You cant help but marvel at the sheer beauty and scale of the enigmatic Kaz Yamauchis brainchild. Gran Turismo 5 is arguably the most talked about racing simulator of our time. After six long years in gestation and a recent, high profile, flame-bating delay at the eleventh hour it has finally screamed up our driveway, and despite the exhilarating driving experience it offers, Polyphony Digitals ode to the automobile is not without its share of dents.
Multiplayer, unceremoniously shoehorned in via a patch upon release, lacks cohesion; Polyphony has failed to implement even the most basic elements of online participation such as matchmaking, ranking, experience points, rewards or even a car classification system. Thankfully though, these kinks can be ironed via a series of updates, while you wade through an incredible offline mode, tuning, tweaking, racing and collating Polyphonys slavishly recreated line-up of a thousand cars.
Gran Turismo 5 is a spectacle, a lesson in recreating the minutiae of racing, down to the nuts and bolts of the devilish Lamborghini Murciélago, through to the rain-soaked straights of a select few tracks. It begs to be played, ogled and poured over. However, if youre serious about dedicating yourself to Yamauchis baby, bear this in mind - Gran Turismo 5 peaks when played with a wheel rather than a pad.