Gran Turismo 5: Prologue

Navneet Prakash, Mar 29, 2008 1152 hrs IST

It's not a full game, but that doesn't make it any less fun!

Great racing simulation, very challenging and rewarding gameplay, lifelike visuals and sound, good amount of extras, great line-up of cars.

Online multiplayer needs some improvement.

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EXPERT REVIEW

When you start the game, you will encounter "My Page," where you'll find everything you need. Let me explain what the various options on the page are.

News: An online service that will download the latest news, game-related and otherwise.

GT-TV: A special theater where you can view the game intro (simply awesome), free Gran Turismo HD movies that can be downloaded via the PSN, as well as episodes of Top Gear (which have to be purchased).

Online: This is where you go online to play a 16-player race, a first for GT.

Rankings: Well, check where you stand.

Arcade: The quick-and-fun mode.

2P Battle: An offline split-screen racing mode.

Events: The Events mode, of course.

Garage: This where you see and select all your beautifully-rendered cars.

Dealership: Where you buy new cars.

Replay: Watch your moments of glory.

As I've mentioned, the Events mode has many races. After completing the A class races, you unlock Quick Tune as well as S type races. Quick Tune is an in-depth tuning mode for your car; you can adjust weight ratios, torque, gear ratios, balance, and much more. Your car can be fine-tuned to the minutest detail to suit your driving style. This is an activity for the purist -- as well as for somebody who knows his vehicle. You can apply different settings to your car and these can be used real-time while driving. You can configure the D-pad with different settings and use them in crucial races.

The S type races are harder and much more intense -- you need to master every nook and corner of the game to be able to beat the AI in these. The AI is pretty competent; they know their racing line and stick to it. The initial races are the most challenging, since you have a slower car and have to memorize the tracks; once you get a good car, the game changes. The thing is, unlike in most arcade racing games, completing a race in a simulation is much more rewarding. It's harder and not that easy to master, but every time you overtake a car on the turn, it feels great. The driving simulation is perfect: the cars look and feel real. You can feel the speed and energy while you drive past an opponent at 150 miles.

Multiplayer

It's fun; I tried my hand at the online mode as well as split-screen. The online interface can't really be called great, and finding a race can be a challenge. But the split-screen multiplayer is smooth. The game does not lag in multiplayer; it runs at a smooth 60 fps.

USER COMMENTS

GT needs online voice chat! And all of the bumper car routines the online gamers play should be fixed. As far as bumper cars I bought a fast car and mixed it with pure skill,now they can bump but the only hope for my competition is the streemline...

by TEXAS211, dallas, on Jul 16, 2008 06:22 PM, Report abuse Reply

why the gt series is only for ps... im playing nfs prostreet but is not interesting such gt5. can u tell me another new racing game? Thanks

by Anonymous, ohrid, on Jun 29, 2008 08:57 AM, Report abuse Reply

This is nintendo 64 graphics, very poor!

by Jay Sizzle, ends, on Jun 12, 2008 09:51 PM, Report abuse Reply

its great

by blessan, bangalore, on May 14, 2008 03:13 PM, Report abuse Reply

Hy Losers

by Vikram, Bhilai, on Apr 28, 2008 11:04 AM, Report abuse Reply

these games graphics look amazing. they are really testing the 360' graphics

by roy, jamestown, on Apr 04, 2008 10:35 PM, Report abuse Reply

xxx

by ashish, sharma, on Apr 04, 2008 07:15 PM, Report abuse Reply

satisfactory services

by mukul sharma, india, on Apr 03, 2008 05:36 PM, Report abuse Reply

Hardware requirements?? Will an amd64 x2 3800 and nvidia 8800 GT AGP card be good enough to run it well (not the minimum requirements)... The game looks amazing ....So am having doubts about my configuration...

by Bhaskar, bangalore, on Mar 31, 2008 08:20 AM, Report abuse Reply

Bhaskar i guess u r new to gaming ?? coz either u made a mistake in the name.. coz there is NO AGP variant for 8 series.. to best of my knowledge.. Either urs is a 6800GT (which is exactly what runs in the PS3!!) ... but if its 8800GT, thats a really great graphics card u have today! I have the 8800GTS 768....good enuff for any PC games for next 3 years.. but dude, the GT series is only for PS3... for PC u have the GTR2,TOCA3 for simulation and semi simulation track racing and NFS prostreet for arcade racing... ofcourse u have other off-roading stuff which are pure sim like RBR etc..

by Nithin, Bangalore, on Mar 31, 2008 09:27 AM, Report abuse

Is it also available on PS.

by Arun, Delhi, on Apr 03, 2008 06:57 AM, Report abuse

Sorry for the criticism, but when reviewing a racing game, one must be stressing on the vehicle detailing (like customizability of settings) and what cars it features (apart from the GTB snap i dont see any Ferraris.. and Nismos and Lotuses are the main veins of GT series).. i have played all the previous GT series, not this yet... graphics is awesome but no damage engine! Being in the automotive field for over half a decade, i did not find it a technically sound game + the simulation mode is also too easy to master.... So just wud like to know how better it is in gameplay than previous GTs... Waiting for the full fledged one... shud be better than FORZA2. Sorry if i sound rude, but i feel the reviews on racing genre in techtree lack something... usually when reviewing about a game sereis.. the NFS series review was also poor... but most action FPS games i have purchased after reading the reviews here :)

by Nithin, Bangalore, on Mar 31, 2008 09:29 AM, Report abuse Reply

Ummm... there are 2-3 ferraris (including the F2007!!! if i remember correctly tats fr 2million credits!!!)... Nissan's & Lotuses are there too...

by Nithin, Chennai, on Mar 31, 2008 09:58 AM, Report abuse

i doubt these images are from a GAME...... hehehe .....:D mindblowing graphics.... I think in next 40 yrs from now we will scan entire earth's outdoor, indoor and make it available anywhere virtually..... With it we can experiance everything anytime and by any means.... may it be any car, bike, airplane, train, ships anything.... And after 60 from now we will have that data in 3D perspective with virtual reality.....with all sences reproducible virtually :D Time scale may vary, but future will be like this, i suppose... , and dream. For the moment though i will need PS3 to play this game....... lol

by morph, Pune, on Mar 29, 2008 03:36 PM, Report abuse Reply

Dude... the screenies are very much from ingame... bought the game, yesterday...

by Nithin, Chennai, on Mar 31, 2008 09:55 AM, Report abuse

Already have it preordered....can't WAIT!

by Mornelithe, Valdemar, on Mar 29, 2008 08:38 PM, Report abuse Reply