GT5 Prologue - review

[ohmisunao]

First off: my network connection for online play doesn't work (router issue).. so I didn't get to try that. [sadface]

So far it's pretty much high-res GT. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

"Keeping it real" - the good stuff

• The driving model has been drastically improved and the car handling feels even MORE spot-on than in GT4.  I need to get my wheel fixed.
• The cars, which appear true-to-life, take 6 times longer to model/texture than their GT4 counterparts to the tune of 6 man-months each (yikes!).
• The camera effects that simulate one's iris closing after entering the sunlight etc are a nice touch and work just like I'd expect.
• The in-car dash and driver modeling/animation is so good I actually forget sometimes that I'm sitting in my living room.
• The Lotus Elise's brakes and dynamics feel so much better than they did in GT4!
  
• 1080p at 60fps!  I haven't seen any other team get anywhere close to this yet.
• It now supports the G25 Racing Wheel which has a 6-gate shifter and a clutch pedal! ($300)
• I'm really glad they made grass and sand affect the car a whole lot more when you go off-track it seemed "cheap" when people could confidently go out of bounds and cut corners that way.
• They made the Analog stick on the Dualshock 3 a whole lot less twitchy than it was on GT4/GTHD thank goodness!
• There is a lot to like about GT.. I think I've played it for so long that I'm sure I'm forgetting other good points.

"Keeping it unreal" - the not-so-good stuff

• Tracks are way too clean/sterile looking.. if you watch the footage they took of the real places there is a lot of detail that's missing - people, random cars parked along the tracks, more natural grass w/ dry spots and variety.. oh and just general "distressing" to make the track look used.  GT4 had the same problem but it's easier to let it slide on a PS2.
• Damage - I know this is a constant point of contention for the damage-less GT but to keep racing "fair" in a virtual world.. it's nice to persuade people not to use walls as rails that they can ride or bash into competing cars so they can make a turn faster..  It looks like there's a penalty system in place of this when you play online.. but I didn't get to yet.. so I can't review it.  IMO, though, you trash your car.. you should have to take a penalty pit or something.  Kaz says they're planning to add damage modeling to the cars later this year.. I'll believe it when I see it.
• There is no dynamic lighting in the game, which I guess isn't a huge deal, but there's also very little variety as it stands now.

Small gripes - not that important but room for improvement

• When you look at the cars in replay.. you don't get that much of a sense of acceleration even with powerful cars.  They don't hunker down in back while powering out of a corner.. I'd like to see more suspension movement for things like that.  It doesn't change the driving dynamic at all, which is nice, but in terms of the "reality" of it.. it'd be nice to see.
• No normal-mapping means that little details in the backgrounds, like cobblestones and things look flat still.. sometimes I wonder if they should've gone with 720p so they could do better surfacing?  - It's pretty obvious they're on the edge of their texture limits
• There's a blue/grey tint over the entire game.. that trademark Ferrari red is just not hot enough.
• The difficulty ramp between stages is extremely variable.. you might be stuck on one that's nearly impossible and then the next is a cakewalk.
• The AI is still kinda stupid - Forza 1's is better actually.. [sadface]
• The cars do not reflect everything in the background.  Yes I know this is a super nit-pick.. but I noticed it. XD

VS Forza 2
People these days can't help but compare this and Forza2.  I've played Forza2 and I have to still say I like GT better.  I've seen what Forza2 tried to do with "penalties" (adds time to your lap) when you hit other cars or go off-track.. the problem is that it's not specific enough.  If I put my tire on the grass it penalizes me.. that's too sensitive IMO.  The fact that I'm in the grass should penalize me with slipping the tire out or slowing me down (the way GT5 does it).  For hitting other cars or walls it's somewhat fair in place of an actual damage system (which I've only really seen on TOCA).  When I play Forza I always felt like it seemed lifeless and that the music was tacked on top of the rest of the audio.. on top of that the car models can't even remotely touch GT's which is a big part of the appeal of owning virtual cars IMO.  I think parts of the physics in Forza2 are better than GT.. things like if you over accelerate from a stand-still the car will get real squirrly if it's powerful.  In terms of how the cars feel while driving, though, I much prefer GT's feedback.  You get more of a sense of weight, balance, and tire grip from GT's simulation especially now that they've added the in-car cam.

Overall
I think GT is focusing on things that "really matter" at least.  Polyphony doesn't seem to be straying far from the path that they really should be on and that's a very good thing.  #1 The feel of driving a specific car and having it run like the real thing - this is their main asset.  #2 Car Porn - the visuals in the details of the individual cars no matter how crappy or exotic are 100% accurate.  #3 Having courses and variety that keeps players interested - from fictional tracks in the Swiss Alps to real tracks like Suzuka there's something for every driving enthusiast.

Am I satisfied?  Absolutely.
Do I think they can do better?  Yes.  I'm excited to see what they do with the final game a year from now.

Note: I stopped giving number scores because they really don't mean that much IMO.