Gran Turismo 5: Missed opportunities at every turn

Getting ready to play a new game can sometimes be like that first conversation with a girl you like. She is very pretty (graphics look amazing), she has similar interests to you (your favorite genre) and people that know her have only good things to say (comes highly recommended by other gamers). But when you take the plunge and actually engage her, it doesn’t work out like you had hoped.

Sometimes she’s a total hellion filled with the crazy, sometime she’s perfectly nice but just not meant for you. Either way, you are left disappointed.

No-one has a monopoly on disappointment, least of all gamers, but over the last few years the media that has built up to report on gaming has evolved into, essentially, a huge hype factory. The entire gaming journalism machinery functions as a tool to build up excitement for games. It’s rare to read a game preview that has anything harsh to say or that points out problems. Those that do always add the universal rebuttal of “its still early in development, it will be fixed by release date” at the end.

When everything you read about every game is always positive, naturally it elevates expectations on your part. But surely not every game is good? It’s inevitable then that disappointment will make an appearance somewhere. We get blinded by that game that’s based on a book we really love. Or a developer we admire lets us down. Or the trailer was just sooooo amazing, but the full-length version didn’t quite match up.

Long-time gamers have learned how to look beyond the hype, a skill that unfortunately can only be acquired through experience. But even we can get stabbed in the back by the dagger of disappointment sometimes.

All of which brings me to Gran Turismo 5 (GT5) for the PlayStation 3. GT5 is an example of the worst kind of disappointment. It’s a sequel that‘s a good game, but really should have been a great game. Allow me to explain.

Ignoring for a moment the excellent visuals of the game, GT5 is the worst game in the entire series. Its core gameplay still remains incredibly enticing. Driving your car is still a very fulfilling experience, as is the modifying and tinkering with it until you’ve pushed the car to its limits. Where this game fails however is in two very specific areas that are not unique to GT5, but this game does provide an excellent example of these failures.

First issue. Adding problems where there weren’t any. The series has never been known for having the friendliest menu interface, but it was always functional. More importantly, it wasn’t an obstacle in getting to the actual racing. The current layout is just a mess of icons and it’s never really clear what they do. It represents a barrier to your enjoyment, because when you buy a racing game, it’s reasonable to assume you want to race. Faffing around in the menus isn’t nearly as enticing. It’s not an insurmountable problem, or even a particular huge one, but the point is this was never an issue before. So why does it have to be one now?

The second issue is way more egregious. Failing to address known issues. Gran Turismo first made its appearance in 1997 on the original PlayStation. At that point in time it was a revelation. A racing game that sought to simulate the actual physics of driving a car, that featured a vast selection of real world cars supported by the actual manufacturers. It even offered the opportunity to modify those cars as you saw fit. You could take a piece of junk Daihatsu, for example, and produce something really special.

That game had its problems, but in the context of its time they were rather minor and forgivable. So there was no damage when smashing into other cars, and opposing cars were oblivious to your presence on the track? These weren’t even considered problems in 1997. The technology to implement them did not exist yet. That is no longer the case.

Consider the Forza series, NFS Shift, GRID or even Burnout. These games have proven that a damage model is possible and that opposing cars can have dynamic AI.

People often accuse the FIFA and Madden games of simply upping their player rosters and boosting the visuals every year. And perhaps that is true. But if ever there was a franchise guilty of this kind of development process, then it is the team behind Gran Turismo.

Every Gran Turismo game has featured an extensive and updated list of cars to choose from and every version has been a visual showcase for the console that it was on. But the game itself? It hasn’t changed at all since 1997.

It’s a credit to the development team that the game they made over 14 years ago is still immensely enjoyable, even in the face of quality competition. As a fan of the series, you know they had both the time and the resources to make this game better. But they did what they did with every sequel in the series, namely added new cars and polished the visuals. You can’t do that anymore, then expect everything to be fine. And if you look back at all the Gran Turismos, it is clear that that is really all Kazunori Yamauchi has done.

In the five years that GT5 was in development, was there even a discussion about tweaking the gameplay? From the looks of the game, it doesn’t seem that way.

In the parlance of the internet, I am sorry to say but, “I am disappoint.”

