Gran Turismo 6 : Blast From The Past (PS3) Review

Stepping into my 2014 Corvette Stingray and driving through beautiful Tokyo is still a breathtaking experience. It feels, looks and drives like the real thing. Then I step into a classic Jaguar model. Drives like a Jaguar, but I thought my PS3 didn’t support backwards compatibility? This looks just like the model from Gran Turismo 4. Such is the confusion that is Gran Turismo 6. It supports 1200 cars, but only 200 of them have been detailed extensively; the rest look old and outdated. And if you thought collision detection and realistic damage were fixed after all these years, you are in for a shock brother! GT has been dethroned and then some in these past few years, and this new title continues the downward spiral for the series.

No Retreat, Baby, No, Surrender:

One of the main issues with the Gran Turismo series, is collision detection. Basically all of the cars will hit into others, and bounce off. No damage, no consequence, just a blocky bounce. This has not been fixed for Gran Turismo 6, and should be considered disgraceful. The biggest feedback from fans since the beginning of the series is realistic damage and collision detection, and GT’s willingness to ignore it, will hinder its reputation considerably. Especially when a certain other racing series (Forza) has added this feature. The end result in GT6 is that you can hit into other cars with little to no consequence. For a game that calls itself “the real driving simulator”, this doesn’t bode well.

Luckily, the actual driving component is about as good as it gets. Handling is excellent, and at times I really felt like I was driving each of these cars. This is Gran Turismo’s greatest strength, and something that has stayed consistent throughout the years. And it is quite a feat that each of these 1200 cars drives like their real world counterpart.

Robotic Rivals:

Another issue that the series hasn’t solved is the AI. The enemy drives in a robotic straight line fashion, allowing you to pass them with ease. This makes races feel dull and pointless. With a few fixes, this simulator would have been much more cohesive and, honestly, fun.

This is my biggest issue with Gran Turismo 6. I had little fun during it. Much of the time my mind trailed off to the fun, faster gameplay of Forza 5, or even Midnight Club. Gran Turismo seems so bogged down by authenticity, it forgets that its a game.

All this could have been forgiven if the online multiplayer was good. The multiplayer was responsive and there was little lag, but it had one major problem. In order to unlock online multiplayer, you have to get your national A license in career mode. What year is this? I spent many hours unlocking this mode, which should have been available from the get-go. And speaking of unlocking, you come with hardly any cars to use at the beginning. And unlocking many of the cars will take you tens of hours. Which is where the microtransactions come into play. When first hearing about how these would work, I assumed that they would be easy to ignore, but after realizing how long it would take to unlock many of the vehicles, it has directly affected the gameplay and the consumer’s enjoyment.

Back To The Future:

The series needs to change. Betting on past accomplishments doesn’t work anymore. For so many years, Gran Turismo had no competitors. Maybe that’s why they have seemed to fall into a state of complacency, but its no excuse for a franchise that promotes excellence. I’ve heard that the next Gran Turismo will be coming for the PS4 in the next two years, let’s hope they make the necessary changes, instead of living in the past.