Buff's GT5 Early Review
Posted: 22 Dec 2010, 13:43
Ok so I have had GT5 for a week or so now and I am impressed. You know how games have uber cool looking into movies and trailers that look damn near cinematic to show off all the eye candy and whatnot but what you see from in the game pales by comparison? GT5 the game itself looks like a trailer, not just little parts or "picture" mode.....the entire game. I have seen a split screen between GT5 and FM3 using the same cars on the same track sync'd up and GT5 blows FM3 out of the water. That being said there is one visual issue I have to point out. GT5 has a problem with some shadows. These are most noticeable on the grills of cars and the shadows over the rear license plates. They clip and shudder almost like the AA needs to be turned up. But I think this is a hardware issue, not that you can do anything about it.
Ok, the meat of the game....the cars! Something like 1000 drivable cars. 300 of which are "premium" cars the rest are called "standard" cars. Standard cars have no in-car views, its either front bumper view or a couple of over the top views. This is disappointing, but its not like they had 5 years or something to make 1000 in-car views.......oh wait. The cars that have interiors are very cool. Any car you buy new from the dealership will have the in-car view, they also cost more. You can also save some money (credit) and buy used cars, these can be either type and the variations of Japanese cars is crazy. Some of the car prices are insane, i.e. a '70 Hemi Superbird is $50k or so but a '69 Z28 is almost $70k. The reason I bring this up is there are races that have restricted car sets and typically you dont get the car you need for special races in the rewards, but......sometimes you do. I got a reward of a VW Fugo Cup Racer, basically a VW compact club race car.............which I then proceeded to race on the full old course Nurburgring against 16 of the same cars. GT5's old course Nurbrugring is even better than the one in NFS Shift. I think its even correctly mapped as the one in NFS is places is much to narrow and tight. I say this after watchign a lot of real in car video on that track. It was a hoot and that little car was dialed in big time. Another race challenge is a tour across Italy, 6 races total all in different cars. Imagine 16 Ferrari's (of all types) on the grid at Monza, then imagine those same 16 cars trying to get thru the 90d right and 90d left chicane at the end of the frontstretch.......yes carnage ensued. BTW in the 16 car pack you start 15th and have 2 laps to make 1 thru 3. That chicane brings me to the biggest "problem" with GT5.
NO DAMAGE. Not that I'm all into smashing up cars, but I drove head 1st into a wall at 100+ mph (I blame Fenway for trying to crawl on top of my back while I was driving) and other than a really loud thump/crash sound was able to keep right on going. Some have speculated that in order to get the licensing from the likes of Ferrari etc.... they had to not put damage in the game. Who knows, I just try to not hit things...........except in the aforementioned Ferrari race where to get thru the chicane I had to use 4 other cars as a bumper pad to force my way thru....otherwise the 1st 3 cars get so far out ahead you can never catch them. Yes I hang my head over using such "brutal" driving tactics.....but hey, they gave me the car, I didnt have to buy it!
All you can do is paint the cars and paint "premium" cars wheels, no custom graphics etc.....just paint. I might add that its the correct paint and color. I know this because when I bought the '69 Z28, it had correct paint names and colors for '69 and looked cool to boot. You can also paint the wheels if your into that sort of thing. You can also change your oil (yes its a money sink with a performance issue.....i.e. dirty oil will cause lower performance) fix all the abuse you do to the structural integrity of your car (remember Monza?) and can rebuild the engine (again its a money sink performance issue) and if you have a premium car, you can change the wheels, you know so you look like your going faster!
The racing is pretty fun. I swear in one race I got passed by a Japanese Minivan. If you have a PS3, GT5 is worth the cash.
I will report more once I get out of the beginner series................and work got busy so I lost my mojo for typing this up...........
Ok, the meat of the game....the cars! Something like 1000 drivable cars. 300 of which are "premium" cars the rest are called "standard" cars. Standard cars have no in-car views, its either front bumper view or a couple of over the top views. This is disappointing, but its not like they had 5 years or something to make 1000 in-car views.......oh wait. The cars that have interiors are very cool. Any car you buy new from the dealership will have the in-car view, they also cost more. You can also save some money (credit) and buy used cars, these can be either type and the variations of Japanese cars is crazy. Some of the car prices are insane, i.e. a '70 Hemi Superbird is $50k or so but a '69 Z28 is almost $70k. The reason I bring this up is there are races that have restricted car sets and typically you dont get the car you need for special races in the rewards, but......sometimes you do. I got a reward of a VW Fugo Cup Racer, basically a VW compact club race car.............which I then proceeded to race on the full old course Nurburgring against 16 of the same cars. GT5's old course Nurbrugring is even better than the one in NFS Shift. I think its even correctly mapped as the one in NFS is places is much to narrow and tight. I say this after watchign a lot of real in car video on that track. It was a hoot and that little car was dialed in big time. Another race challenge is a tour across Italy, 6 races total all in different cars. Imagine 16 Ferrari's (of all types) on the grid at Monza, then imagine those same 16 cars trying to get thru the 90d right and 90d left chicane at the end of the frontstretch.......yes carnage ensued. BTW in the 16 car pack you start 15th and have 2 laps to make 1 thru 3. That chicane brings me to the biggest "problem" with GT5.
NO DAMAGE. Not that I'm all into smashing up cars, but I drove head 1st into a wall at 100+ mph (I blame Fenway for trying to crawl on top of my back while I was driving) and other than a really loud thump/crash sound was able to keep right on going. Some have speculated that in order to get the licensing from the likes of Ferrari etc.... they had to not put damage in the game. Who knows, I just try to not hit things...........except in the aforementioned Ferrari race where to get thru the chicane I had to use 4 other cars as a bumper pad to force my way thru....otherwise the 1st 3 cars get so far out ahead you can never catch them. Yes I hang my head over using such "brutal" driving tactics.....but hey, they gave me the car, I didnt have to buy it!
All you can do is paint the cars and paint "premium" cars wheels, no custom graphics etc.....just paint. I might add that its the correct paint and color. I know this because when I bought the '69 Z28, it had correct paint names and colors for '69 and looked cool to boot. You can also paint the wheels if your into that sort of thing. You can also change your oil (yes its a money sink with a performance issue.....i.e. dirty oil will cause lower performance) fix all the abuse you do to the structural integrity of your car (remember Monza?) and can rebuild the engine (again its a money sink performance issue) and if you have a premium car, you can change the wheels, you know so you look like your going faster!
The racing is pretty fun. I swear in one race I got passed by a Japanese Minivan. If you have a PS3, GT5 is worth the cash.
I will report more once I get out of the beginner series................and work got busy so I lost my mojo for typing this up...........