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damaged_case

neither Forza, nor Shift, nor GRID, nor Burnout had dynamic AI. none moreso than Gran Turismo 5, least ways. click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_HJSJLL8_I

i also don’t get what’s wrong with the menus… they’re certainly not confusing. each icon is clearly labelled. A Spec, B Spec, Tuning Shop, GTAuto, Practice, Photo Mode, etc. are there a lot of things in the menus? yes. why? because there’s a lot of things in the game.

really, the only issue with Gran Turismo 5 is for some reason Polyphony Digital made it harder to accrue damage than any of the demos they released. that still puzzles me.
damaged_case

i should also add that Polyphony doesn’t just go about adding more cars and making them prettier. every Gran Turismo release brings updated driving physics. each game is a vast improvement over the previous in this respect. go back and play GT4, or GT3, or GT2, or the original Gran Turismo and tell me any of those feel as tight to drive as Gran Turismo 5 does.

beyond the obvious physics upgrades, Polyphony also created a dynamic weather system ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9Y0LwGxZcA ) and dynamic time system ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9piJ4adciM )… both of which, by video game standards, are amazing.

and, in case you were unaware, the 200+ premium cars each took 6 months of man hours to build (in an interview with Kaz, he said if one man were to create one car, it would take six months to complete). multiply that by 200, and you’re looking at 100 years worth of man hours just to build the premium cars (which is why PD put “standard” versions in. they just ran out of time). and it shows. everything else looks “last gen” in comparison. you can count the stitches in the seats. a bit much? perhaps. until you see it in 3D. then it all makes sense.

you shoulda went with the “the career progression is too short” arguement. that, at least, makes sense. Gran Turismo 5 races are noticebly shorter on average, and there’s fewer of them. instead you go on about menus (seriously? menus?) and then go about falsely claiming that Polyphony Digital does nothing to improve the gameplay.
Nova321

What is this joke of an article? Oh and by the way they created a new physics system for scratch in those 5 years instead of just using the smae engine over and over like the titles you mentioned. GT5 feels very different to GT4 and complaining about a menu..A MENU..is just pointless. It’s a racing game and an extremely good one.
Arket33

Well this is one of the worst article ever read, if you reduce all the features of GT5 into just TWO you don’t like, then you clearly don’t know well GT5 or you just want to create a bad feeling about it.

Please review your article, if you talk about the only two bad things of GT5, you should explain all other features: online gaming, new cockpit views, 1000+ cars, totally new circuits, weather system, karts, nascar, rallies, two concurrent pilots in B-spec mode, etc…
H S

how can you comment on a game that you clearly have not finished can you explain?
darkside

part of this article is true.. but most of it is not. Play the game to a higher level (like 35+) and you’ll notice there actually IS a damage-model for several cars and the opponent AI gets more intelligent. Never judge a book by it’s cover! just read it.
TheUser

But why must I get to Level 35 to get full damage, that has to be one of the most stupid things in the history of gaming. Full damage should be accessible through an ON and OFF function, period.

And by the way the MENU for this game IS crap. Have any of you tried to tune a car? I’m serious have you?
It goes something like this, do you want to tune–>press yes… do you want part–>press yes… are you sure–> press yes… do you want to install–>press yes… you’ve installed–>press yes… you pressed yes?–>press yes.

In a nutshell the user interface is BULLSHIT. In reality there are barely any tracks in the game considering forward, reverse then weather cycles for one track magically turns it into three different tracks. 1000 cars, are you serious? considering 700 of Japanese variants of the same car, how many Skylines are seriously needed in 1 game. I would have much rather had 400-500 PREMIUM(stupid concept) cars that were diverse that 1000 pieces of shit.

GT5 epitomizes everything about today’s society which is a lot of noise being made but nothing really being said. If you’re slow to piece that together I mean a lot of noise about cars and tracks when in reality there are almost none.

Not to mention every screen takes 65 billions years to load and don’t get me started with the online part of the game. Seriously don’t.
http://twitter.com/grahamsmithy Graham Smith

If you genuinely believe what you’ve written, then you’re a complete numpty. Have you even played the game? It’s totally different to the previous games – are you sure you’re not thinking of GT5 Prologue? I’m clearly a fanboy but how you’ve described the game is wrong on every level.
HarryH

This article is a freaking joke! Nothing but Forza fanboy propaganda. I’m sorry but you have to be a complete moron if you can’t navigate through the menu (or you just don’t play the game enough),
Zaid

I think many of you are missing the point of the article. I don’t think GT5 is a bad game or even that Forza or NFS are necessarily better games. I just don’t think it is as good of a game as it should have been.

