Gran Turismo 5
I've said before that if this isn't a perfect driving sim then I'll be gravely disappointed, due to all the false dawns resulting in the thing being
years late.
It ain't perfect, nowhere near it in fact, but I'm only a little disappointed.
The front end is mega clunky when compared to the only game you can compare it to, Forza 3. It's worse than any GT this side of the first two, in fact.
Loading times are excruciatingly long, even with the 8GB (!) optional data install. I thought the game had crashed a few times (it did crash a few times when I tried to get online but I suspect it's 1st day server overload).
Some of the car models are embarrassingly bad. We're talking last gen here and look like they've been lifted straight from GT4 or 3 - The dimensions are fine but they look flat and pixelated. That the 200 or so 'premier' cars are so exquisitely rendered only shows to highlight the shoddiness of the less exotic machinery, especially as when you start the game you'll only be able to afford the cheap cars.
But...
The driving experience itself IS approaching perfection. I loved the way the cars in general handled in Forza but there wasn't an awful lot of differentiation in the feel of specific models and everything felt glued to the track, arcade-style. Not so here - everything feels realistic and individual. The floatiness that the GT series was sometimes known for has gone but not at the expense of slot-car handling.
The other thing which the game has over Forza is differing conditions - Rain, night racing, rally stages, karts, Nascar, F1 (Ferraris only) and the Holy Grail, the Top Gear test track.
Sadly, unless it's unlockable, you can only race around the Top Gear track in three special races (and one of them is in a flippin' '60s VW Camper van
) so my dreams of trying to beat The Stig's time on individual laps isn't gonna be realised.
I've only scratched the surface.