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Jetée · 11-27-2010, 01:36 AM

Critics: Gran Turismo 5 good, but not for everyone

Gran Turismo 5 - Six years in the making, the latest in Sony's genre-defining Gran Turismo series skid onto shelves Wednesday. It's been far from a smooth road, though, as the game was originally scheduled to be released in March, but repeated delays left some fearing it would miss 2010 altogether. Those fears proved unfounded, but have the delays given Sony's Polyphony Digital time to deliver fans the polished experience they wanted? click to show

Yes, says Destructoid's Dale North. Scoring it a perfect 10, he lavishes praise on its size ("massive"), its driving feel ("both accurate and exciting at the same time"), and its visuals ("one of the most visually pleasing games ever released"). Its damage modeling, a new addition for this instalment, comes in for less praise. It "isn't really notable," he says, being neither as realistic nor as dramatic as you might be expecting.

In contrast, IGN.com serves up a comparatively muted 8.5/10. While writer Martin Robinson is full of praise for the game's gearhead simulator tech, he's not so pleased with the overall package. It's "a 10/10 simulator wrapped up in a 5/10 game, he says, adding that "...its brilliance on the track is matched by its sloppiness off of it, and there's a lack of polish that would at one time have seemed sacrilegious to the series." Robinson names the bloated front-end, poor collisions, and gutless engine sounds among his concerns.

"Ultimately its driving wins out to ensure that it's still a great game," he concludes, "but it leaves that nagging doubt: this could have been a masterpiece were it not for the fact that Polyphony was so absorbed with the detail that it took its eye off the ball."

Joystiq, too, seems a little underwhelmed. Gran Turismo 5 is a game "that's been driven down a very narrow path to end up something only a subset of gamers will truly enjoy," according to writer Randy Nelson. Although it's "great at what it does...for the true car lovers of the world...this is the new paradigm," he clearly feels it's a limited-appeal title.

"If you're not [a car nut]," he says, "GT5 is like walking in on a group of physicists discussing string theory and asking who wants to go toss around a ball for a bit. You're looking to have fun; they're only interested in studying the math behind how it bounces."

Currently, Gran Turismo 5 is scoring an aggregate mark of 86% on metacritic.com, although that'll likely change as the week wears on. So far, though, the verdict's pretty clear: if you're a gearhead, this could be your dream game -- but if you're looking for a more casual racer, you may want to steer clear.

[yahoo!]

11-27-2010, 01:36 AM	#7 (permalink)
Jetée The Reforms Location: Rarely, if ever, here or there, but always in transition	just came across this initial review, take it for whatever you believe to be relevant Critics: Gran Turismo 5 good, but not for everyone Gran Turismo 5 - Six years in the making, the latest in Sony's genre-defining Gran Turismo series skid onto shelves Wednesday. It's been far from a smooth road, though, as the game was originally scheduled to be released in March, but repeated delays left some fearing it would miss 2010 altogether. Those fears proved unfounded, but have the delays given Sony's Polyphony Digital time to deliver fans the polished experience they wanted? click to show Yes, says Destructoid's Dale North. Scoring it a perfect 10, he lavishes praise on its size ("massive"), its driving feel ("both accurate and exciting at the same time"), and its visuals ("one of the most visually pleasing games ever released"). Its damage modeling, a new addition for this instalment, comes in for less praise. It "isn't really notable," he says, being neither as realistic nor as dramatic as you might be expecting. In contrast, IGN.com serves up a comparatively muted 8.5/10. While writer Martin Robinson is full of praise for the game's gearhead simulator tech, he's not so pleased with the overall package. It's "a 10/10 simulator wrapped up in a 5/10 game, he says, adding that "...its brilliance on the track is matched by its sloppiness off of it, and there's a lack of polish that would at one time have seemed sacrilegious to the series." Robinson names the bloated front-end, poor collisions, and gutless engine sounds among his concerns. "Ultimately its driving wins out to ensure that it's still a great game," he concludes, "but it leaves that nagging doubt: this could have been a masterpiece were it not for the fact that Polyphony was so absorbed with the detail that it took its eye off the ball." Joystiq, too, seems a little underwhelmed. Gran Turismo 5 is a game "that's been driven down a very narrow path to end up something only a subset of gamers will truly enjoy," according to writer Randy Nelson. Although it's "great at what it does...for the true car lovers of the world...this is the new paradigm," he clearly feels it's a limited-appeal title. "If you're not [a car nut]," he says, "GT5 is like walking in on a group of physicists discussing string theory and asking who wants to go toss around a ball for a bit. You're looking to have fun; they're only interested in studying the math behind how it bounces." Currently, Gran Turismo 5 is scoring an aggregate mark of 86% on metacritic.com, although that'll likely change as the week wears on. So far, though, the verdict's pretty clear: if you're a gearhead, this could be your dream game -- but if you're looking for a more casual racer, you may want to steer clear. [yahoo!] __________________ As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves. —Mohandas K. Gandhi