Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"All it's cracked up to be"

The fifth installment of GT and the fourth I've played. Gran Turismo 5 didn't have to do much to make me pre-order. And when I first got the game, I was not disappointed.

Sure, some will grumble that the game is repetitive and slow and the cars are too expensive, but if you want a fast-paced arcade thriller go and by something such as Need for Speed. Of course it gets repetitive, but since the introduction of high-payout Seasonal Events, you don't need to repeat the A-Spec or B-spec modes of the game. The Seasonal's are updated every so often.

A-Spec is good your first time around, with a varied amount of restrictions (but nothing like earlier GT games) usually regulating the race to a certain car or year. There is also an option to see the power, weight and Performance Points (a measurement on the cars overall capability) helping you to create a challenge by tuning a car to have the same, or even less, ability. If you want to be behind the wheel, A-Spec will certainly suit you.

B-Spec features the same events, but with more laps for your AI driver to complete. B-Spec also restricts tire's on the races. If you want to advance your garage, level and credit fund with minimal work, B-Spec is for you.

There are Three Dealerships (Only two, however, come with the game. The other is free from a patch) to buy new cars. The "Dealerships" contain multiple brands with a stock that never changes, and contains only "Premium" model cars. The "Used Car Dealership" provides cheaper models than the standard Dealer, but changes periodically (Along with the fact only "Standard" cars can be picked up). The "Online Collector's Dealership" is the one from updates. This is updated every so often with cars (Usually in theme with the Seasonal Event's) that are "used" as well, but have 0 miles driven.

The Premium cars are stunning. Complete with interiors, and nice gleaming body's in the sun with real damage (at some point...) they are what collectors are after.

The same cannot be said for Standard models. They appear to be GT4 imports, which is sad.

Overall, brilliant. 9.5/10.