Buy PS3 Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition

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I bought the XL edition, having owned both GT3 and GT4 and having never played GT5. The game is as fun and challenging as I expected and there is a huge variety of tracks and cars and events. The game itself is good and the only complaint that I have would be the load times, which are frequent and long enough to really distract from the game itself.

As far as the XL edition specifically is concerned, it probably wasn't the best choice for me. It was nice that all of the game updates were included etc etc and most of the XL content is great but the fact that so many good cars were included right at the beginning of the game actually kind of ruined the game for me. I instantly took the Red Bull prototype car (by far the fastest in the game and worth about 20 million credits) and began destroying races in it. I quickly collected millions of dollars, which allowed me to purchase awesome cars for the races which the redbull car couldn't enter.

I say this kind of ruined the game because Gran Turismo, at it's core, has always derived it's pleasure from pain. The pain of being dominated in races because you have neither enough credits nor enough talent to win this race or that. This experience in frustration always challenged me to rise above and save money to upgrade my car and do license tests to improve my skills etc. until I finally, after pouring so much into the game, had the satisfaction of winning that event. Having really fast cars for free has taken most of that experience away. Races are easy when your car can lap the fastest opponent (despite crashing several times). This reduces the need for driving skill and really lowers the overall satisfaction of the game. So, what I've had to do is start trying to find the worst car that I can for each race or series and try to win with that. It brings some of the satisfaction back, but the experience still lacks the underdog feeling that I always got from starting out on the rock bottom and clawing my way to the top.

Overall, the game is great despite inordinately long load times, but if you are like me and always liked GT because of the work involved in mastering it, the XL edition might not be the best choice.

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This game was built for a steering wheel! The sense of driving is incredible. A whole lot of subtle details are included. The patches that are in this go a long way to make the game feel more complete than it used to. The graphics have far less glitches. The sense of speed is spot on. They've improved the driving on the different sets of tires. Each one presents its challenges. And the biggest thing that made the game are the seasonal events (you have to have an internet connection).

When the game was released, basically you either won by a mile or you lost very badly. There was little in between. The seasonal events have really improved on this. Rewarding you for using underpowered cars. which is important because there's a whole lot of cars that you wouldn't want to use in gran turismo because they are so low powered.

When they released it, it was obvious they were going for "we'll do all the cars on the planet!!" and included vans and all kind of stuff. Then very quickly budget and timne constraints caught up with them. So you have a strange selection. Luckily the high powered cars you select are all fantastic. This is because every car handles differently on the steering wheel. Some of my favorites are the ferari 458, the maserati gran turismo, mini cooper, the mercedes 300sl, and number 1 is the tvr speed 6. My word.

Every car handles differently and handles beautifully. The game has that magic especially if you play on low spec'd sport tires. Struggling to maintain control of your car you have to carefully maintain throttle and braking taking into account slopes and elevations on a track, slippery sections. Incredible. You steer into a tough curve and let go of the throttle, big mistake, the physics kick in and your car understeers. Your car over steers twisting the steering wheel out of your hands, big mistake, grab onto that sucker and counter steer yanking the car into the right position! You went over a slight hill and the rear wheel lost traction, you felt it in the steering wheel (how?!?)

The premium cars are gorgeous and handle fantastic. The standard cars finally have a (sort of) interior which made me race in them. They also handled quite well. The premium cars are where it's at. Simply gorgeous. Racing in the interior cockpit is really something. I wish I had a 3dtv , because I can already tell how amazing it's going to be.

This game is sheer magic. But, and here's the big deal, be prepared to spend a lot (and I mean a lot!) of time before it becomes fun. It really becomes fun when you have most of the cars and are good enough when you race the cars for fun to try them out, not when you are trying to win the races for money. So I would say at least 1 to two weeks before the game gets fun. Damage doesn't turn on until you get to aroudn level 30 which is sad because it's great and reflects in the steering wheel. It's a hard game and the seasonal events are way it's at. Enjoy it. Get yourself a steering wheel. You will feel everything from bumps to traction loss to the steering wheel reacting realistically. I drove this game and I got better at driving my real car. The traction was that good!

Most games I buy, I barely play past a cursory playthrough. I haven't put this one down. All the other ones, NFS shift, Split second, etc are distant seconds to this gem. The realism makes you almost grimace when you play arcade racers. Only Dirt could hold a candle to the physics, and even then just barely :). If you are willing to invest the time and money this game is exactly what you need.

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This is an awesome game, even without the xl edition. When you get the XL edition and you get all the updates, go to the store and enter your redeem code. When you do, it ill only show 3 things. I saw this and thought"this isn't what I bought!" Do not fear! install those three things and load up the game. From the main menu you should be able to go to the far right and hit Downloadable Content. Click on that and all of your promised stuff will be there, including the Red Bull X2011 prototype.

Honest reviews on PS3 Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition

Just received the game. Some people were warning that the download code will expire, or has expired March 2013. The code I have has expiration date at March 31 2015.

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I have played every Gran Turismo game, and GT 5 XL Edition should've been better than it is. My favorite was GT 3. The menus in GT 5 are just flat out ridiculous to navigate, and it's like one big jumbled mess. The graphics are nice and I can't complain there. The download times took me about 2 hours to complete. Yes, it's a long time, but it wasn't a big deal to me. It also seems like there were more races/courses in the previous GT games than this one. It just feels like there is alot missing with GT 5 and nothing ever makes you say "wow". Everything you do seems to take longer than it should or that it was easier in the past GT games. Plus, I have 20/15 vision and a 50" plasma TV, and the font is really small and hard to read.

There are A spec races and B spec races. The A spec races YOU are actually the one racing the car, while the B spec races, you are actually the CREW CHIEF and are instructing your driver how to race. YOU DON'T RACE B SPEC RACES!!! In the B spec races (which is half the game) you are literally telling your driver to increase their pace, decrease their pace, maintain their pace, pit, pass the car in front, or nothing at all. That's it!!! For half the game you are literally watching your driver race.

With the cars included in the DLC, you can choose the Red Bull Prototype (which is the best car in the game at 1600+HP), start a B spec race, and then.....go do laundry, vacuum, do the dishes, dust, clean your car, eat something, take the dog out, run to the store, do whatever you want to do, and then come back 20/30/40 minutes later to watch your driver finish the race and come in first. Then repeat for the next race. That is honestly how I completed the B spec races. I actually didn't mind the B spec races, because after completing these races, you do win money and cars that you can use for the A spec races (which are the races that you actually drive the cars and not your driver). Plus, I got work done around the house which pleased my wife. So I was killing two birds with one stone! LOL!

Something else I didn't care for, was that in previous GT games, you could sell the cars you win. In GT 5, I would guess maybe 75%-80% of the cars I won I could not sell? It says it will remove it from my garage, but I cannot sell it. I don't know if removing from my garage permanently removes it from my game, but I'd rather keep it than find out I lost it. Plus, because of all of the DLC cars in my garage, I have completed probably 60%-70% of this game, and only purchased about 10 cars. I have about 90-100 cars in my garage, and I do have about 7 million dollars burning a hole in my GT wallet, but there really hasn't been a need to buy better cars. You either get the best cars with the DLC, or wind up winning them.

Overall, for $20, I have certainly been entertained for hours upon hours, and it is worth it. I think this game could have and should have been soo much better based on the previous GT games. But, if you have enjoyed the past GT games, I would have to recommend this one especially at this price. It's not a bad game, and there are hours of gameplay, but it could've been better. I'm not disappointed with GT 5 XL, and I will buy GT 6. But for $20, why not!?!?!