Gran Turismo 5 was one of the most hyped releases of the generation, and while it garnered massive commercial success with over five-million units sold and counting, some have criticized Polyphony Digital for its rudimentary design principles. Codemasters is currently developing DiRT 3, which is also a racing simulator and a competing product, so it was only time before the team started hounding on GT5.
When speaking to Eurogamer, Codemasters’ game designer Paul Coleman shared his disappointment with Gran Turismo 5. During the chat, Coleman stated:
“I felt there were some design decisions, like the grindy levelling up mechanic, that were a little bit disappointing. I know it wouldn’t have been a step forward but I would have preferred to have seen the classic use of licenses to unlock events, and that’s what drives your ability to actually access those events, rather than time spent doing the same race 15 times to then unlock the next race. “
While there are a distinct lack of A-Spec races in Gran Turismo 5, I feel that the addition of the online component and seasonal events make up for this shortcoming. Even then, here’s my breakdown of the comparable Gran Turismo 3 vs Gran Turismo 5:
- GT3 has 3 Leagues, while GT5 has 5 Leagues.
- GT3 has 65 Series of races across the 3 Leagues, while GT5 has 45 Series of races across the 5 Leagues
- GT3 has 289 races within the 65 Series, while GT5 has 126 races within the 45 Series
GT5 clearly has fewer races, but also includes B-Spec, online, Photo Mode, Course Maker, and more. Overall, in my opinion, Gran Turismo 5 isn’t any more “grindy” than any of the previous Gran Turismo titles. If you love cars, and nothing less, then you’re probably like me and enjoy going to the car lot, purchasing cars, then racing them stock on Nurburgring for hot laps. The physics and visuals are far beyond anything seen before, so for those of us who don’t live on a yacht in Malibu, Gran Turismo 5 is the best way to enjoy the best automobiles on the planet.
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