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Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (PS3)
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| List Price: | £24.99 |
| Price: | £17.84 |
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Dispatched from and sold by findprice
22 new or used available from £10.85
Average customer review:
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1120 in Computer & Video Games
- Brand: Sony
- Released on: 2008-03-28
- Rating: Parental Guidance
- Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.co.uk
The award-winning Gran Turismo franchise returns with its 5th installment, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, exclusively for PlayStation 3. With its signature realism and unrivaled physics, this highly anticipated precursor to Gran Turismo 5 continues to blur the line between simulation and reality.
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Polyphony Digital is the developer of the Gran Turismo franchise, led by creator Kazunori Yamauchi. Polyphony Digital is known for pushing the limits of the PlayStation hardware, and with its realistic graphics and physics, Gran Turismo 5: Prologue is no different. In addition to receiving CAD data from the auto manufacturers, they have taken thousands of photos to model each car (and track). As an example of the level of detail, a car in Gran Turismo 4 has the same number of polygons as a headlight in Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. Polyphony works even closer with the automotive industry to make sure that the cars look and drive just as they do in real life. In fact, Kazunori Yamauchi designed the on-board computer for the real Nissan GT-R. If you’re lucky to buy one when it releases, you will notice the Polyphony Digital logo when you start your car.Take Your Cars and Tracks Online and Off
Gran Turismo 5: Prologue features over 60 stunning cars – including vehicles by Lotus, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Ferrari for you to race on seriously realistic, real-life tracks: including the Eiger Nordwand, the London City Track and Suzuka – all rendered in incredible High Definition graphics. There's also all-new driving physics for the most lifelike driving experience ever and new, improved opponent artificial intelligence for the toughest race challenge yet.But that's not all – for the first time ever in the history of Gran Turismo, players will now be able to race online. Up to 16 players will be able to go head-to-head on some of the world's best racetracks on PlayStation Network. All you need to get racing is a broadband connection and PS3. Once you're up and revving, Global Online Rankings and the My Garage homepage feature will leave the world in n o doubt as to just who is the best at Gran Turismo.And then there's the Online Dealership, providing a wealth of information on cars and manufacturers and also Gran Turismo TV – a dedicated online channel available exclusively from PSN and packed with some of the greatest content that Motorsport, car manufacturers and TV has to offer. Key Features:
- Race over 60 cars from worldwide automotive manufacturers, precisely modelled both inside and out.
- All-new interior dash view, featuring full driver animation and working gauges.
- Compete on 6 tracks with 12 total layouts, including Fuji Speedway, Suzuka Circuit, and for the first time ever, Daytona International Speedway.
- Online racing with up to 16 players, complete with detailed rankings, plus downloadable ghost cars and race replays of top racers.
- New online community features including Gran Turismo TV, featuring worldwide automotive and motorsport programming.
- Tune vehicle performance, from suspension and tires to gear ratio and engine modifications.
- Rendered in stunning 1080p at 60 frames per second with crisp, realistic lighting and camera effects (replays rendered in 1080p 30fps).
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Customer Reviews
GT5: Prologue - now with Online mode update...
GT5: Prologue is alot more than 'half a game' or 'just a demo'... it's a fully loaded precursor to GT5 proper, and as such it promises to deliver a first taste of the next generation of racing games for the PS3. Complete with an all new physics engine and presented in glorious 1080p Hi-Def, GT5: Prologue is arguably the most realistic driving simulator to date.
GT5: Prologue has 6 tracks with 2 variants each: London (Forward and Reverse), Daytona (Speedway and Road Cuurse), Fuji (GT and F1 variants), Eiger Nordwand (Forward and Reverse), High Speed Ring (Forward and Reverse) and Suzuka (F1 and East Course circuits). The game also features over 70 stunningly modelled and ultra-realistic cars, including the Ferrari F40, Ferrari 512 BB and the Ferrari F2007 Formula One car!. It also features many brand-new models such as the Nissan GT-R and the Audi R8. Each car is lovingly modeled in breathtaking detail - including (for the first time in the GT series) the interior of the car.
The new physics engine for GT5 raises the bar in terms of realism and the game can be played in either Standard Physics (more like previous GT games) and Professional Physics (more challenging and alot more realistic). GT5:P also features the ability to "Quick Tune" cars, which adds a whole extra dimension to the game (and hence also adds a bit of shelf-life to the title).
The new 'in-car' view is superb, and offers the driver a much more realistic experience. The game is also fully compatible with the latest wheels (e.g the G25) and will also be compatible with the forthcoming DualShock3 - the replacement controller for the SIXAXIS - which comes complete with the 'rumble' function (as with the DS2 for the PS2). There is also the customary Arcade modes - both Race and Time Trial, and the game also includes challenging mission-style races which will keep even the most hardcore player challenged. The game also has a new Drift Mode as well, which combined with the ability to tune the handling characteristics of the cars, allows for the drift aspect of the game to be fully exploited.
