Gran Turismo 5 Prologue

April 23,2008 - Though Gran Turismo has been the biggest franchise for Sony these past nine years, the series is dire straits right now as Polyphony Digital continues their long, arduous work on Gran Turismo 5. The main problem is that GT5 is not even expected to be out until next fall at the earliest, and with the failure of the Gran Turismo HD project that debuted at E3 in 2006, Polyphony Digital had to get a project out to help Sony sell systems and to appease fans during the long wait for GT5. The result is Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, a very controversial game for the mere fact that nobody really knows how this game fits in amongst the other Gran Turismo games and the racing games that Prologue has to compete with in the public view. Is it a demo, a full game, a Gran Turismo Lite, or something else entirely?

Like every GT before Prologue, the first thing you’ll do once you boot the game up is spend your initial chunk of credits and buy your first car. With just 70 cars here spread out around 30 manufacturers, it’s certainly a much easier task to find the best car for your money this time around. From there you can choose between heading online, trying out arcade races, events mode, or finding a buddy to race with in split-screen mode. The online mode and events will be the main meat of the game for most gamers, though it’ll be the events mode that will help you unlock most of the features and cars in the game.

The events in GT5 Prologue are set-up with three classes of events (C, B, and A) that contain ten races each. Of those ten races, you’ll see mostly normal races along with a time trial race or an event where you must overtake the rest of the field in one lap with just a specific car, so there’s not too much variety in event types here. It’s not much of a challenge to get through the Class C and B events without much trouble, though Class A’s much improved AI opponents, both in challenge and imperfection, certainly make these ten races very entertaining, more so than vast majority of the races in the past four games combined. It’s strange that it’s only in Class A’s races that your opponents make bad turns, take chances to pass the car ahead of them, and come off as complete opposites of the robotic, mindless drones that populated the many races you’ve experienced in Gran Turismo’s history. Once you beat Class A’s races, you unlock the elite Class S races that rely upon your skills with the Quick Tune feature you also unlock at that point, where you can tune your car to get the most performance out of it with the help of the simple performance points system.

An online mode is the big feature that Gran Turismo fans have been waiting year for and Prologue finally makes good on the long-awaited feature, but takes the opportunity to handle the set-up itself and take all the “work” out of the gamers’ hands. Instead of creating your own lobbies, setting up your own races, and inviting your friends, Prologue’s online mode features a set list of race lobbies based on skill level, car tiers, tracks, and race sizes that basically amounts to you joining the race lobby you want in and waiting for the game to match you up with suitable peers into a quick online race for some easy credits. The use of turning errant cars into ghosts makes for a very enjoyable online experience where the worst of the online bunch don’t have as much power to ruin the fun you’ll have. While the convenience and ease of online races are nice and all, there are a few key parts missing that online enthusiasts will notice right away, mainly the lack of voice chat support and private rooms, so you can race with friends. Luckily, updates for these features are in the works for the future, so those disappointed by that news can look forward to that update as a sign to finally pick up the game.

Outside of online play and events in Prologue, you have the option to test your skills against the rest of the world in the time trial and drift events in the arcade mode to see where you stand on the worldwide leaderboards. Gran Turismo TV is another big feature for Prologue, which offers videos online for download from various car culture programs unique to Gran Turismo or from TV programs from around the world. GT-TV also offers up the intro and ending movies along with the Beyond the Apex documentary for owners of the Blu-Ray edition of Prologue, as well.

The visuals of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue are simply outstanding, as no other racing game to date can match the amazingly-detailed cars and beautiful tracks that each Gran Turismo is well-known for. The in-cockpit view is also a first for the series that also manages to outdo every other console racing game’s attempt at the feature with an intuitive view of action from inside of the car, with real-time gauges and great driver animations, that most drivers will be able to adapt to quite easily. The main problem that most will have with GT5 Prologue’s visuals, like the previous games before it, is the lack of damage, which doesn’t change here as you bump into other cars or crash with no ill side effects to your car’s paint job. Other than that, there’s not much else to complain about, as this game will be a graphical showcase for graphics whores to show off the impressive 1080p graphics and smooth-as-butter framerate that Prologue boasts so well.

In the audio department, GT5 Prologue certainly hasn’t changed much from the standards that Polyphony Digital’s fans have expected from the series since its inception. The details in the cars’ visuals are matched by roars of the engine and squealing of the tires as you drift around the course. The soundtrack features a nice mix of music from the likes of Weezer, Mars Volta, and others that fit the general music vibe that past games has embraced, though the lack of custom soundtracks would have been a nice way to cap off the extensive amount of features the game offers.

To cap things off, what is the best way to describe Gran Turismo 5 Prologue? There’s too much content to be a demo and there’s not enough content while the game still has the name “Gran Turismo” in its title. Prologue certainly comes off as merely a half-step in the ongoing saga of the development Gran Turismo installments, which is certainly echoed by its price tag. Gran Turismo fans that can’t simply wait another year or more just for the full GT5 will find a lot to like here for the reduced price while casual GT fans that have been overwhelmed by the immense depth of previous Gran Turismos can hop in and get the hang of the game without being a huge car nut quite well. Those that prefer a GT with a bazillion cars, races, and tracks can hold out until Prologue either goes on sale or rent it in the meanwhile, if not just abstain from the game altogether, and be happy enough. Just be sure to set aside around six GB of hard drive space if you’re buying the Blu-ray version, because Prologue will drop a nice turd of install data on your hard drive once you first boot up the game.

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