Gran Turismo 6

Gran Turismo 6 is a Gran Turismo XL, for better and worse. The core concept with gathering cars is still great fun and at the same time the amount of time you have to put into the game is poorly managed.

By far the biggest and the most famous racing simulation video game ever. But it does not deserve further superlatives. It knows how to entertain, how to amaze. But it does not know how to cover its semi-finished state. Again, it's a must for hardcore fans. However, racers of the mainstream will more likely roll their eyes than their wheels.

The tough part about judging Gran Turismo 6 is that it's clear that Polyphony Digital put an overwhelming amount of effort and love into their latest game, and the challenge between you and the road is better than ever. But much of the effort put in is not what its millions of fans will appreciate or value, especially when it comes at the cost of leaving some of the game's most frustrating issues almost completely untouched.

In its single-minded effort to deliver the best console racer handling the world’s seen, Polyphony lets a number of technical issues drive on by for yet another game.

Yes, it's nice to have that attention to detail poured into the physics simulation itself, but when the likes of Forza are heaping on the features, it's hard not to feel shortchanged by GT6's lack of vision. Maybe we'll see the makeover the series sorely needs when it inevitably hits the PS4, but until then, Gran Turismo 6 remains a fantastic simulation; it's just not a great game.

Polyphony has produced a handling and physics model that is unmatched by any other racer, but failed to provide AI competition capable of showcasing it to its fullest.

Polyphony Digital had three years to truly work on this game and they delivered the same experience as Gran Turismo 5 just with some minor tweaks. Gran Turismo 6 feels more like an expansion rather than a brand new game. It's very disappointing for true racing fans.

A useful improvement over the last game but one that still avoids instituting any of the serious changes that the series now desperately needs.

If you haven't bought Gran Turismo 5 then - unsurprisingly - this is the one you should opt for if you have any interest. However with Gran Turismo 6, much like a dying swan, the PS3 won't be making an elaborate splash but, instead, quietly fading out of existence.

Everything about Gran Turismo feels functional but a bit soulless. Lonely, even.

Boring for normal people. Add [10 points] for each minute you can hold forth on the torque output of 1990s Skyline variants. [March 2014, p.72]

GT6 is a bit old fashioned in its execution, to be sure, but what Polyphany has done better than any other developer since the late '90s, much like a master mechanic, is routinely apply oil to the squeakiest of gears.

Gran Turismo is no longer the superstar it once was, as we are no longer impressed by tons of cars and lovely polygons, just like most of us no longer think poodle-hair and Def Leppard are hot stuff. The world is a different place today, as is the racing genre, but Gran Turismo remains stuck in the past.

Gran Turismo 6 ends up feeling stubborn to adapt to modernity. Its myriad landscapes are barren and unexciting, while the music sounds like it’s been ripped straight from a Ron Jeremy compilation VHS.