The demo includes two cars (a standard and tuned version of the Nissan 370Z) and the Indianapolis track, which gives you a decent impression of how the cars handle on what is essentially quite a fast and curvy track.

 

Once the action gets underway you realise how unforgiving these cars can be, I started off with the standard car on my first time trial and probably spent more time trying to get off the sand than I spent on the road, cornering is a really precise art and these cars seem to be a lot less forgiving than those in Forza 3, there is no doubting the difference with Gran Turismo really feeling like a proper simulator rather than an arcade style experience. Handling the standard car was pretty difficult as it seemed to have no grip on the road, although the tuned car is a lot easier to handle though it will still send you spiralling into the sand should you not take care at the corners.

 

 

The game does include all of the driving views that you would expect, therefore you can drive with the in car view, just the instruments or view the action from behind the car. All of the angles offer a realistic experience and the presentation in this area cannot be faulted. One thing you shouldn’t do though is go into this game expecting to wreck you car as it seems the damage modelling hasn’t yet been integrated into the demo, which perhaps could suggest that this is an older build.

 

Now I’m not entirely sure how old this demo is, however what I will say is that the overall presentation is slightly lacking, sure that cars look ultra realistic as you would except, however the grass, sand and crowds don’t really do the game any favours. The grass doesn’t seem to have any character with no individual blades sticking up, making it feel rather flat and unrealistic and the sand is just as bad, blowing up a rather sad pillar of smoke as you drive through it, meanwhile the crowds don’t move and they also let off a distinct lack of atmosphere. I’m truly sorry to be so negative, but for a game that has been in development for so long this aspect has left me very disappointed and I can only hope that this will improve when the full game gets here.

 

Out with the race, the demo includes online leaderboards, the ability to save and replay your race and also a whole load of options to customise your driving experience. The demo only weights in at 219mb so when it comes to downloading it on Thursday you shouldn’t have too long to wait before you can load it up.

 

I have no doubt that once we see more of Gran Turismo 5 we will be very impressed as I’m hoping that the presentation issues will be fixed with some last minute touch ups. As the game stands at the moment it is unfortunately quite a bit off the quality of the Forza 3’s of this world, however there is time for that to change and I’m sure it will.