The first Gran Turismo title on the current generation of home consoles carried high expectations. Previous titles had set the high mark for console racing sims for both quality and sales success. GT's success no doubt spurred the creation of a competing series on Microsoft hardware, the entirety of which (3 games) has been released since the last major GT title. Gran Turismo's past success and the long development time of the fith title created an anticipation for quality the game failed to deliver. The failure lied not in the driving physics or even the graphics, but the game's reliance on archaic notions of progression.
The physics in Gran Tursimo are unmatched on a home console. In fact, one must look to the pc for simulations of a high enough calibur to directly compare with GT5. Though lacking simulation features such as qualifying or flags, the handling charateristics for most cars are surprisingly realistic. This accuracy extends to the representation of real world tracks, which when coupled together with the driving physics makes for a game worthy of the the moniker "simulation." This is quite remarkable given the sheer number of cars represented in the game, and even more so when one considers the variety of racing cars included. Formula open wheel cars, Le Mans prototypes, WRC rally cars, NASCAR stock cars, DTM, and Super GT cars are all well represented. Players will find that lap times with the Puegot 908 around Le Mans will be very close to last year's times in the real race, when using the car with no upgrades. This is due as much to the accuracy of the tracks as it is to the physics, and in that aspect the game has no equal on home consoles.
The graphics and car models are also quite well done, but not groundbreaking like previous titles. Some lighting issues and shaow glitches tend to mar what would otherwise be fantastic looking game. The premium cars also look fantastic, and the cockpits are very well modelled. The standard cars are a mix bag. Some look quite good, though rough around the edges. Others look like barely updated GT3 models simply upscaled for higher resolution. The game's sounds are disspointment. Engine sounds are unflatering, many apparently being digitized variants of a generic master engine.
What prevents GT5 from being a truly great game is the method of career progression. It is a grindfest, perhaps more than any other game in series. This type of career system would not have been out of place in 1998, but these days is too tedious for a modern release. Perhaps if the AI were better to race against, this tedium would be somewhat alleviated. As it stands, however, the game expects far too much patience from its players. The game includes 24 hour races, which offer no options for saving progress. These races are only avaible after hours of grinding to the required driver level. Polyphany Digital apparently belive gamers want to sit uninterupted for 24 hours putting entire laps on the competition. I say putting laps on the competition because there is nothing stopping the player from choosing a much overpowered car for most races, and who would want to? I can't imagine anyone running any of the game's endurance races and risk not winning it. I suppose friends could race in shifts or use the pause button, but a save feature is obviously needed and should have been included with the game. It should noted, this feature has been mentioned as a possible addition in a coming patch.
Grinding for credits or experience is unavoidable for those wishing to try out the games more powerful and interesting cars. What Forza 3 lacked in realism and accuracy in it's cars and tracks, it made up for accesbility and fun career progression. In Forza's arcade mode, players could try out all sort of exotic and high end cars without having to purchase them in career mode. GT5's arcade mode contains only a very limited selection of cars, with none of the most interesting high end cars availible in the game. These cars are playable in arcade mode, but only after they are purchased and added as favorites in career mode.
This clinging to dated notions of gameplay and progression holds GT5 back from greatness. It seems to be a trend in Japanese games to ignore recent advances in the elimination of tedium from modern games. Perhaps this unwillingness to evolve is what pushed western games to dominate the industry. It is clear, however, that Polyphany Digital still have the ability to make the greatest racing game on a console. It should be said that Kazunori wanted an additional 2 years to comeplete GT5. While this might have been enough to fix minor graphic issues and provide consistent quality to the car models, the game's major flaws would probably have still been present. Modern games just should not be this tedious. Never again.