Before this game came out all I heard was people complaining that they were going to have to pay $40 for a demo of Gran Turismo 5. I jumped in with that crowd and told myself that there was no way I'm buying a $40 demo. Well to be honest I got caught up in the hype and went out and made it a first day purchase, and let me tell you I'm glad I did. This game is really deep. With over 60 cars to choose from, it will take you awhile to see what each has to offer. At the moment I'm racing the Nissan Skyline. I also have the Ford Focus and Ford Mustang. Being an American car lover it hurts me to be driving the Skyline but wow is that car good. The graphics in this game are truly amazing. The detail you get in each car and on each track will really capture you and make you feel like you are really inside the car. I recommend putting the camera in car where you see the hood of the car and your hands on the steering wheel to really immerse yourself in the game.
The single player mode of the game has 3 different classes to run (A,B,and C) When you complete the different classes you unlock new races you can run online, so it gives you a good reason to run those offline races. I for one am one of those guys who says to hell with offline, I'm heading straight online! This game gives me a good reason to go and play the full game and I must say I like that. Otherwise I would just stay online and never see the entire game. Each race you finish on or offline you get cold hard cash to buy new cars, and I will have my Ford GT! Gran Turismo also has pre tuned cars that you can buy and I'm licking my chops in anticipation for when I have enough money to buy a couple of those. Now if I could only finish races better than 6th place I'd be alright.
The hook for me on this game has to be the online play. In the beginners races (where I'm still stuck) you race 12 people per race on either the high speed track or the monster oval at Daytona. When you get online and you come into the first big turn be prepared for guttural laughter. People don't understand that these cars also come with brakes. You slow down to take a turn and here comes the crazies full blast ramming into everything and I must say I couldn't stop laughing.
In the end if all demo's were this good, I must say I'd buy them all. This game is really deep and I can see tons of hours of good times for me. If you are remotely interested in racing or just cool cars that you will never have enough real money to buy, then I'd say get this game. Gran Turismo will not come out before summer of '09 so this is truly a great way to get you fix. There is no racing game that is going to beat this one until the full game comes out. The devs in their chat on the playstation forums have said that there will be a way to transfer credits from prologue to the full game when it is released, so you have no excuse not to get this game. I give this game 2 thumbs up and recommend everyone to go out and buy this great PS3 game.