Less Is Less: A tantalizing -- and overpriced -- glimpse of the next Gran Turismo [REVIEW]

Posted by Gary Hodges at 8:32 PM Apr 30, 2008

Inside the car: The only way to drive.

When the first trailer for Star Wars: Episode I hit theaters, hardcore SW fans bought tickets for the movie it was in front of, watched the trailer, and then walked out – essentially paying full price for a fraction of a final product. (Even more hardcore, the movie they had to buy tickets for was Meet Joe Black.)

Superfans are willing to do that sort of thing – heck, I did it – but most recognize it’s not a very good deal. Similarly, diehard racing fans will be happy for a glimpse of what’s to come with Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, but as for the majority of gamers… well, they’ll see it’s just buying a slice for the price of a whole pie.

Prologue is a chunk carved from the work-in-progress Gran Turismo 5, a sort of Frankenstein’s Monster that’s part demo, part retail game, and part advance marketing - all stitched together by the attractiveness of a mid-development cycle cash infusion. As such, it doesn’t have a full game’s content, reflected in the somewhat reduced price: $40, or two-thirds what a game typically goes for.

There’s a lot less than two-thirds the content, though: you get about 70 cars and a half dozen tracks. By comparison, Gran Turismo 4 has ten times the content (700 cars and 50 tracks), and rival Forza Motorsport 2 offers about three times as much (300 cars and 15 tracks).

This is the calculus that nets Prologue a 6 out of 10, and where superfans and average gamers will part ways: when it comes to substance, it simply doesn’t measure up to the competition. The only thing that saves it from a lower score is the level of polish on the little bit of content that’s here.

For example, the visuals are outstanding. To help fan the flames of Internet fanboy rivalries: Prologue clearly looks better than Forza, better than PGR, better than every other racing game thus far, period, end of story. It's not just the tracks (though they look great too), but the detail in the car models that makes this pure automotive porn of the highest order. I could (and have) gazed at the cars in the dealership for minutes just mesmerized by the way light plays on the high end paint jobs; it's like nothing else anywhere, except maybe real life.

Prologue also introduces a cockpit view to race from the driver’s seat. The preternaturally spotless windshields are a little disappointing (I prefer a little grime, as seen in PGR, to help sell the visual illusion), but nothing beats it in terms of immersion. And the tactile feedback via the new DualShock 3, though a bit subdued, is well done, especially when you can feel your back tires slipping during a too-fast turn.

When it comes to game play, though, Prologue isn’t as much of a leap - in fact it's still mired in issues fans and critics have been complaining about since GT1. Opponents are still a bit dopey and slavish when it comes to following the ideal racing line, and only barely aware of the drivers around them. And while the racing physics are great, car-to-car contact looks and feels odd; combined, these quirks can be exploited for some profoundly unrealistic racing maneuvers, like placing an opponent between you and the outside of a high-speed turn to buffer yourself from sliding off the road, or letting yourself get rear-ended for a quick acceleration boost. As a result, Prologue online looks more like amateur bumper cars than professional racing.

But let’s be clear: Prologue suffers more for a lack of quantity than quality. No question, Prologue ratchets up excitement for Gran Turismo 5, but the bottom line is: are you fish or fowl? Are you a demo bursting at the seams with content, or a retail product that offers gamers less for their money than almost any other racer on the market?

Forty bucks says the latter.

Gran Turismo 5: Prologue
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: PlayStation 3
Price: $39.99
ESRB Rating: E (for Everyone)
Score: 6 (out of 10)