After reading some of the reviews and opinions expressing disappointment with GT5, I was determined to greet its arrival with an open mind... but probably erring on the side of loving it rather than hating, as some seemed to. I waited until Xmas to get it and it was with due anticipation I loaded it up for the first run.
On the whole I was not disappointed initially - the physics, as expected, are superb and the beauty of the premium models is breathtaking, particularly in photo-mode. But the irritation has grown to an almost painful degree the more I have played and that has never been something I could've claimed with previous GT games all the way back to the first one.
The shadows are the first thing that began to irritate, for obvious reasons. Were they an after-thought? It seems ridiculous to spend so much time and effort on the premium model cars only for the crappy shadow effect to ruin much of that in a race replay. Too much for the PS3 to handle? Put less damned cars on the track then. It never bothered me that there were only 6 cars in a race in GT4 - only the first 2 or 3 are important anyway, either in a race or a replay.
There's an old saying "If it aint broke, don't break it" PD should've heeded that when embarking on GT5 and a simple HD GT4 with online woud've done for most of us I reckon.
Next, you guessed it, Standard Cars. Some of them are ok, admittedly. Even the Veyron isn't too bad. But the direct ports from GT4 without even upgraded textures...? Who the hell thought that was a good idea? Totally unacceptable in my view and such visual blights should not have been included at all. Certainly not simply to boast "2000 cars"...
I realise much of this will have been said in one form or another but I've only just lost patience with GT5's let-downs and the rant is a necessary catharsis. My apologies.
I was prepared to defend GT5 against the attack regarding its game potential but I have to now admit, as a driving game, its next to pointless... Bear with me now, I'm not saying the driving experience is bad, just its playability as a game. All this buying and winning your "dream" car, tuning it up etc... Pointless unless you are lucky enough to have a good race with it online, in which case you never get to admire the thing in action since online has no replays.
In A-spec there are not enough races to choose from, and those that are there you can win with your eyes shut almost, even the ones with Le Mans cars (except Formula GT, which looks crap anyway), so your tuned dream car is still pointless.
So I tried Arcade mode. GT4 used to give you a good race in arcade mode on pro. Picked my slightly tuned DB9, 7 laps Daytona Road, Pro mode, won by over a minute and a half. Great - Arcade mode also pointless.
Endurance races...? Ok up to the 1000km Suzuka (at a push) but yeah, I really want to sit here for 9 hours (or 24 hours) on my back-side, with no competition from the AI, a pitifully small prize relative to the effort required, and a pointless prize car I'd already bought weeks ago.
B-spec mode... Hmmm....
No comment.
Probably best that way, don't you think?
So what has GT5 got going for it that GT4 didn't have? Online racing (with no replays and foul-mouthed crap-heads with microphones and no driving skills) and HD graphics (which are ruined by the ridiculously awful shadows)
That's right, it has the Red Bull X2010 and the Sebastian Vettel challenge. Cmon folks, destroy your expensive steering wheel trying to beat an F1 driver in a car that doesn't exist (nor will ever exist). Or you can waste your days grinding away at B-spec mode to win one. And if you're very bored, you can grind all the way up to level 40 just to spend 20,000,000 credits on a coloured one too.
If that kind of speed doesn't suit you, you could always try the Top Gear TT micro-bus challenge (Yay!).
Or rediscover your childhood with matchbox cars styled solid plastic tyres in the Top Gear Lotus Elise challenge.
Or there's 3d graphics. (Yawn.... yeah I want to play with glasses on and suffer from migranes on a regular basis)
Now I'm finding myself wondering where it all went wrong. Phrases that have become all too common and easily thrown are springing un-bidden to my tongue:
"So near and yet so far"
"A great idea, poorly executed"
Come on PD, we did our time. We waited through years of promises and delays, We even spent good money on being drip fed by GT5 Prologue while we waited and wondered. You do realise Prologue looked better, don't you?
Now I'm left wondering whether you're going to fix the mess or just leave us hanging while you milk the good name of GT until the next in the series.
Yeah, I think I'm disappointed now, a fact that makes me sad to admit.