Gran Turismo 6 Playable Demo Preview
Today saw the release of the Gran Turismo 6 playable demo on PSN, this demo arrived a lot earlier than expected (well at least to me anyway), as the official release date is not due until towards the end of this year, complain I shall not, as this gave us an early glimpse of what to expect.
The GT6 demo will not only allow you to sample a couple of its offline events, but you can also enter qualifying for the GT Academy 2013. In GT Academy’13 you will be able to enter five ‘Time Trial’ events that act as qualifiers which are based at the popular England track ‘Silverstone’. Your fastest times will be tracked and if you’re good enough, you will not only be in with a chance of winning all kinds of bonus goodies, but you may also be granted the opportunity to race for real with Nissan.
The GT6 Demo in-game menu screen.
The demo will allow you to enter two Cups, the Sunday Cup and the Clubman Cup. The Sunday Cup will see you race on the Autumn Ring Mini track, over three 0.8 mile laps. You will also race on the Suzuka Circuit East Course, over two 1.39 mile laps. During the Sunday Cup you must use the Nissan Leaf G (GT Academy Version)’11. This is a very slow car, but a perfect way to introduce you into the demo.
Behold a clan of the mighty Nissan Leaf G (GT Academy Version)’11!
Autumn Ring Mini Track
Autumn Ring Mini Replay
Suzuka Circuit East Course
Suzuka Circuit East Course Replay
The Clubman Cup will allow you to race in a much more powerful car, namely the Nissan 370Z (GT Academy Version)’08. Here you will race on the Grand Valley/Reverse track, over two 1.86 mile laps. The second race will take place on the Autumn Ring/Reverse track over two 1.83 mile laps.
Nissan 370Z (GT Academy Version)’08 at the starting grid!
Grand Valley East/Reverse
Grand Valley East/Reverse Replay
Autumn Ring/Reverse Track
Autumn Ring/Reverse Replay
After spending several hours playing the GT6 demo (and not improving much might I add), it started to win me over. My initial impressions were that it wasn’t visually leaps and bounds above GT5, though there is still some noticeable improvement. But the real difference came with its gameplay and the general car handling, which is the most important factor of all.
Last week I dusted down my copy of GT5, so that I could get the practise in for this demo. But despite GT5 only being released in November of 2010, it seemed to have aged more than most games that were released around its time. I must say to begin with, I’m very average when it comes to racing games, but I’ve played enough to have a decent idea of what’s what. Maybe I have been spoiled with great games lately such as the Forza series and GRID 2, but GT5’s gameplay felt very clunky.
After a few rounds of taking wide corners in GT6, it became apparent that this chunkiness has gone from the latest instalment, which bodes well for when GT6 is released later in the year. To be fair to GT6, the retail game is some way off and this is a very early demo. So with that in mind, there’s plenty of time for Polyphony Digital to iron out any kinks. My overall impressions are good and it seems that we will be finally getting the Gran Turismo that us racing fans have been waiting for.
Have you played the GT6 demo yet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Screenshots courtesy of AGB