5 years of hype spoiled this game.
Well, to me GT5 is that kind of an experience. I was fully excited about the game, I was even worried that it would be sold out at the local Best Buy by the time I was able to buy it. The game was not on the shelves at best buy in the new releases section....uh oh...wait, better check at the counter. Yes, we have it (they kept the game hidden under the cashier counters....I guess it was that popular!). I finally arrive home with the new game, eager as ever to stick it in the PS3 and experience "a revolutionary game".
After installing the necessary components and going through the setup process, I was finally at the intro movie. Wow, amazing movie! I was so pumped up by the movie, I couldn't even finish it.
So now the main screen. Ok, it's a bit odd, but maybe I'll get used to it. Used car dealer....what on earth is that?? First order of business, go to the dealership and buy my first car....hmmmm...which to choose, ok Mazda Miata it is! And now the fun starts
Well you know all those things that distracted you from a great movie? They also distract you from what could have been an amazing game. Let's start with the goods:
- Premium cars look good
- good selection of Premium cars
- insane selection of standard cars
- tracks have good variation
- different modes, rally, nascar...go kart?!
and now the bad:
- Long load times
- Menus take some getting used to
- difficulty is pretty hard in the special challenges and license tests
- Menu music cannot be customized (ok small gripe, but after listening to it for HOURS, it is becoming annoying)
- Used cars are the only place you can get standard cars
- Selection of upgrade parts is severly limited
- There really is not a lot of customization available to this game
- Paint chips needed to change the color of your car??! Come on now....really?!
- You can't apply graphics or any other stickers to your car
- No online marketplace
- Everytime you buy a car (or cash in a ticket for a free car), it goes through a boring "car intro" screen. Basically the front of your car appears, in front of a black screen. First time it was different, now it's boring and tedious.
- No damage indicators on screen
- In rally mode, the map is placed right in the middle of the screen. This is extremely distracting, we can't adjust the HUD either.
As you can see, this game is a let down for me. I heard it was going to be so many things, and it's taken them five looooooooooong years to make this game so it must be awesome....should be awesome....would be awesome........could have been awesome. I guess the good thing is that the popcorn and pop was free (well, not really free, I still had to buy it).
J