 Prologue
Re: GT5 Prologue
