Jim Squires | 
04 30th, 2008| 
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is a game with a complex. Before it ever saw the light of day the gauntlet was thrown down by the gaming press: would this be anything more than a glorified demo that gearheads and fanboys would be tricked into paying for? After spending a few weeks with the winding roads and classy cars that Prologue has to offer I can answer that question with a resounding yes: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is by far more than just a glorified demo.
Before we talk about what Prologue does we should probably talk about what it doesn’t. A number of critics will complain that the title offers only a fraction of the tracks and vehicles that previous iterations of the series have — and they’re right. However limiting the number of tracks and cars isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s important to remember that as much as I will make the argument in this review that Prologue is a solid title that stands on it’s own and is much more than the demo that so many others paint it to be, it’s still not your standard all-encompassing Gran Turismo release. 70 cars is a standard number for most racing games (Burnout Paradise, for example, launched with 76) — but in Gran Turismo? That’s less than 10% of the cars available in Gran Turismo 4. And that’s the problem — people aren’t comparing Prologue to other racing titles, they’re comparing it to the big digit releases of the franchise and that’s simply not what Prologue is trying to be. If you can forgot what came before and understand that “5 Prologue” is not meant to be synonymous with “5″ you’re going to find a title that offers the best racing experience on the PlayStation 3 to date.
One of the biggest frustrations that the more casual of racing gamers have had with the series has been the level of difficulty that came with the series realism. For many of us, mastering the basics of GT has always been a challenge. Thankfully things have become a little more forgiving this time around. Gone are the required license tests from the beginning of the game, and in it’s place you’ll find a handy “driving line” option that paints your way right onto the road. Following a blue line not only shows you the best path around the track, but red marks on the line indicate where braking needs to occur so as not to spin out. After a few times around the track drifting and maneuvering becomes somewhat second nature. It makes learning the ropes in GT a natural evolution of your play rather than a blisteringly painful lesson in road safety. For casual race fans, this is easily the most accessible Gran Turismo to date.
Visually the game is solid, if not downright stunning. There’s not much I can say about this that hasn’t already been said before. GT games often set the highest standard at the time of their release, and this time around is no exception. Not only has great detail been paid to everything from trees to tires, but the in-car view nails the look and feel of a car’s interior dead on. The most impressive thing though? The hands. As odd as it sounds, those gloved hands on the steering wheel are so detailed it’s frightening — and I love every second of it.
I haven’t had any real world experience with any of the vehicles in the game, but a few writers on the site have and assure me that the feeling those cars reproduced was downright spooky. Switching to the dashboard view mirrors that spookiness whether you’re familiar with the car or not. I can’t quite explain it, because a number of other games employ the same feature almost item for item (Project Gotham, I’m looking in your direction) — but somehow Gran Turismo meets that elusive goal of making you feel less like you’re playing a video game and more like you’re driving a car.
Although the number of tracks and cars may be limited the configuration and variety of the challenges makes the ride a compelling one. The majority of these challenges are just straight up races, but by limiting the choice of vehicles for each the game creates an opportunity for fiddling and tweaking your choices to get the most out of each race. No one car will demolish the competition, and even if there was a car that could do so it likely wouldn’t be available in the challenge that you really needed it for. It’s a strange system for developing an equal amount of balance and challenge, but it works.
Now before you think that this review is simply a love letter to Gran Turismo (what do you want me to say? It’s good), the game does have one major and inexcusable flaw: the online multiplayer is an embarrassment. Does it offer 16-person multiplayer? Sure. But I’ll be damned if I can know any of those 16 people. I understand that the PlayStation Network is still in it’s infancy, but that’s no excuse for what’s been presented here. Not including an option to invite friends into a game is more than a disappointment — it’s downright ludicrous. If you ask fellow site staffer Ryan, he’ll tell you it’s a perfect example of how Japanese developers still don’t understand the western fascination with online play. He’d be absolutely right. At least the online let’s you earn cash that carries over to the single player, so it’s not completely without merit.
Still — in a lot of ways that’s what makes this Prologue. Think of it in a lot of ways as a beta. By offering a well-rounded product at a discounted price, Sony has the opportunity to learn what works and what doesn’t before deciding which direction to go with the final product. If enough people had an issue with the lack of license tests, I’m sure they’d make a triumphant return by the time Gran Turismo 5 comes out. By the same token I’d be shocked if we didn’t see a massive overhaul of the online components by the time the next version hits the streets.
Whether you’re a Gran Turismo vet whose been dying to get your hands on the next installment or a casual racing fan whose always found this series just a little too frustrating, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue has found a way to successfully cater to drivers on every end of the spectrum.
A few weeks back 
LOL @ Activision. Seriously, in just a matter of months they managed to completely whore out and ruin the Guitar Hero brand. It all started with taking GH3 to Neversoft, who never met a Tony Hawk game they couldn’t pump out in a matter of months. It subsequently sucked, even though it sold by the boatload. Then we get the announcement that there’s an entire game wrapped about Aerosmith…. wow, awesome. 