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An excellent racer with very limited functionality.

There are few games that have made the impact, not only on the games industry but on other industries as well, as much as the Gran Turismo series has. As the only consumer friendly true racing simulator, each successive title in the series has added more dimension to the creation of a realistic driving experience.

Gran Turismo 5 was meant to showcase the power of the PlayStation 3 and vice versa. GT4 had an extensive list of vehicles and maps, making it one of the most realistic simulators to date. However, because of the sheer volume of content, GT4 was limited by its graphical prowess, though at the time it wasn't really an issue.

GT5P eliminates any possibility of an ugly game. It is so unimaginably, exquisitely rendered that Nissan, a heavy supporter of the game, revealed their GT simultaneously for the game and in real life. They looked identical. In fact, the only clue as to which car was digitally rendered was the amount of lighting used for each.

Indeed, GT5P emulates real world visuals, yet where it goes so far in graphics, it sinks behind on so many other levels. In fact, there are so many gaping holes in some of the more simplistic facets of GT5P that it’s difficult to take the title seriously. Arm this knowledge with the $40 price tag and the "Prologue" attached to the title we are left with what seems to be a demo.

Because it's Polyphony Digital, they believe that they are excused from making Prologue just an open beta. They may well deserve the right, and it isn't the first time they've sold such a game. Its high sales is all the necessary proof that no matter how limiting the game may be, it's the gameplay that matters.

We're not buying it. Sure, the cars drive like a dream, but there are far too many minor nuisances to ignore. While the menu system is clean and crisp, it's also mildly slow and monumentally tedious. Switching vehicles must be done from the dealership screen, meaning that selecting a race will use the pre-selected car. To start the desired race, players must exit events, enter the garage, switch vehicles and only then return to the event and begin.