Gran Turismo 5 Review Round-Up: A Mixed Bag

@prolific: I second what Tom said. The physics are much better than GT4 and Prologue, there are more things to do in 5 like Nascar and the suprisingly fun Kart racing. It's just that the menus are awkward and it isn't as smooth as it should be (the user interface, not the racing). Kids and casual players won't like it because the driving, as it is in real life when you drive fast, is difficult. By the way, I have the DFGT wheel. I played about 10 minutes with a controller and I didn't have anywhere near the fun. My guess is that most people who are trashing the game are playing with a controller.

My every day car is a Megane RS250, my weekend car has 450 BHP and can do 60 in 4 seconds. I drive after and for fun. I'm not claiming to be Senna, but I drive well - better than 99% of people - and I'll gladly meet you at any track and prove that fact in any car.

But GT5 sucks.

So doctor dee, are you questioning the games physics? Or do you just find the game boring or tedious to play? It's a driving simulator, not an over the top game like NFS. I realize that most will not like this game, but I love it. To each his own, right? The realism of the driving is what hooks me. I've played Burnout, NFS, and whatever other racing title I could, but GT5 is the only one that feels REAL to me, and that is what I am looking for in a video game.

online sucks real bad.
forza 2 and 3 is much better

Further time on the game ( which includes using a 37 " 1080p screen, logitech G25 wheel etc ) has not altered my initial response. GT for me has always been the benchmark by which others can hope to aspire to but it seems the mantle has fallen which is very sad. I think it was a mistake to put out so many beautifully rendered pr videos but the game just does not meet the expectations.

Handling with the wheel is good if not great and stages like the Toscana time change stage has some stunning effects, likewise city stages have obviously been a labour of love for the model makers in Japan but the over pixellation/screen flicker really spoils the enjoyment for me. Screen tears are unacceptable given the development time - even the prerendered rotating cars don't rotate smoothly and the driver name list that runs across the screen before a race are jerky.

Drive off track and there is no gravel sound from under the car ! Track designer - you get trees and shadows popping up as you drive ( just like the old redraw problems in early versions). I expected a lot more beautiful night rain tracks, the snow stages leave me cold !!

Thought you could import your garage from prologue - there is a psp option.

Maybe when you get access to all the highend cars it might be a little more enjoyable,What I personally want from the game is maybe 20 brilliant cars, lots of new exciting tracks ( not a rehash of old ones )
After eagerly waiting years I can't believe that after a few days I'm thinking of selling it.

This is a good solid game. Just like mentioned before, the physics are prettey spot-on. The sense of speed is accurate and I have the real live track time under my belt to prove it although the majority is on two wheels. Trust me, a 120mph feels like a breezy 80mph on a familiar track with all your markers sorted. I miss having the ability to run BBS LM's on all my cars and I'm pretty sure Prologe offered an in car in every car. The Ai is lacking and those dumb ass opponents on the Top Gear track suck gigantic balls. We can't hit them, but they can hit us causing disqualification? Come on PD!

Oh yeah, where's my f**king Corrado, how many different MK4, 5, 6 golfs does this game really need?

Gran Turismo 5, had it since release day - it completely blows Forza 3 away (Yes, I have an xbox 360 too). Now if you want visceral excitement then perhaps Need for speed: Shift is a rival

Top Gear test track VW Campers need an update to remove the disqualifications