Game Review: Gran Turismo 5

Game: Gran Turismo 5
Console: Sony Playstation 3
Developer: Polyphony Digital
Release Date: 24th November 2010

New games in the Gran Turismo series often fail to noticeably improve on their predecessors, having nailed the simulation handling model and provided a more than adequate selection of cars since at least GT4. While there were numerous small changes to Gran Turismo 5, they're tough to spot when first booting up the game, and make little impact on the overall gameplay. There's standard and premium cars, meaning that they've only improved a handful of cars from their previous models. Premium cars show damage far better than their standard counterparts, but it's nothing impressive for the times.

There's changeable weather on a handful of tracks, and the Top Gear test track is included though as an actual track it's fairly freeform in terms of navigation unless you're an avid fan of the show. Karts are included in the game for the first time also, along with licenses for Ferrari and Bugatti vehicles. DLC and the purchase of in game credits is perhaps the biggest change, making it now almost impossible to own all of the cars featured in the game without a tremendous dent in your bank account balance, or thousands of hours grinding credits as they've been rebalanced to favour the purchase of credits from the Playstation Store. For players still enjoying the game, there's no way to access any of the online challenges or races which featured in the game either.

Career Mode has been rearranged a little, now featuring levelling up for both the A-spec and B-spec modes, and 5 classes of racing, with 9 series per class for a total of 45 racing cups, in addition to the offline driving challenges which appear. This is significantly less than was featured in Gran Turismo 4, though the online races may well have made things more even whilst they were available. Cars bought or won in Career Mode are no longer unlocked for Arcade Mode automatically, and instead must be saved to Favourites to be accessed in that mode. This means that there's no neat way to sort and access the cars in Arcade Mode, and anyone who wants to enjoy the full range of cars available in Gran Turismo 5 (as I do) won't be able to.

The separation of A-spec and B-spec modes seems needless also; in Gran Turismo 4 players could compete in A-spec mode (where they drove the race themselves) or B-spec mode (where an AI driver drove the race, and levelled up according to experience) and a win in either mode would clear the race. In Gran Turismo 5, all races would have to be completed twice to clear Career Mode, which is not only repetitive, but the option to increase the race speed when the AI driver is racing has been taken away also, meaning longer periods of sitting and watching someone else race.

This isn't the end of the issues with the changes to B-spec mode; there are less options for giving instruction to your AI driver with just 4 commands; Increase Pace, Maintain Pace, Decrease Pace, and Overtake. I can't think of a time when you'd want to decrease the overall pace, and none of the commands seems to have much impact on the AI driver anyway, save for overtake, which he just won't do otherwise. This means that there's little to no enjoyment in B-spec mode, and you might as well just hand the controller to a friend and watch them play A-spec mode as it'd definitely be more exciting.

Graphically the game is good; there's not a huge improvement on Gran Turismo 4 on the face of things, but the premium cars look nice both inside and out, and there are lots of small improvements which aren't immediately obvious. Car sounds are generally good and add to the overall excitement of racing, and the music provided for background entertainment is enjoyable at times, though perhaps not as catchy as the tunes provided in previous instalments.

Overall the racing action in Gran Turismo 5 is as good as ever; there's more licensed series to enjoy, more cars and some new tracks, but it doesn't feel like as big of an improvement as it could have been. For those wanting something past the Career Mode endgame, there's not a lot to offer, and the track editor is particularly bare bones, with only sliders to edit your custom tracks. It's worth a play, but the microtransaction based economy will likely halt progress before all of the race series can be beaten.

Rating: 63/100
Grade: C

PC Puzzle Double Header: Mini Metro and Hexcells

Game: Mini Metro
Console: PC
Developer: Dinosaur Polo Club
Release Date: 6th November 2015

The London Underground map is a wonderful piece of design which simplifies and easily conveys the information needed by passengers. Mini Metro's art style is heavily influenced by this design and almost instantly playable thanks to a near universal understanding of the tube map concept. In mini metro, stations of different shapes appear on the map, to be connected by player designed train lines. Passengers appear at stations, represented by the shape of station they wish to travel to, and are taken to the most efficient station of that type.

In normal mode, the game ends when too many passengers are waiting at a station for too long and it becomes overcrowded. In endless mode, the goal is efficiency and players strive to find the best way to connect the stations which appear. In extreme mode, the game ends when overcrowding occurs at a station, but any tracks placed are permanent, meaning that careful planning in needed in case new stations appear in difficult locations.

There are several cities to choose from within the game's main mode, each with their own set of problems such as overcrowding, rivers or islands, making it harder to connect the stations in an efficient way. After a week has passed in-game, players are awarded upgrades such as more trains, carriages, tunnels, and lines with which to build. There's a maximum number of lines which can be used, but it's possible to wipe the slate clean and redesign the train system in all but extreme mode.

Oddly shaped stations provide somewhat of a challenge, as while circles and triangles appear fairly often, pentagons and stars will be unique stations on the map, requiring connection to as many lines as possible to avoid complex journeys from outer stations. There are stats and video progressions available in the game, which can be interesting to follow, and contribute to the element of strategy within the game as players attempt to constantly improve on their previous efforts.

Graphically the game is very pleasing, taking big cues from the London Underground map and eloquently modifying the necessary features to make an easy to understand game. The soundtrack is gentle and fits well with the gameplay to convey a buzzing transport network viewed from an overhead perspective.

Overall Mini Metro is the type of puzzle game which may only appeal to a particular set of gamers given its lack of action and story, but as a transport based puzzle game, it gives a surprising amount of options and playability which I find myself coming back to again and again. It's not the type of game that I'll play for hours on end or every day of the week, but for an hour here and there, it's a wonderfully relaxing and visually pleasing experience.

Rating: 84/100
Grade: B

Game: Hexcells
Console: PC
Developer: Matthew Brown
Release Date: 19th February 2014

Hexcells is a puzzle game which shares similarities with the Microsoft classic Minesweeper. As a fan of Minesweeper it was fairly interesting to see the concept work with cells sharing 6 borders rather than 8 and a clean, minimalist design. As players progress through the game's 6 "worlds" new elements are added to keep the puzzling fresh, adding elements of sudoku and mathematics. Players are given gems for completing a level, the number of which is based on how many mistakes were made. A certain number of gems is needed to unlock each world, though nothing really changes from world to world, save for the slight complexity twists.

Hexcells is a very short game, with just 36 puzzles and can easily be completed in one sitting. I found myself getting a little bored of the concept by the end of the game, and it's definitely not something that you'll want to play for hours on end. While it's a clever adaptation of Minesweeper, little has been done to up the excitement or overall replayability. The greatest thrill came from solving a puzzle in a logical way without making any mistakes, but was about as thrilling as it sounds.

Graphically Hexcells is clear and neat, using just three colours. It's a predictable look for such a puzzle game but it works well and makes things easy to see. Musically too there's a minimalist soundtrack which is linked to button presses and events within the game. My biggest frustration with the title overall was the fact that the right and left click buttons are easy to confuse once deeply focused on the game, as the right click marks unlit spots, and the left marks lit ones. This resulted in a few avoidable mistakes, but ones which were perhaps my fault and not the game's.

Overall Hexcells is a competent but short and somewhat middle-of-the road puzzle game. It's since received two sequels which expand further on the formula, but might have been better released as a complete set of 108 puzzles instead of 36 per title for 3 fairly short games. I enjoyed my time playing but will likely never touch it again now that all 6 worlds are complete.

Rating: 66/100
Grade: C