Don't Call it a Demo
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue may not be the full game, but it's the real deal.
Published: April 20, 2008
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is "just a demo." It features more than 75 cars and six tracks (12 if you include the reversals/variants) which can be raced normally, in time trial mode, online (with up to 15 other people) and in drift races. But it's "just a demo." The US version of the game added more music, one additional track, almost 40 cars, the ability to tune cars to change horsepower and weight (among other things), and more. But it's "just a demo."
If all demos were as full-featured as Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, people likely wouldn't need to buy the full game, but perhaps it's a testament to just how insane the Gran Turismo games are in terms of features that an offering like Prologue seems like less of a game. Of course, most demos don't come with a price tag that's nipping at the heels of a full game. So then the question becomes, "is this game worth the price Sony is asking people to pay for?" The answer is simple: yes.
There's more game for your $40 than the features list would seem. There are dozens of different races with multiple vehicle requirements splayed out across those six tracks. The ability to drift on and tune for gives you even more variety and while it's nowhere near a substitute for the ridiculous amounts of customization in the full-blooded Gran Turismo, tinkering under the hood (and applying the Performance Points that cranking up a car's specs brings with it) is certainly a welcome substitute.
Honestly, if you'd asked me if the Japanese version of the game was worth the $10 smaller price point it was released at, I would have happily told you no, but now, even at a more expensive price, the improvements to everything from graphics to how the game runs, is balanced and plays online make it a far more tantalizing proposition. It's still Gran Turismo, yes, which means you're playing a car simulation, so Burnout fans may be disappointed, but for gearheads looking for their next-gen fix, nothing else will do.
And it's not like Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is perfect. Far from it -- there are issues all over the place (and I'll get to them in a second, I promise), but it's also important to note that this is a preview version of the game, and any little quibbles I might have with some of the execution can't dampen the overall experience, not by a long shot. The second you're able to jump behind the wheel of a Ferrari F430 with a Logitech G25 racing wheel, complete with working clutch and H-shifter while racing in the game's cockpit mode, though, you too will understand what a transcendent experience Kazunori Yamauchi and crew at Polyphony Digital have created.
Complementary to the stripped-down version of the game, one of the bigger barriers to entry, the license tests, have been dropped (at least for now). In their place are 30 class-based races, from C all the way up to A (and then on to S once you've "finished" the game, which also unlocks the Quick Tune feature and a new set of 10 challenges built around tuning). Most have a specific set of guidelines for races, be it that they have to be Japanese manufactured or, in the case of the time trials and overtaking races where you have to go from last to first in a single lap, just one specific car. There are certainly races that allow any car, and these tend to be the biggest blow-outs, the ones where all that hard-earned cash turns into a vehicle that completely smokes the competition.
That competition is marginally better this time around, too. You'll see AI racers driving more, well, intelligently, skirting around you instead of driving through you lest they deviate from their robot-like racing line. It's not quite the dynamic AI that remembers if you hit them or not, but cars will absolutely nudge you from time to time. It's not enough to make you spin out on a crucial race, mind you (even if you can do that yourself until the S-Class races where you're penalized with a rev limiter for a few seconds), but it'll make them feel like they have some life.
If all demos were as full-featured as Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, people likely wouldn't need to buy the full game, but perhaps it's a testament to just how insane the Gran Turismo games are in terms of features that an offering like Prologue seems like less of a game. Of course, most demos don't come with a price tag that's nipping at the heels of a full game. So then the question becomes, "is this game worth the price Sony is asking people to pay for?" The answer is simple: yes.
There's more game for your $40 than the features list would seem. There are dozens of different races with multiple vehicle requirements splayed out across those six tracks. The ability to drift on and tune for gives you even more variety and while it's nowhere near a substitute for the ridiculous amounts of customization in the full-blooded Gran Turismo, tinkering under the hood (and applying the Performance Points that cranking up a car's specs brings with it) is certainly a welcome substitute.
Honestly, if you'd asked me if the Japanese version of the game was worth the $10 smaller price point it was released at, I would have happily told you no, but now, even at a more expensive price, the improvements to everything from graphics to how the game runs, is balanced and plays online make it a far more tantalizing proposition. It's still Gran Turismo, yes, which means you're playing a car simulation, so Burnout fans may be disappointed, but for gearheads looking for their next-gen fix, nothing else will do.
And it's not like Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is perfect. Far from it -- there are issues all over the place (and I'll get to them in a second, I promise), but it's also important to note that this is a preview version of the game, and any little quibbles I might have with some of the execution can't dampen the overall experience, not by a long shot. The second you're able to jump behind the wheel of a Ferrari F430 with a Logitech G25 racing wheel, complete with working clutch and H-shifter while racing in the game's cockpit mode, though, you too will understand what a transcendent experience Kazunori Yamauchi and crew at Polyphony Digital have created.
Complementary to the stripped-down version of the game, one of the bigger barriers to entry, the license tests, have been dropped (at least for now). In their place are 30 class-based races, from C all the way up to A (and then on to S once you've "finished" the game, which also unlocks the Quick Tune feature and a new set of 10 challenges built around tuning). Most have a specific set of guidelines for races, be it that they have to be Japanese manufactured or, in the case of the time trials and overtaking races where you have to go from last to first in a single lap, just one specific car. There are certainly races that allow any car, and these tend to be the biggest blow-outs, the ones where all that hard-earned cash turns into a vehicle that completely smokes the competition.
That competition is marginally better this time around, too. You'll see AI racers driving more, well, intelligently, skirting around you instead of driving through you lest they deviate from their robot-like racing line. It's not quite the dynamic AI that remembers if you hit them or not, but cars will absolutely nudge you from time to time. It's not enough to make you spin out on a crucial race, mind you (even if you can do that yourself until the S-Class races where you're penalized with a rev limiter for a few seconds), but it'll make them feel like they have some life.