As is typical with the GT series, this game includes a number of new innovations from the previous title (GT4), and a number of these will be dependent upon having your PS3 connected to the internet. The new GT-TV feature allows you to receive HD video content of car-related films. Full episodes of Top Gear are known to be in the pipeline, for example. Net access is also necessary to receive updates to the game itself. But of course, the main advantage of being connected up to the web is to be able to race online, which potentially adds a huge new dimension to the game and raises the value of Prologue immensely...
Online Mode Review
So far, the online experience with GT5:P leaves a bit to be desired. Firstly, the good points: There are a range of events for a range of different abilities, and up to 16 players can participate in most races. Online promises to offer the possibility of some great racing against the world's best players, but you can take it at your own pace by sticking to Beginner or Intermediate level events until you have built up a bit of experience. Once you have joined a race, you are shown a list of who you are up against, where they are from, and what they are driving. Their PSN usernames are also displayed during the race, so it is possible to identify who is doing what - helpful if you want to remember good (or bad) drivers in the future!
Secondly, the bits that need improving... crucially, there is presently no way to set up a private race with invited drivers or PSN Friends only. This means that you are only able to race against whoever you are given to race against. For the most part, this is fine, but sadly this offers you no protection against poor or unfair drivers who seem hell-bent on winning at all costs, or simply disrupting an otherwise good race. Depending on your internet connection speed, and the internet connection speeds of others in the race, you are likely to encounter some odd sights. Some cars appear to move highly erratically and this does make some races difficult. Perhaps the single biggest complaint about the online mode, however, is the penalty system. Penalties are incurred for collisions, ramming, contact etc., but all too often you find yourself on the receiving end of such an action only to find yourself penalised 5 seconds, despite having done nothing wrong yourself. It can take a while to join a race, and (in my experience anyway) seems fairly random. Sometimes you can join in a matter of seconds, sometimes it takes over a minute - not that long, but seems like forever when you are itching to race! Also, you are at the mercy of whoever is selected to 'host' the race - and if the race host quits, the race is over for everyone. It is not made clear to you that you are the host, but the host can be identified as the person at the top of the grid. Somewhat confusingly, the 'Grid' that appears before the race (to show who is in your race) is not the same as the starting order of the cars on the track!
However, being in the early stages, there are bound to be updates coming that iron out some or all of these issues to some extent or another. Certainly, the forthcoming inclusion of in-game communication will add a much-needed feature to the online experience, but the ability to invite friends to specific races, or to create your own events surely has to be the next logical step.
Summary
All in all, this is alot of game for your money - and credits earned in this game will carry forward into the full version later (I don't know if that includes cars you have bought/earned etc., but I'd guess that your garage will be transferable too!)... So, in my opinion this game is very good value for money, especially when you bear in mind that the full version of the game is not likely to be with us anytime soon.
Beautiful, but flawed
First of all, forget whether this is "half" a game or not and all the controversy surrounding it. It's half the price so stop whinging. If you think it is a con then don't buy it and just wait for next years "full" game.
There are far more problems with it than the price though. The biggest problem is that it is virtually the same game we saw back in '99 just with the obvious improvement in graphics. Because it looks so fantastic it makes the fact that you cannot "crash" look even more ridiculous. When you look at footage of the forthcoming TOCA Grid and look at how great that looks I can't help thinking that the lack of crashes is down to programmers with an obbsesive desire to make the cars look as real as possible. Who cares that there will be 700 cars. You would have to play it for years to get anywhere near owning half of them. Also, there will be loads of rubbish that no-one will want to buy but will be forced to as the opening races are as dull as a party political broadcast. When you first see the cars they look stunning. No-one can argue with that. The problem is that because they look so amazing when you hit another car, or a barrier and nothing happens it looks ridiculous.
The driving in the game however, is second to none. The physics of each car is stunning and as a "driving" simulator it can't be beaten. However, as a "racing" game it is starting to become very dated. The AI has supposedly been updated but it still appalling. When you compare it to Forza 2 on the 360 and even Toca 3 on the PS2 it feels very samey.
Having said all that there is something about Gran Turismo that keeps you hooked. It's a bit like that girl in the office you secretly fancy. She is far from perfect but there is just something about her that is so great but you can't quite figure exactly what it is.
Woe betide the misinformed...
60+ cars, 6 tracks (2 variations each), 16 player on-line racing, tuning, custom cars, F12007...er, maybe I'm missing a trick here. £18 for that lot, and after 20 hours of racing, you still won't have all the cars. I think it's fair to say that this is just a little bit more than a demo.
There are PSN games out there that cost more yet deliver nowhere near the level of content and gameplay on offer here. But, that's OK isn't it? :o/ Honestly, some people need to get their heads out of the clouds and see things in context.
If you want to hold on for the full game, kudos to you and your patience. Me? I'm not going to wait another year when I could be playing this gem of a title. The rewards will come in the form of transferred cash to the full game, transferred cars, and masses of experience so you can show the online n00bs a thing or two about driving.
I paid £425 for my console when it first came out, and people are still having to pay upwards of £300. At £40 or so for the other games that you buy, £18 for this is small change.
