[darkpuppet]

Mini Review:

So after playing GT5: Prologue and completing most of the C Class races, I have to say one thing -- this is one of the most satisfying racing experiences I've had in a long time on any game console.

The first thing you notice when you start up the game is just how beautiful the cars look... this game is about the cars. The biggest issue most people will have is also because of this -- the tracks don't look nearly as detailed as the cars do... so try not to look around too much.

Where this game shines is in the way cars drive... this has to be closest thing you're going to get to driving the real things with a game controller. Habits I've formed in other GT games point out many updates to the handling models of the cars. No longer can you just brake and steer in a corner willy nilly.

In GT4, as long as you were braking, the car would dive into a corner. You could steer into our out of the corner, tap the brakes and the car would pull in to the line of your choice.

Try doing that in GT5, and the car spins... you can actually 'feel' the back end unweight when you do this, and it's a sensation few racing games convey accurately. Considering how accurate the weight transfers feel, I'm keen to try out other cars and see if things like limited slip differentials and active diffs come into play.

AI
The AI was one of my biggest concerns. In games past, and even in the prologue demo, the AI would shunt and bump you off track... in nearly 20 races, that happened only once to me in Prologue. I was bumped from behind by an overeager GTI driver... but that was. From that point forward, the AI would come up on me, and --- brake.. actually slow down. And it seems the AI actually checks their blind spot in corners too. Some cars will slow and let you pass if you dive inside on a corner, some will try to shut you out -- it seems earily similar to driving on the 401...

The Sound
The sound is actually much improved in this game... transitions in and out of slip streams are auditble, the engine noise differs between every view of the car, weither it be the bumper cam, the in-car (which sounds best by far), full external, or roof cam, the engine is noticeably attenuated or amplified to suit the view. The one thing I didn't take much notice of was if you could actually hear the other cars around you... and this is probably the sound's weak spot... but it's fixable.

Online
Online, there are some nice features, and a few shortcomings. On the plus side, if you're a decent driver, you will win the majority of your credits in this mode. 1st place in a C series race nets you $5-6 grand... take the win in the beginner's online races and you get $12,000....

Unfortunately, while the matchmaking service guarantees close races, it doesn't guarantee decent pings -- so cars tend to jump around the track a little (or maybe it's just the other drivers are that bad).

One neat feature of the online mode is the collision detection when a driver makes an unexpected move. If an opponent suddenly veers towards you in a move that could cause an accident, their car will go translucent and they'll go sailing into the runoff... nice. However, there's a downside to this, as it allows you to 'cheat' -- rear end shunts are detected, while swerving isn't... so you can shunt people off a track or take an inside line by simply cutting in quickly -- your car goes transparent, you go through the blocking car and get the better line.

Hopefully people won't resort to these tactics to win, but I can see the opportunity of abusing one's car's transdimensional capabilities..

All in all, this is a fun game. It's really about the cars, and that's where it shines. Hopefully in time the track detail will go up along with a more robust online experience.

Definitely worth the $40