The only thing that drastically hinders this game from being everybody’s dream simulator is the continuing lack of a damage model. You have these fantastic, photo-realistic visuals, insanely detailed car setup options and amazing physics - but slam into another car and you bounce off each other like solid wooden blocks.

What makes it even more astonishing is that you get this solid-as-a-rock framerate without the loss of detail that most other games endure when they want to hit the 60fps mark. The cars look incredible. Picture perfect, even. All the detail is there, right down to the lines in the plastic covering the headlights. There are 16 of these high-poly bad boys on the course at once, but the framerate remains unshaken.

Proper race geeks will be pleased with the new in-cockpit view in GT5, too. It places you right in the driver’s seat, and the cockpit detail is, again, perfect to the real thing. All the buttons and dials of the real car are there, and all the dials are fully operational. You can see the driver steering and changing gear, and even leaning side to side slightly as you power into corners.