Gran Turismo 6

 

Gran Turismo 6 calls its 1967 Chevrolet El Camino SS 396 a “unique, saloon-bodied pick-up, from a distinctly American idea.” I’ve always liked the El Camino and I’m pleased to finally see one in a GT game, especially over some Suzuki Frappuccino developer Polyphony has not yet immortalised. Coupe utilities are cool. They’re the mullets of cars. Business up front, party out the back.

However, the El Camino is not unique. In 1957 the Ford Ranchero brought the coupe utility body style to the US two year prior to the El Camino’s 1959 debut. It wasn’t a distinctly American idea, either. The coupe utility was invented in Australia back in 1934. Gran Turismo 6, in this case, made a minor botch up.

Unfortunately, not all GT6’s errors are this trivial.

Make no mistake: Gran Turismo 6 is, by most measures, a remarkable racing game. It’s impossibly good looking for a PlayStation 3 game, the handling is spectacular, and the sheer variety of track and driving content it boasts is nothing short of show-stopping. It’s a marked improvement on GT5. Beneath it all, however, familiar old series gripes relating to damage modelling, sound, and a dated car list return to partially undermine everything developer Polyphony does so right, and they’re gripes that are persistently nibbling away at the foundations of this genre titan. 

Gran Slam

GT5’s aggravating XP-ranking system has been punted, and pleasantly Polyphony hasn’t hidden the vast bulk of its cars inside a small, slowly rotating “used car” list this time. The full ranges from all the included car manufacturers can be browsed at will, because GT6 doesn’t differentiate between so-called Standard and Premium cars like GT5 does. This is good news if your favourite car is one of GT6’s older, more obscure models; there’s no need to stalk a spreadsheet of cars between every race hoping it’ll pop up (and crossing your fingers it will actually let you buy it). 

Sadly the cars that are polished relics from GT4 are still easily spotted upon close inspection, and blocky edges and low-res numberplates are still far more common than I’d like. However, the detail and lighting on the cars Polyphony has modelled inside and out really is top-shelf; you won’t find better-looking cars anywhere on PS3.

Performance customisation is largely familiar turf, but I found the quick, drop-down menu that allows you to buy parts and adjust tuning on the fly a nice touch that reduced my menu-hopping. Brake customisation has returned from its GT5 absence, but we’re still not able to swap out engines or carry out drive-type conversions. Visual customisation remains well behind the curve. There’s no livery editor and, infuriatingly, GT5’s ridiculous paint chips have returned.

On the topic of unwelcome returns, sound continues to be a major problem. There’s very little bark or bite to the muted engine notes; it’s disheartening to slip into a favourite car expecting a high-revving snarl and getting a soft and feeble digital buzz. The collision noise is still the same old hollow thud, and sounds like someone tossed an empty refrigerator box into a stairwell.

It definitely does feel like GT6 focuses on car quantity over quality in other departments. While it’s a huge roster, it’s a list that remains heavily weighted towards cars from the ’90s and early 2000s that appeared in GT3 and GT4. Are you a Holden fan? Sorry, chief; you get the same pair of 2004 models you got in GT4. Bad news if you’re into Ruf too; forget the past 13 years because the most recent vehicles in GT6 from the popular Porsche proxy are from the year 2000. Significant parts of this car list are seriously stale.

There are many, many amazing cars here and the 1,200-car milestone is a neat bullet point, but there are also plenty of inclusions that are gratuitous padding at best. Do you know the difference between a 2002 Daihatsu Copen Active Top and a 2002 Daihatsu Copen Detachable Top? Because I don’t know that I do. Do we really continue to need both? And just because Nissan painted a Skyline Midnight Purple doesn’t mean you get to count it twice, Polyphony.

Around the World in 80 Days

The sheer quantity of tracks meant I never got burnt out on any particular course; they stay fresh because there are just so many to choose from. Better still, the dynamic time-of-day effects and shifting weather means even racing on the same circuit twice can look quite different. GT6’s incredible looking racing venues really are its greatest victory, but Polyphony could’ve been a little tighter with the zoning. I appreciate fewer invisible walls, but GT6 does allow you to take some pretty galling shortcuts unpunished. 

As with any racing game track content would account for nothing if the handling wasn’t up to scratch. Unsurprisingly, it is. The may be a variety of flies in GT’s ointment these days, but vehicle dynamics is not one of them. Balancing a car around a high-speed bend with a careful combination of considered throttle and a smidgen of countersteer is even more exquisite than ever, and careening into the Nürburgring’s infamous Flugplatz in the black of night soaked by hammering rain is an exhilarating experience that few racers match. The sense of speed is great and the feeling of inertia when trying to pull up under heavy braking is well translated; keeping your car straight as it pitches forward and squirrels about, clawing for grip, is satisfyingly demanding.

The racing itself is mostly taut and aggressive but it’s again let down by frustrating rolling starts. Rolling starts just kill the opening moments of a race; instead of the first lap being a jostling dogfight for position it’s simply a strung out convoy already many, many car-lengths apart. It gets worse the further you progress, actually. GT6 adds opponents as you move up the tiers (but always starts you towards the back of the pack) so at tracks like Laguna Seca eventually the lead car will be exiting the first corner before you’ve even crossed the start line and been handed control.

Opponents will still careen into you at times while you’re squirming under brakes into a corner but, for the most part, they’re pretty convincing rivals. Winning in GT6 is still a matter of just weaving through traffic to chase down the car the game essentially just gave a 10 to 15 second head start but it’s quite satisfying. Without the crutch of a rewind function that has infiltrated many other racers GT6 rewards finesse and consistency. Its damage system still doesn’t punish mistakes, though. Cosmetic damage is token at best and mechanical damage is completely absent from single-player. As ever you can slam into walls, ram other racers, and corkscrew gracefully through the air with total impunity. I really do yearn to see the sort of damage model we saw in Slightly Mad Studios’ underrated Shift 2 in GT, but Polyphony is evidently against it. 

In fact, I’d be just as content with GT6’s single-player being as robust as its multiplayer, at least when it comes to options. GT6’s online mode allows us to toggle on mechanical damage, grid starts (with penalties for false starts), and compulsory pit stops. It also features practice rounds and qualifying sessions. GT6’s single-player could learn a lot from its multiplayer.

Outside of the regular races, GT6 features bonus events like the excellent Goodwood Festival of Speed Hill Climb. I left plenty of rubber on the Earl of March’s driveway; the snack-sized sprint weighs in at just over a mile and running all manner of machinery up it became hugely addictive. I also thought the Eco challenges, which defy you to reach certain distances or record a specific lap time on just one litre of fuel, were clever and fun. There are the license tests, too, which felt easier than they used to, and the much-discussed Moon Buggy missions, which are dull and stupid.

The Verdict

Gran Turismo 6’s problems are baggage the series has been carrying since 1997; the second you thunk into a wall at 200 kilometres per hour and drive off scot-free, or hop into a belching V8 that sounds more like a wheezing milkshake maker, the glass shatters and the illusion breaks with it. But when you’re on one of Gran Turismo 6’s absolutely gorgeous tracks, fused with the car you’re controlling, attacking apexes with confidence and devouring sectors with steely precision, it’s not hard to see why this series is deservedly regarded as one of the best of its kind, and this one is no exception.