First Impressions
Let me preface the impressions with the fact that this is my first full release of Gran Turismo. I played Prologue and GT PSP, but never had the chance to play a full fledge GT game. So my experience will probably come across as "newb" to a lot of veterans. If I make a mistake with something, or provide some inaccurate information, it won't be intentional. Please PM me with that info so that it can be corrected.
The full review will be coming soon, after I've played enough to form a solid opinion on the content in the game. Due to the progressive nature of the game, this only seems fair to the game, myself, and the readers.
So, let's see how the game looks and feels without digging too deep into the monster that is GT5.
The first hour saw me just waiting around, installing the update on a slower connection was part of the culprit for the time. Weighing in at a mere 133MB, it wouldn't take much time for a decent connection to slice through it in no time. After the installation of the patch came, what some people have named, "hell". Quite the opposite really. Yeah, it takes a little while. I'm estimating that it was 40-45 minutes for the complete installation. You can waive this initial installation, or choose the minimal 256MB installation, and you'll be up and running a lot quicker. It's entirely your choice. It's suggested that you do the full installation for a smoother experience, but I can't comment on the difference as I didn't play at all without installing all the data the game offered. Is this a good thing or bad thing? Well, it gives you the option. If the game isn't performing how you think it should without the installation, you have the option to install the data from the Options menu.
After the install, I was greeted with an seemingly lackluster "movie", which you can skip and disable from the Options screen. I watched the entire thing, and I'm glad I did. It got better.. it was actually quite interesting to watch. I think that video set the tone of how you'll start experiencing the game. Slowly at first, then it picks up quite nicely.
Getting past the video, and on towards the meat of the game, we're now at the main title screen. There are several options to choose from here, but I started at the GT Mode. I entered, and clicked around, just playing around really. The game continued telling my idiot self to buy a car.. well, duh, it's a racing game right? So, I took Kaz's advice and bought my first car. You can only choose Lvl. 0 cars from the start, and you'll have 20,000 credits to do so. You can either hit up a dealer for some premium action, or head over to the used car section and try and snatch a bargain with a standard car. I chose a premium Honda Civic Type R (EK) '97, and chose black for my color.
I started with the License tasks, which was nothing short of a task for me. I did finish the first set of License with some Gold finishes, and the rest Silver. I assure you, for newbies such as myself, this is a challenge, no doubt. It's welcome too because I didn't want to just sail through them as I know for a fact I'm not that good a driver. The game definitely shows you where you need to work on certain technical aspects of driving.
I eventually grew frustrated trying to get Gold finishes on all the License challenges, and stopped just after starting the A License section. I've leveled a few times, and found that I had earned a couple of trophies, and some "gifted" cars. I decided it's time to race a little.... mmmmhmmmmmm!
I start in the beginners section, and the racing, while not very challenging at first, is definitely fun. I don't want to judge the quality of the AI, period. I don't know enough about racing to know whether they are just dumb, I'm awesome, how much the cars play into the race, etc. Let's just say that in the earliest races, you're going to feel like a champ. There are a few obstacles to overcome, starting from the back, but with my amazingly fun Civic, it just wasn't hard. I came in first in all my races. I'll update the "Progress" section later with all the progress information that helped me form my first impressions.
I haven't used any Standard cars yet, but at the end of the day, I have three Premium cars, and three Standard cars. I've only purchased my initial Civic, and the rest were earned.
The game looks freakin' amazing in action. The cars that I've used look gorgeous, and the cars that I've raced against look equally good while I zoom by them on the track. The visuals have a way of bringing you into the game, you can FEEL the speed, braking, etc., all because of the amazing job PD did with the visuals. There are certainly down sides, but I've not see anything in the time I've played that would detract from the game play at all.
The sounds are equally good to me. I'm not a car guy, buff, etc. I don't really know what these cars are supposed to sound like, but I've not been disappointed in what I've heard. The music is actually really in tune with the races. It gets you pumping and makes the action seem more intense, even when you're +15:00:00 ahead baby!
I've not been able to play anything online, so I'll either update this portion when I do, or just save it for the full review later on. I do see a lot of potential in it, so I hope it lives up to the possibilities I've imagined.
There you have it. My first impressions of the game. There is a lot to do with this title, and it's going to be a really long career ahead. I'm a newbie of sorts, especially to the GT series. I'm super excited to have the game, and I can't wait to learn from the better drivers here.
I don't believe that's a standard car from GT5. At least I haven't encountered anything like that in GT5 yet, and I have been trying the standard cars.
