Gran Turismo 5 is an amazing racing game. Let’s get that out of the way right now. Among mainstream console titles, you can’t find a better simulation of what it’s really like to race cars, and the selection of cars and tracks is remarkable. The graphics and sound are unmatched in the genre, and the GT Life mode has a truly satisfying sense of progression that will keep you playing over and over again. Now that all that has been said, this can be a really frustrating game at times, so let’s talk about its flaws.

For example, one of the main selling points of Gran Turismo 5 was the late introduction of car damage to the series. Many players do not enjoy the “bumper car” look of undamaged racing as their car can fly unrealistically against walls without scratching and damaging rival drivers with timely collisions. Well, the game has car damage … But you really won’t notice any damage until you’ve played for about thirty hours. This is because the car damage in GT5 is progressive, as it gets worse as the driver level increases in the game, reaching the full effect at level 40, which is the furthest that can be expected from a player. regular. Also, only premium cars have damage effects, a small percentage of the number of cars you can drive. So anyone who has sold out to the new game for car damage will likely be disappointed, as it will be dozens of hours before experiencing the new feature.

Otherwise, the main outlets are quite well executed. Kart racing and NASCAR feature prominently in the new, realistically simulated title (karts will feel totally different from the rest of the vehicles in the game). Jeff Gordon lends his voice to the game for NASCAR racing lessons, and fans of the British show Top Gear will be delighted to find that The Stig even has a cameo in-game. The Top Gear test track is quite a fantastic track for running, and it’s a great licensed addition.

Because there is so much in GT5, the loading times are terrible. There is a huge optional hard drive installation to reduce loading times, yet loading still takes too long. Especially when you are doing license tests that will take no more than a minute for each segment, you will find yourself watching a loading screen for longer than you are actually driving. Server overload worsens load times due to the amount of online data being pulled all the time as well, so logging out of the PlayStation Network can improve load times. But the fact is, the load is too long when online communities discuss what is the best hard drive to use to handle long loads.

While looking at those loading screens, there’s one more irritating aspect: the repetitive music. There’s a ton of music in this game, and on normal menu screens, you can go weeks without hearing a repeating tune. However, inexplicably, the game uses only very specific songs for specific parts of the menus, so you will end up listening to certain songs for an annoying amount of time. One tuning area plays “The Entertainer” every time, which is an odd choice. The loading screens cycle around three synthetic tunes, which will age quickly. The rest of the music is so well done, it’s hard to understand why the game wouldn’t change more of its soundtrack for the prevailing loading screens.

Despite all this, Gran Turismo 5 is a fantastic game. Feeling the different physics of each new car you buy can really be a good experience, and there is a good balance of challenges in the game that will keep you practicing for certain races. Some features weren’t implemented particularly well, but that doesn’t stop the GT5 from being an absolute must-buy. The game’s dedication and obsession with cars is contagious, and that’s a really beautiful thing.