I was merely using it as an example of how games can disappoint us.
Craig

Utterly shocked by how retarded some people can be. I’m talking about the commenters, not the article. The article is just fine, but people are so unbelievably emotionally invested in a *game* that they can not STAND to hear an alternative perspective, and god forbid someone hold a different opinion. Wow, gamers, just relax. Go for a walk. Wow.
Zaid

http://www.reallifecomics.com/archive/110124.html
Andrew hillier1970

The artical is sort of ok I suppose but the title is abit wong .. Oppertunties missed at every turn!!! makes the game sound lke a total disaster which it clearly is not. Complaining about the menu is a bit stupid that maks it look as if you are just looking for errors rather than playing the game and making a proper judgement. I agree with graham smith are you sure you are not playing prologue
H S

still no replay on my previous question how can you comment on a game that you clearly have not finished can you explain?”

and just to add to that have any of you retards played the game in 3D?

this guy call Zaid Kriel does he actully get paid to write this?

comments welcome..
Jiahaoliao

the reviewer has clear not reviewed/played the game enough, just like many other bad reviewers such as IGN. Really, no damage model? had he even bothered to see the commericial which clearly says that it has “Full damage models”?

I bet 90% of the paid reviewers just copy and paste what the IGN review says..
Anonymous

Zaid you hit the nail on the head. I appreciate you taking a view of “truth”. GT5 is a tremendous game and a lot of fun to play. HOWEVER, they did miss achieving what they could have achieved. I’ve said it elsewhere the GT5 is all about the cars; while games like Grid are all about the race. Real race drivers can smash into everything around them and hope to keep their cars intact and win races. You don’t have to show visual damage, but it MUST have an effect on the physics. Otherwise you’re barreling around smashing into things and not concerned because there is no penalty. If this is supposed to be a “Real Racing Simulator” then where’s the impact on the physics? Also when you look at “tyical opponents” and it tells you that cars in this race are between 300-350 HP and you get a car in that range to race and find that you’re blowing away the competition or sorely outmatched what fun is that when it comes to “racing”? Everything else I can live with. Take away B-Spec and take away Photo Travel just make the cars realistic in the effects of bouncing off another car or a retainer. It will affect the way you drive. On that first turn I don’t care who I bump into I just want to get as close to the lead as possible.
Joca

I own this game, but no, I have not finished it. I have also been a follower of the series and must agree with the article that this game disappoints, immensely.

Why oh why are so many of you supporting the robotic like design of this game’s interface, AI and racing experience? Stop lying to yourselves. Have you not noticed the same sound byte is used for almost every crash, regardless of speed or angle of approach? How about this…next time you are cruising your stunning vehicle at 150+mph, try to brush up on the tail of an opponent that has a rear wheel drive train. You will then notice that for whatever reason the AI is indestructible and highly trained in controlling an oversteer at 150+mph. Sorry….not realistic!! Then why not crash head on against a wall…low speed, high speed, whichever…not realistic!! Dump the clutch…oh wait, it doesn’t have that option. In order to do a long standing burnout one must change the drive tires to hard compound or turn off the traction control for more free wheel spin…not realistic!! Have any of you played Toca Racing/Grid?

Then come the menus. Yes, menus are god awful! The infinite loops to try achieve one simple thing. Select paint chip, then paint car. Paint chip is now gone. I for one, would like to see what my car color would look like before purchasing it. Paint wheels…sorry, not these wheels. That’s it??? That’s all the visual customization one can do?? Seriously? How about your garage? Why should one have to set a car to be “Favourite” when it’s already in the garage, just so it shows up in arcade mode…c’mon!

PD has failed. This game missed the beat and the over hyped bubble that they inflated prior the game arrival should have blown up on their faces. Screw leather stitching in 3D! I want a car that behaves like a real car against other cars.
DigitalAdhesive

And now Forza 4 is here and we can all move past and heal.

Topics for this article

Dynamic AI, Gran Turismo 5, GT5, Kazunori Yamauchi

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