Famitsu Review Gran Turismo 5 Prologue - Updated

by Patrick Steen on December 11, 2007 at 10:38 am

Famitsu - the Japanese Magazine that eclipses the rest, the one we’re all waiting to hear from. They have now reviewed Gran Turismo 5 Prologue for the Playstation 3, and it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that it eclipses all other racing games around it.

Famitsu scored Forza 2 36/40 and PGR4 33/40 - both extremely respectable scores. They have, however, scored GT5 Prologue 39/40 - that is 10, 10, 9 and 10, as we have been informed by a reliable source.

Those are some pretty glowing scores right there, for a game that is practically only a taster of the full Gran Turismo 5. I expect they’re holding back that fourth perfect score for the arrival of Polyphony Digital’s full flung beast.

An incredible looking game running at 1080p 60fps, with the best car models you have ever seen and with an updated physics model to make it the most realistic driving simulator ever. Polyphony Digital are gods.

We noted that we had not yet seen damage modeling in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue after quoting PSU’s mention of the feature being implemented. PSU.com has since taken a 180 degree turn and edited their mention of car damage being in GT5 Prologue:

Still, many fans will be disappointed to learn that damage modeling has yet to be implemented, and it is currently unknown whether or not the final build will contain this element.

This cements that PSU has not played the final release of GT5 Prologue and are merely presuming its features. Read our report here with their original paragraph.

The arrival of the London track is something else, which will see you passing through Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. It looks incredible and is such a good addition to the series. Really we can’t wait.

Click on the image to read more about the London track.

Thanks to avaya on Neogaf we can now put GT5 Prologues score into context:

Only six games so far have received perfect scores in the Famitsu Magazine. They are listed in chronological order:

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998, Nintendo, for Nintendo 64)
Soulcalibur (1999, Namco, for Dreamcast)
Vagrant Story (2000, Square Co., Ltd., for PlayStation)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2003, Nintendo for Nintendo GameCube)
Nintendogs (2005, Nintendo, for Nintendo DS)
Final Fantasy XII (2006, Square Enix, for PlayStation 2)

Games that received a near-perfect score of 39 include:

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991, Nintendo, for Super Famicom)
Virtua Fighter 2 (1995, Sega, for Sega Saturn)
Ridge Racer Revolution (1995, Namco, for PlayStation)
Super Mario 64 (1996, Nintendo, for Nintendo 64)
Tekken 3 (1998, Namco, for PlayStation)
Cyber Troopers Virtual On Oratorio Tangram (1999, Sega, for Dreamcast)
Final Fantasy X (2001, Square Co., Ltd., for PlayStation 2)
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (2001, Sony Computer Entertainment, for PlayStation 2)
Resident Evil (2002, Capcom, for Nintendo GameCube)
Dragon Quest VIII (2004, Square Enix, for PlayStation 2)
Gran Turismo 4 (2004, Sony Computer Entertainment, for PlayStation 2)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (2005, Konami, for PlayStation 2)
Dead or Alive 4 (2005, Tecmo, for Xbox 360)
Kingdom Hearts II (2006, Square Enix/Buena Vista Games, for PlayStation 2)
Ōkami (2006, Capcom, for PlayStation 2)
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007, Nintendo, for Nintendo DS)

And now Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (2007, Sony, for PS3)

And in celebration why not download this unofficial GT5 theme for the PS3:

Happy driving.

*Update* It has been brought to our attention that this review score from Famitsu is not accurate. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue has not yet been reviewed by Famitsu.

The trusted Japanese source that we and many others use for monthly Famitsu scores felt the need to produce fake scores this month. This source is usually very reliable, and we don’t understand why they would feel the need to produce fake scores.

We are, however, sorry that the score is not real and will inform you of the GT5:P’s real score when Famitsu do review the game.

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Rodney
on December 11, 2007 1:14 pm

I’m sorry but I read the mini review and i’m not impressed. Why? Because once again there is no mention of how the AI behaves during races.

So once again we’re told how pretty the game looks and it has damage. Until I see how intelligent the AI is during races i’ll just view it as another Gran Turismo game, which is basically a car collecting game ala Pokemon.

Graphically and technically it will take a lot to surpass both Project Gotham 4 (graphically) and Forza 1 & 2 (techincally).
Patrick Steen
on December 11, 2007 1:17 pm

Which mini review is this? Famitsu’s?

From the demo, the AI is greatly improved, and the physics are as well if you choose “Simulator” at the select screen.
Miki
on December 11, 2007 1:46 pm

“I’m sorry but I read the mini review and i’m not impressed. Why? Because once again there is no mention of how the AI behaves during races.

