Gran Turismo 5 [2010]

When I heard this game was coming out, getting a PS3 became a no-brainer for me. If you played all the previous version, then you know how much detail and depth this racing simulator has. I'm talking about Sony's Gran Turismo 5. This game has so much content and depth to it that giving it a full in depth review is almost impossible, so instead see this review as coming from someone who has put in some hours.

When you first play this game you immediately notice the amazing HD graphics. I mean the quality is photo realistic. It's easy to forget what is real and what is not. The amount of detail in the cars and the tracks alike are phenomenal. The game sounds are also done very well. The sound of the car's engine and tires really make you feel as you are there. But what really make this game shine is the physics, amount of content, and replay value. The GT team does a great job at simulating the handling of all the cars. The tracks characteristics are also done insanely well. With over 900+ cars and 50+ tracks (mostly variations of already existing ones) to race, it seems almost endless. There is a lot of diversity in races, tracks, and cars, including Le Mans style races, Drifting, and Rally races. They even threw in some NASCAR! It is indeed the most extensive racing game out there.

That being said, I do think the game does have its flaws. The game seems almost no different from the previous, but the improvements make it feel different. At times I felt disappointed because I had really high expectations. With games like NFS Shift and GRID out there, this game almost felt dated. The lack of realistic car crashes and damage just seemed lazy. Other racing games have shown that it is possible to do, but I guess the GT team felt it wasn't important enough to implement. There are also discrepancies in graphics. Cars are divided into two categories, premium and standard. The premium cars have very high detailed graphics, the standard look like they were directly ported from GT4. This makes the graphics in the game seem disjointed and disappoints me. What makes some car worthy of getting a facelift and not the other? From an efficiency stand point I understand that it may have been necessary, but from an average gamer standpoint I don't. The game also tends to have massive mandatory updates, which can also ruin the experience when wanting to just get racing already.

In all, if you can see pass these flaws the game is quite remarkable. You can tell the creators love cars plain and simple. They might not care for realistic crashes and fancy car motion effects, but they do care about the cars and the racing experience. And at the end of the day that's what racing fans really care about. The amazing amount of detail to the simulation of cars in different tracks and track conditions, and the massive array of cars make this game a must have for racing fans out there.

 

Graphics	9/10
Sound	8/10
Gameplay	9.5/10

Race Driver GRID [2008]

For those who don’t know already ^{Race Driver} GRID is a racing simulator developed by Codemasters. If you are familiar with Codemasters, then you have a pretty good idea of the amount of detail that this game already comes with, awesome graphics, excellent physics engine, and realistic car crashes and simulated damage.

But GRID takes it up another notch. The game adds excellent visual effects that intensify the feel of high speed racing and super realistic sounds that make you feel as if you are really there. The A.I. is pretty good too, it's behavior can vary from aggressive to technical. This adds a great element of challenge, since the computer will no longer just take your abuse; it will retaliate! If this proves to be frustrating, then you can simply changed the level of difficulty to best fit your skill level at the beginning of any race. However, keep in mind that the more difficult the settings the greater the rewards.

If you ever played Gran Turismo then you are already familiar with GRID's career mode. You race to win extra money and get better cars, unlock/qualify events, etc; however, GRID takes it even further. They attempt to simulate a real race car driver climbing up the latter in the field. So essentially you are a "real" race car driver trying to get sponsor for your races. The more races you win the more lucrative the sponsors get. This means lot’s of cash (and decals) for meeting the sponsors requirements (e.g. Castrol requirement; finish in top 3 position and you get $10,000). Selecting sponsors for certain kinds of races add strategic elements to this game. If you are pretty sure that you will not be able meet the requirement, then go for a sponsor whose requirement you are more likely to meet.

GRID is awesome, but it has its negatives. There are nowhere nearly as many cars or tracks as you would like (Gran Turismo really spoiled me with that one). And… that’s about it. Excellent graphics, reasonable A.I., high quality sounds, and superior game engine it’s really hard to say anything bad about this game. GRID is a must have for any racing game fanatic.

If you haven’t played it, then do yourself a favor and play it.

Graphics	10/10
Sound	10/10
Gameplay	9.5/10