Gran Turismo 5 Prologue review PS3

The clue is in the game's name: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is just that - a prologue to the full game that's due for release next year. For your £25, you'll be treated to some of the new locations, a range of cars and get a taste of the new driving experience, but it's by no means a full game, nor does it pretend to be. It'll certainly leave you wanting more, so the big question is, do you get enough to make it worth shelling out for, or is GT5 Prologue one for the die-hard fans only? Find out all about GT5 Prologue in this issue of P3Zine.

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Gran Turismo 5 Prologue review PS3

You can't help but admire Sony's audacity. With Gran Turismo 5 Prologue you are essentially paying £25 for what is in effect a playable demo; a mere sampling of content from the full game that's due sometime in the next year. While other companies are happy to release free demos online or multiplayer beta-tests, it's quite astonishing that with GT5 Prologue you're actually required to pay a fair old wedge of cash for it. But this is Gran Turismo, this is Polyphony Digital - and as such you're getting access to gameplay and technology that stands alone in its sheer magnificence.

Right from the off, GT5 Prologue impresses with a level of quality rarely seen in any console game. If you've downloaded the Gran Turismo HD sampler from the PlayStation Store, you'll have some idea of the beauty of the game's cars, the wonderful 1080p visuals and the super-smooth 60 frames per second update. GT5 Prologue steps things up to a new level with even more detail, far more ambitious circuits and the best, most realistic lighting effects seen in any console game. Just as a demonstration piece for the power of PlayStation 3 it's a wonderful piece of code, but more than that, Polyphony has managed to improve the core gameplay - the beautiful physics model that powers the game's handling system is even better than ever.