Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (Platinum) (GT5)

GT5 prologue is a superb game and at £17.99 this is great value for money.
The graphics are ace and there are about 70 cars to work through and buy/earn. If you like driving games then don't hesitate and buy it now.
The game is also compatible with the Dualshock 3 controller and rumble - if you are lucky enough to have one.
The online mode isn't bad too.
Although there is no voice chat at the moment, the producer of the Gran Turismo series has stated in a interview that download patches are forthcoming for both car damage & voice chat.
Additional cars are also expected to be added.

Ignore the few bad reviews as these are more than likely written by jealous X-box360 owers.

BUY THIS GAME NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lets start with the graphics... Replays and the entrance video both have the best graphics ive ever seen on a racing game, however when I got into a race I found the graphics to be, next gen but not revolutionary. Granted the gameplay graphics are great but they arent as good as everyone is saying, the gameplay graphics in PGR4 are far superior, especially when the weather effects are running but as the review title suggests graphics aren't everything. Now onto gameplay, although realistic they may be realistic is nothing without feedback, even a tap in Forza 2 can send a car spinning however in Gran Turismo Prologue it seems almost impossible to spin your car, even if its rear wheel drive. In both forza 2 and PGR4 there are other modes and activities you can do other than racing, and although great some racing games can be they can all become boring at times just racing, and therefore the extra modes and activities keep the game fresh for me and I never get bored. Below are the other activities open to you

Forza 2 - Drifting, Creating artistic designs on your cars
PGR4 - Cat & Mouse, Bulldog, New Tourist Mode

At the moment there are no racing games for PS3 with any real difference than just racing which it desperately needs. Hopefully when GT5 is released players will find other things to do on the game online. The closest any game has come to a 'difference' is motorstorm which I must say is an all round fun game. There are 2 bits of praise that sets it apart from the rest, although I dont think it will be a selling point and thats that the cockpit view is the best Ive seen in a game to date, in the fact that its the clearest view ive had from any racing cockpit view on any game, this does not mean Im saying its graphically the best because its not its just the most 'usable' cockpit view to date. The second point of praise is the ability to drive a formula 1 car, which may actually be a good enough selling point for prologue, so that players get to see if they have got the physics right for it. I for one cant wait to find out but at 2,000,000 credits your gonna have to race for a while to get it.

My review as a summary...

Pros:
Great FMV graphics
Good Gameplay Graphics
Most usable cockpit view of any racing game to date
F1 Ferrari available to race

Cons:
No damage (is that really realistic?)
You just bounce off walls (Is this also realistic?)
Prologue doesn't allow car upgrading
Without upgrades, this game has no variety
Just buy car race, buy new car race, etc. gameplay
Nothing to do but race
For £20 this is not worth it atall

Final Summary:
Even though this is just to show what GT5 is going to be able to do, I would have thought they would have included car upgrading of some kind. Instead there are just a few pre-tuned cars and thats it. This is probably the biggest dissapointment. The gameplay graphics for GT5 Prologue are great but not as great as they are in replays or FMV's. All in all this game only allows you to buy cars and race with the added bonus of 16 player online.

If you have an xbox 360, get forza 2 or pgr4 or both and wait for GT5. If you only have a PS3, still wait for GT5 as this game is not worth £20 (if you can call it a game). Motorstorm is highly recommended for PS3 owners and in hindsight I would not have wasted £20 on Prologue and waited until 2009 when the full game is released. Please try to ignore the no. of people who find this review helpful as they all probably say they didnt. I dont understand how even GT fanboy's could say this game is worth £20.

Thanks for reading! :)

Fangtastic. The only drawback is that the graphics aren't up to the original GT on the PS1 but I'm now in my eighties so that might be me.

1) The game is NOT full price. Full price is £49, the Prologue costs only £17.99. That is under half, full price games.

2) The game is only £17.99. A bargain.

3) 70 Cars, 6 Tracks, 16 Player Online Racing is NOT a demo. A demo would be one track, a car or two, and no online component.

4) You are not being forced to buy this game. If you can't wait for GT5 (much like myself), it's a very sizeable offering to hold you over.

5) If you disagree with point 1-4, simply Don't Buy It!!!. It's your lost.

GT5 is a great game. i Pre-ordered this game and what a game it is. the Graphics are so realistic (when played in Full 1080p). the online mode is great and its only £17.99. this is only a demo of whats to come but its almost like a full game. Whats Better is when you buy the full game your progress from this game will be transfered to the full game including the cars that you own and your points earned.