GT5 2.0: Why You Need To Go Back
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness patched upon 'em. When it launched last November, Gran Turismo 5 was certainly marked with brilliance; a work of slavish endeavour, its dedication to recreating the automobile in many of its forms elevated the simulator to a form of art, with a poetry at the heart of Polyphony's game that its peers have failed to emulate.
This single-mindedness did more than bless Gran Turismo 5 with a certain genius, though. So studied was the studio in its craft, so obsessed with its work, that it seemed to take its eye off of the fast evolving word of driving games around it, and when it launched Gran Turismo 5 was as archaic as it was artful.
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On-track it's still Gran Turismo that's the superior game - and it helps that Polyphony has recently adopted one of the world's greatest circuits in the long overdue first batch of DLC. Spa Francorchamps provides the perfect arena to highlight Gran Turismo's handling supremacy, and this famed stretch of tarmac that runs through the Ardennes has arguably never been so well adapted in a game.
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An online mode crippled by an obtuse front end, an interface that was willfully difficult and a spread of content obscured under a dense lattice of menus all suggested that Polyphony's attention was elsewhere.
But the past year has seen Polyphony turn its attention to the community, compiling feedback and slowly chipping away at its creation, fine-tuning it with iterative tweaks. Nearly twelve months after the initial release playing Gran Turismo 5 is a markedly different experience, and undeniably a better one.
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In the twelve months since Gran Tursimo 5's launch it's those Seasonal Events that have provided the incentive to return on a regular basis, with the rewards ramping up to the point where, quite recently, it was possible to become a multi-millionaire on the back of one quick race. A broken economy, yes, but one that was certainly entertaining to indulge in.
The overblown Seasonal Event rewards of recent months have now been replaced by a consecutive log-in bonus and a renewed emphasis on online races that Gran Turismo 5's multiplayer suite still struggles to support. Despite a constant trickle of updates and the slightest of overhauls, Gran Turismo 5's online racing remains deeply flawed, its convoluted Lounge system a poor replacement for half-decent matchmaking.
It's one area that makes Sony's decision to place Gran Turismo 5 toe-to-toe with Forza 4 seem particularly unwise, as put in relief to Turn 10's broad and compelling online aspects Polyphony's game feels criminally lacking - and a large number of the issues raised just after release are yet to be addressed and likely never will.
It's a rather large blot on what's otherwise been a remarkable journey for Gran Turismo 5, and one that you have to applaud Polyphony for taking. To choose between this and Forza 4 would be a fool's work; both offer takes on the genre that are now different enough to complement each other, with Forza's emphasis on Community marking it out for one audience while Gran Turismo's precision marks it out for another. If you're looking for a diversity of driving experiences, then Gran Turismo's always been the best - and now it's that little bit better too.
I always wondered if it was possible to see the intro without having to go through all the "born of a car" (fabulous) video first.
