GameHoof.com

Developer : Polyphony Digital
Publisher : Sony Computer Entertainment
Designer : Kazunori Yamauchi
Platform : PlayStation 3
Release date :
NA November 24, 2010
EU November 24, 2010
JP November 25, 2010
AUS November 25, 2010
Genre : Racing
Mode : Single-player, multiplayer, online multiplayer (16-player)
ESRB: E
Media : Blu-ray Disc

Gran Turismo 5 is the fifth edition of the Gran Turismo racing simulator series. Developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, it was released for PlayStation 3 on November 24, 2010. It expands on the Prologue version and is the first entry of the series to developed for PlayStation3.

Game Play

The game marks the first entry in the series to feature online races for 16-players. A damage model has been confirmed with variations of damage depending on whether the vehicle is “standard” or “premium”. Over 1,000 cars will be featured in the game; it will feature 26 different locations and 71 different tracks. Night racing will return in GT5.
World Rally Championship, NASCAR and Super GT licenses are featured for the first time in the Gran Turismo franchise.

New features
A damage model, with variations of damage depending on whether the vehicle is “Standard” or “Premium”.
Weather effects (feautred only on selected curcuits) Optional Stereoscopic-3D resolution.

Karting
New visual effects including dynamic skid marks, dust and grass being kicked up and affected by other elements and also the ability for drivers to flash their headlights.

A course editor which allows the player to create new circuits by using tools that randomly generate track-parts, including the amount of corners, the time of day and the amount of sectors. There are a variety of themes the player can choose from to act as a base for each circuit design.

Damage
Gran Turismo 5 is the first game in the franchise to include both mechanical and external damage modeling, including a real-time deformation engine that will process model deformation according to the speed and angle of impact. In addition, it was revealed at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show that it will also be possible to overturn cars for the first time in the series. The vehicles in GT5 are separated into “standard” and “premium” vehicles. Standard vehicles feature a less detailed damage model with dirt, scratches and dents appearing on the car in the event of an accident. “Premium”-vehicles feature a slightly more advanced damage model. Gran Turismo 2 previously included damage, but was limited to mechanical failures only.

Tracks

Gran Turismo 5 features 26 different locations or “scenery” and 71 different tracks. This is a significant leap from the previous iteration in the main numbered series, Gran Turismo 4, which featured 51 total tracks. Dunsfold Park, located in the United Kingdom – the test track of the British automotive television show Top Gear – will be included in the game. The playable demo of Gran Turismo 5 at Gamescom 2009 featured the Tokyo Route 246 track, seen in previous incarnations of the game. Various real-life circuits will be returning from previous games in the series. These include (among others) Nürburgring, Circuit de la Sarthe, Tsukuba Circuit, Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway and Suzuka Circuit. New circuits will be included in the game, these include (among others) Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Monza circuit, Daytona International Speedway, a special karting track based around the Piazza del Campo – a historic public space in Tuscany, Italy used for the Palio di Siena, and two new Rome and Madrid city circuits. Many fictional circuits return from previous games in the series including ‘Trial Mountain’, ‘Deep Forest Raceway’ and more. An official list of all tracks featured in the game has been released by Polyphony Digital.

Vehicles
The number of vehicles present in the game has been confirmed to be 1,031.Lamborghini and Bugatti will make their first appearance in the game, following on from their introduction in Gran Turismo PSP, and it has been confirmed the new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG will appear, along with Ferrari’s recently unveiled 458 Italia as well as the Lexus LFA supercar. McLaren will also make their first appearance as a native manufacturer with the inclusion of the McLaren F1 road car (the F1 GTR race version was present in Gran Turismo 4, but was included in BMW’s dealership).[19] Le Mans spec cars will make a return appearance. Hybrids were previously included in Gran Turismo 4 with the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight. At the 2009 Tokyo Game Show, Yamauchi mentioned that the latest hybrid and electric cars will be included, including the Tesla Roadster. At Gamescom 2010, it was also revealed that GT5 will include the Jaguar XJ13 race car prototype, as well as the Ferrari 330 P4 and the Ford GT40 Mark IV race cars, and as the developers put it, “will allow players to create the race that never came to be”, since the XJ13 program was canceled before the car was ready for competition. Additionally, in association with Red Bull Racing, the development team worked on a new prototype car called the “X1 Prototype” which was designed with the idea of, “If you built the fastest racing car on land, one that throws aside all rules and regulations, what would that car look like, how would it perform, and how would it feel to drive?” This car was worked on by Polyphony Digital and Red Bull’s aerodynamics expert, Adrian Newey, and is one of the cars in the game. Up to 16 cars or 32 karts will be able to race on track at once whereas previous installments featured only six cars per race max. Recently, Polyphony Digital released the official vehicle list which also shows which vehicles will be standard or premium.

Standard and Premium

The cars in GT5 are separated into two categories, “standard” and “premium”. Standard cars have standard headlights, and basic damage modeling. In addition, standard cars do not feature interior camera views. Premium cars feature headlights capable of high and low beams, detailed interior camera views, and detailed damage models. Premium cars also feature working windshield wipers which can be used on tracks with rain or snow. Around 20% of all cars featured in the game fall into the “premium”-category.

Development

Gran Turismo 5 has received considerable praise from game critics. The game currently holds a Gamerankings-score of 87.5%. Reviewers praised the number of cars, car-specific information and single-player content included and commented positively on the driving-physics which had been improved from Prologue. The inclusion of karts as well as licensed WRC and Nascar-vehicles was also received positively.
The graphics received mixed reviews with reviewers praising the lighting-effects as well as in- and exterior-details of premium-cars, stating that Photo Mode showed-off their detailed graphical design very well, but commenting negatively on the detail of standard-cars which lacked cockpit-views, looked like upscaled versions taken from GT4 and did not keep up to the level of detail found in the premium-models. The newly-included damage-feature received criticism for barely effecting car-handling and damage-effects only being applied after multiple serious crashes. Graphical on-track-detail was also criticized as being sub-par to the detail found on the cars.
The new Course Maker-feature was also commented negatively upon. Reviewers were dissatisfied with the tool only allowing to edit randomly-generated tracks instead of letting users create their own track-layouts.
The AI was also criticized for still making CPU-drivers brake unexpectedly and not being aware of the player’s car on the track, just as in previous games in the series. IGN called it “the series’ now trademark zombie A.I.

Song Track Naming Competition
At E3 2010, a new trailer was shown revealing various aspects about GT5 including a release date. The song used for the trailer was by Japanese composer Daiki Kasho; many fans wanted to know the name of the song, but it was untitled. Polyphony Digital recognised this and started a competition open to all fans around the world, to submit a name for the song. The winner would have their name immortalised in Gran Turismo 5′s credits and their title become the official name of the music track. The winner was chosen by series creator Kazunori Yamauchi out of 5,444 entries: it was “5OUL ON D!SPLAY” (a stylised form of “Soul On Display”) submitted by a fan from Argentina.