Why review a game demo? Because it's Gran Turismo, that's why.
Gran Turismo 5: Prologue
Polyphony
PlayStation 3
4 stars (out of 5)
It feels ever so slightly wrong to be doing a full review of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue when it is just that - a prologue, a demo, not the finished game.
But GT has always been a special case. The series has shifted 47 million units over a decade, and elevated creator Kazunori Yamauchi to the status of motorsport god. Gran Turismo was the best-selling game on the original PlayStation, and only the Grand Theft Auto games outsold GT3 on the PlayStation 2.
This is no ordinary demo. It's an in-depth taste of what to expect when the fifth edition of the hugely successful driving series reaches the PlayStation later this year.
Polyphony did the same with GT4, releasing a bite-sized version of the game to build interest in the big kahuna. And it worked. Millions of gamers around the world slavered over the demo and most went on to buy the full version.
Now we're in the next-generation of consoles and GT has pulled out all the stops to step into the future.
The Prologue contains about 70 cars - it seems like a lot, but the full version will probably have several hundred - and just six tracks.
The principal mode is a single-player campaign which follows the usual GT career progression system. You are rewarded for good driving with cash, which you will need to allocate carefully to fill out your garage with the rides you need to compete in subsequent races, time trial challenges and overtaking challenges.
Graphically, it is no surprise that GT5: Prologue looks lush and accurate. The team at Polyphony has always taken pride in its good looks, and all the tracks look swish and the cars as realistic as ever.
The designers have tinkered with the difficulty curve, which will please those who occasionally found GT4's hyper-realistic approach a bit daunting. There are now assists that can be turned on to indicate where the optimum racing line is, and how fast corners should be approached.
For the first time, Gran Turismo fans can also race online, but it seems that part of the game has been having some issues.
Plenty have also been complaining about the game's collision modelling. Early GT games had no realistic damage at all, and while GT5 tries to be more realistic, it limits effects to broken windows and scratched bodywork rather than full-blown wrecks.
For what it is, GT5: Prologue is a fine teaser to what lies ahead. Available as part of a PS3 bundle, as a stand-alone disc or via download from the PlayStation Network.