So once again we’re told how pretty the game looks and it has damage. Until I see how intelligent the AI is during races i’ll just view it as another Gran Turismo game, which is basically a car collecting game ala Pokemon.

Graphically and technically it will take a lot to surpass both Project Gotham 4 (graphically) and Forza 1 & 2 (techincally).”

….are you serious??? I think you are a Xbox fans without any knowledge of Video Games….poor guy…
hello
on December 11, 2007 2:11 pm

The AI is already much improved in the Prologue demo, you could try it for yourself before they removed it.
Adam
on December 11, 2007 3:28 pm

AI much improved? In what capacity? If you sit in the middle of the track, the AI will still plow directly into you without even braking. Also when side by side in a corner, if you rally for position, they have an alarming tendency move into your line, pushing you off the track.
Watching a replay or playing the game, the AI still looks like it is locked to a preset line from which it varies to a very small degree. Also their ability to recognize the players location is pretty abysmal.

I’m not trying to GT bash, but I’m really getting tired of the AI in the game, and after playing the prologue demo I was pretty disapointed.
Craig
on December 11, 2007 3:37 pm

I clicked on the PSU.com link mentioned in the article, and there was nothing to suggest that there’s damage in the game. In fact, they suggest quite the opposite:

“Still, many fans will be disappointed to learn that damage modelling has yet to be implemented, and it is currently unknown whether or not the final build will contain this element.”

That’s a pretty startling 180-degree turn from what you wrote, and it makes me question the journalism skills of the author, not to mention the potential for wishful-thinking fanboyism.
Patrick Steen
on December 11, 2007 3:41 pm

Hello Craig. I’ll have to make an edit, since PSU have just edited their post, making me look foolish. I will have to write to them, because that is shoddy journalism for you. Showing that they have in fact not played the game at all.

Disappointing. I’m sorry to have misled you, but the blame is not on me, but the edit made by PSU.com
Thank you for pointing this out Craig. It is greatly appreciated

Patrick
Brian
on December 11, 2007 5:07 pm

Rodney - Here’s an idea. If the AI isn’t good enough for you then play online. I want the AI to be good too but at least this GT will have online play. AI can’t beat racing other GT fans.
Adam
on December 11, 2007 5:11 pm

But Brian, other racing games have already figured out how to do really excellent AI, I don’t get why GT is so emblazoned to their ‘classic’ downfalls such as AI and their tire audio (which as far as I could tell, we’re unchanged from GT4)
Patrick Steen
on December 11, 2007 6:12 pm

Adam:

I suggest you wait for an English review of GT5 to tell you about the AI - since the AI in the demo was not final. There was a selection missing in the demo that will be in the final game.

However, from what I played of the demo, I was very impressed with the AI. Some were aggressive; some made mistakes so I could over take; I could influence other drivers by driving close behind them; some would swerve to stop me passing; some would push me off; others I could push off.

This and the physics are a step up and Famitsu - a very critical review magazine, that have a great experience with racing games, must have noted this as well in comparison to Forza 2 and PGR4.
CitizenChan
on December 11, 2007 7:08 pm

Anyone notice that the only games reviewed that highly are from Japanese developers? With an overwhelming majority being given to Nintendo.
Dave
on December 11, 2007 7:15 pm

@ Rodney

In my honest opinion, only a person with no sense of appreciation for design and polish in video games could EVER say that Gran Turismo doesn’t exceed PGR4. That is just down right retarded. Gran Turismo looks REAL. PGR4 looks like a video game. Look at what Polyphony did with PS2 hardware, and look at PGR for xbox.
It’s in their lineage.
Patrick Steen
on December 11, 2007 7:23 pm

CitizenChan:

Surely that goes for American Publications reviewing American games as well?

Seeing Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 doing so well in American publications surely shows that the these games cater to that demographic, and that Japanese developers generally cater to their own demographic also.

I’m not sure what you were trying to infer?
John
on December 11, 2007 8:52 pm

I was thinking about getting a PS3 just for this one game. Damage is going to be a make or break for me. I will get a PS3 and GT5 if they include car damage. If not then I am going to pass.
dsmx
on December 11, 2007 9:11 pm

You sure you want damage because if polyphony put it in you can be sure if you crash you will need to buy a new car. Polyphony only put stuff in if they can do it right.
asdf
on December 11, 2007 9:54 pm

If a country doesn’t put America as number one, then they’re obviously racist.
nanasi
on December 12, 2007 12:11 am

Where did you get this famitu review.
I can’t see any GT5P review in tha latest famitu issue.
Manaii
on December 12, 2007 7:22 am

Lawl. Famitsu is renown for their soft-ball reviews of flagship titles. I won’t trust it until I play this tomorrow.

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