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SONY’s flagship First-Party Driving series,
Gran Turismo, takes pride of place in many a PlayStation gamer’s
collection and the advent of PlayStation3 will bring with it yet
another iteration of the mega popular brand, Gran Turismo HD.
Once again players can get to grips with a huge
number of vehicles, including bikes, from dozens of manufacturers.
The demo had only a few select vehicles on display, but a nice
variety was on offer. Unfortunately, Gran Turismo HD isn’t
shaping-up to be the definitive driving experience or a showcase for
the PlayStation3 in any way like the original was back in the day of
the PlayStation. The vehicle handling seemed incredibly loose and
several players complained about the ridiculous amount of braking
needed to make it round any of the corners. Cars slid around the
track like they were on ice and making to the end of the race became
more of a chore than the amazing amount of fun we were led to
expect. Despite the fact that most players hit every single wall on
the way round, they could still boast a First-Place Position. Not a
good sign at all.
With SONY’s boasts of 1080p support, you’d expect
Gran Turismo HD to have an amazing graphical edge on the
competition. Unfortunately at the moment it fairs
less-than-spectacularly against its arguably main competition,
Project Gotham Racing 3. It to shares, at least on the track
played, the nasty 2D crowd sprites and trees found in the Xbox360
Launch Title, something you would expect to have become a thing of
the past by now. The Car Models are very pretty, but nothing that
Project Gotham Racing 3 should fear, and Gran Turismo HD
lacks the great sense of speed achieved by Microsoft’s premier
Racing release.
Gran Turismo HD
is a game that needs a lot of work and since it’s stated to be a
Launch Title; hopes are fading here at the
Electronic Articles.
Although car customisation and a large variety of gameplay modes are
still likely to be a lot of fun, Gran Turismo HD isn’t, at
the moment, a title to define the PlayStation3, or likely to convert
the Xbox faithful. |
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