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GT5 Prologue offers 60 cars together with 14 tuned cars, 5 tracks, the possibility of up to 16 player online races and an improved AI opponent.
3 of the tracks: Fuji, Daytona, and Suzuki offer alternative routes, while Eiger Nordwand and London City can be played in reverse direction.
The choice of cars includes the super-hot BMW 135i and the Mitsubishi Evo X. But it is how the cars handle that counts with gamers. If cornering, in the previous games of the series, was a tad hard-going, don’t worry! You are in for a treat, this time you can confidently throw cars in to bends, knowing that stability is assured.
If you a new to the series, it is probably advisable to opt for the Arcade mode of play, which lets you get used to the cars and the circuits. The Event mode presents the bigger challenge. Your initial credits enable you the purchase a cheap car, for C-Class challenges. Success will move you onto B-Class and eventually to the difficult A-Class challenges. Earned credits will give you the opportunity to buy a better car, and it is worth lingering at lower levels, to earn enough credits to buy a really red-hot car.
Although all PS3 compatible steering wheels are ok, why not try Logicool’s rebranded Logitech G25 racing wheel for the Playstation 3 which features Six-speed shifter with push-down reverse gear, dual-motor force feedback and realistic 900 degree wheel rotation.
GT5 will be fully integrated with Sony PS3 Home, a 3D virtual chat space, which will shortly be released. You will be easily able to join in games with your friends, who you can impress with your Home display of trophies.
GT5 has taken racing game graphics to a new level, benefiting from HD to make it the most visually stunning game on the market. Select the in-cockpit view, and you will experience the amazing feeling you would get if you were sitting on the front of the cars bonnet. Gamers will also enjoy the personalised menu. In addition to Home icon, there are other icons including Calendar, which provides you with news and weather reports from all circuits.
The background also benefits enormously from HD. The most stunning setting has to be the mighty Swiss Alps, the site of the Eiger Nordwand circuit. There, among the timeless, snow-capped pinnacles, we glimpse the brooding, menacing North Face of the Eiger.
The official soundtrack has been released on CD, in Japan. The 18 tracks include a new version of “Moon over the Castle”, the much loved theme song of the series.
The architecture of PS3 is eminently suited to racing games, and GT5 makes the most of it, pushing the series in the right direction. Visually it is immense. A weakness is the obscured crowding at chicanes, when too many cars are involved. The Prologue’s lack of a split-screen 2 player mode may disappoint.
The question remains - should gamers buy the Prologue or wait for the full version? Veterans will undoubtedly treat themselves; newcomers would probably do better to wait for the full version.
8.9 / 10
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