(The special events include stuff like kart races, races on the Top Gear test track, Sébastien Loeb–coached rally challenges, and an AMG Driving Academy at the Nürburgring. In the first-person A-spec, players wheel the cars themselves, unlocking special events, races, and cars. It is the career path that defines GT5, and it’s divided into A- and B-spec modes. In Forza’s arcade mode, for example, most of the cars and tracks are at your immediate disposal, whereas GT5 dishes up only a few hot rides and forces you to unlock or purchase cars for your personal “favorites” list, which can then be used in arcade mode and online. How they approach these two modes is telling of each game’s character. In GT5, as in Forza, players have two main ways in which to play the game: a career-like path or an arcade mode. Choose the weather and the time of day, and you’re off racing on your new track. Within each sector, the number of turns, the width of the road surface, and the severity of the corners can be dialed in. Although not as free-form as drawing a massive squiggle, the tool allows you to choose a general theme such as tarmac or snow and then define how many sectors the course will have. (Forza 3 added the latter when it came out about a year ago.) For anyone voracious enough to want more, GT5 offers a Course Maker for players to create their own tracks. GT5 adds NASCAR, kart racing, and drifting events. World Rally Championship and touring cars carry over from GT4. The game features 1031 cars, 27 tracks-including 10 real-world tracks and three rally courses made of dirt and snow-with 71 different layouts, variable weather, and online play with up to 16 racers able to battle for a checkered flag or just mess around. To that end, the fifth edition doesn’t disappoint. The Gran Turismo series is a digital-car mecca known for its comprehensive attention and adherence to realism.

Gran Turismo 5