Sony Playstation game "Gran Turismo 6" review - 2013

Format Playstation 3
Developer Polyphony
Publisher Sony
Released Now
Telegraph rating 

With more than 70 million copies sold, Gran Turismo is the SonyPlaystation's biggest franchise, and has been a major part of wannabe racers and serious gamers’ lives for the past 15 years.

Now, just in time for Christmas there's a new, sixth instalment of what bills itself as "the real driving simulator", Gran Turismo 6, and it goes on sale today.

As ever, the depth of the game is truly breathtaking. This latest version features 1,200 different cars (120 of which are new for GT6), 37 locations, 100 different track layouts... there's even 70 types of wheel design per car.

New circuits include the home of the British Grand Prix – Silverstone,Goodwood and the Ascari private race resort in southern Spain. Bizzarely, there's also a special moon-based event featuring a unique Lunar Rover vehicle.

_{The Lunar Rover vehicle is a new addition for Gran Turismo 6}

Those familiar with previous Gran Turismo games will recognise the setup. Essentially there are two modes, Arcade and Sim, the former for a quick pick-up-and-play race, and the latter rewarding drivers for their talent and perseverance as they work their way up through the championships earning licences, trophies and cars. There's also prize money, which is used to buy performance upgrades and build up your garage to one that would make Jay Leno jealous.

_{Build your dream garage from a choice of 1,200 cars}

James Armstrong, Senior Vice President of Sony, Southern Europe claims that this latest instalment is “more realistic, better and bigger than ever”. He’s right; build some modifications into your growing fleet of race cars, stored safely in the garage, and the vehicle physics alter just as they would in real life. Driver aids have been further developed and enhanced to match, just like modern race cars in the real world.

Attention to detail is such that even astronomy is accurate. The sun, moon and stars are all correctly positioned depending on the time of day, and the temperature, cloud cover and weather all influence the behaviour of the car. When it starts to rain or the temperature drops, if you are not quick enough with the opposite lock in a rear wheel drive beast – or you over correct – you will leave the circuit and when you do, as soon as those wheels touch the insanely slippery grass there is no chance to rescue it. All you can do is hope you don’t pick up too much damage on an imminently approaching wall or barrier. The beauty of it being a game of course, is that you can always hit the restart button.

_{Rebecca Jackson gets to grips with Gran Turismo 6}

Gran Turismo has always been a hard game to master, and at it's core this sixth instalment maintains that approach. However, there have been efforts to broaden its appeal, with an easier entry point for those who are new to it.

The most noticeable step forward doesn't come in the gameplay itself, however, but the more intuitive user interface and faster-loading menus, both welcome improvements for any patience-challenged racer.

While the creators of Forza Motorsport 5 on the XBox One might have a game with superior graphics to Gran Turismo (which is still compatible with the Playstation 3, rather than the just launched Playstation 4), it loses out with a limited number of tracks and career development.

_{Ronda for real, and recreated in Gran Turismo 6}

Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of Gran Turismo, states that the game blurs the line between racing in the virtual and real worlds. He should know; this has been his software baby for the last 20 years (it took five years to develop the first one), and since then he's taken up racing in real life, and has even scored class victory in his Nissan GT-R at the Nürburgring 24hr race.

Ultimately, a game, not matter how good, is still just a game. It simply can't replicate the sensations of driving a real car, and is thus no direct replacement for the thrill of real-life racing. However, for the time being it’s about as close as you can get and for a fraction of the cost of doing just one track day. We love it.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/motoringvideo/10496265/Gran-Turismo-6-review.html