New patch and new content? Gran Turismo 5 is practically ready for release!

Gran Turismo 5 is deep in development at Polyphony Digital's headquarters - and almost ready to go. Criticisms levelled at the game's paid-for beta (which we reviewed here) have been taken into careful consideration and the results are looking mighty promising. 'Standard' cars are getting interior views, mid-race game saves will be available to let you sleep without fear of the YLOD, and both the physics and dodgy early AI are receiving improvements. There's even a detailed and dated plan for DLC. Not long now until we get to play Gran Turismo 5 - it's going to be amazing.

Of course, I'm being sarcastic. Gran Turismo 5 has been out for almost a year already, yet Yamauchi and his team are still deeply entrenched in the game's development. They've been working on a new user interface because the existing one is awful. The weather change feature will now be user-controllable. You'll also be able to save multiple car set-ups. Um... surely these things should have been included before putting the game on sale?

Above: Proof that you will be able to set the weather before you start racing

Regardless the 'Spec 2.0' patch is coming on October 11. Maybe we should review it again (NO! - my inner self). What's also surprising is that DLC has also been announced. It's been so long coming, we'd given up hope, but it's real and will include a track pack (hopefully containing the remaining tracks from GT's past), a pack of racing class cars and a racing gear add-on containing helmets and overalls for your driver.

Above: There's no denying, the game looks beautiful in carefully-selected still frames

The DLC hasn't been dated, but it sounds like things are actually emerging from Polyphony now, even if some of them are not exactly what we would have asked for (a graph to show B-Spec race positions on GT5.com?). We'll be watching Gran Turismo 5 closely as it approaches its October 11 launch. Until then, keep playing that beta.

06 Oct, 2011

Source: Dualshockers

Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.