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"  Also available on: N/APublisher: SonyDeveloper: Polyphony DigitalGenre: Racing Although not quite in the same league as Duke Nukem Forever, eager gamers have been forced to wait a long time for the release of Gran Turismo 5. Ever since the PS3 launched in 2006, GT5 has been the game on most PlayStation fans&amp;#039; lips. With every New Year, each passing E3 and scheduled Sony event, gamers and petrolheads the world over have hoped and prayed for an answer for the most important question of all: when will GT5 hit the shelves? Finally the wait is over and the game that has been in development for roughly six years speeds out of the starting grid and races its way into the high street stores, but were the past six years of development put to good use, or has time taken its toll on the Gran Turismo series? In terms of the sheer amount of content, the painstakingly detailed supercars, the numerous game modes and jaw-dropping locations such as Madrid and London, it appears as though six years was time well spent by Polyphony Digital. Unfortunately, beneath the surface, some of the game&amp;#039;s inconsistencies are glaringly obvious and one feels that the frequent dips in quality are partly due to the developers trying to cram too much into the final package and perhaps a little to do with the changing landscape of gaming since GT5&amp;#039;s inception.  A clear example of the latter can be found in GT5&amp;#039;s online mode. Ignoring some of the minor problems caused by, ahem, heavy online traffic (problems which are being rectified as we speak), the online mode is a little cumbersome and fiddly. The lobby system is poorly designed, making playing with friends harder than it should be, race modes are limited, matchmaking is missing, and so are online leaderboards. Creator Kazunori Yamauchi has said that the game will receive weekly updates to address issues such as online leaderboards and matchmaking, but the lack of such features out of the box shows that Gran Turismo is a series that was slightly left behind by the online revolution.  The menu and loading screens also feel a little dated, unwieldy and lengthy. Menu after menu must be sifted through in order to get into the racing or to view unlocked vehicles, with the masses of tweaks, customisable elements and confirmation screens piling up like a crash on a motorway. Having multiple menu screens wouldn&amp;#039;t feel as bad if there weren&amp;#039;t so many long loading screens to contend with, and even after installing the game, GT5\u2019s loading screens take up too much valuable time. Following such a lengthy development process, the presentation and interface doesn\u2019t appear to have been very well thought out. Graphically - an area where Gran Turismo has always excelled - GT5 can be a little underwhelming. This is perhaps the first time in the series&amp;#039; history when such a phrase has ever been uttered, but considering the visuals we&amp;#039;ve been treated to by the likes of Forza, some areas of GT5 feel a little weak in comparison. Much of this is to do with the amount of content crammed onto the disc. With more than 1000 cars included in the game, Polyphony Digital has spent much more time making sure that the GT5 premium models are of showroom quality (and believe me they are stunning), while the hundreds of returning vehicles from previous instalments have only been given very minor facelifts. Returning cars can&amp;#039;t be photographed up close and feature no cockpit view or damage effects, which proves their inferiority.  The courses suffer from a similar problem. Many of the traditional race courses such as the F1 Monaco circuit and some of the countryside areas are quite barren, bland and ultimately very uninspiring, in stark contrast to the stunning city tracks such as Rome and Madrid. However, with more than 70 courses from 26 locations, the developers have managed to ensure that such complaints are kept to a minimum, and whizzing past London landmarks in a high speed premium vehicle or photographing a stunning Ferrari more than makes up for the odd jagged edge, misplaced shadow or sparse stretch of countryside. In fact most of the complaints levelled against GT5 can be ignored when actually jumping in and playing the game itself. Whether racing on dirt in rally cars, speeding around NASCAR tracks or nipping around corners in go-karts, GT5 handles and plays like a dream. The cars are weighted and pitched perfectly, meaning that every new type of car offers its own distinct challenge and becoming a star in a reasonably priced car or nailing sharp bends in a Bugatti are as equally rewarding and satisfying as each other thanks to the realistic handling and amount of discipline required in order to succeed. Players will gain their experience and expertise from the main mode of play - the appropriately named GT Life mode - which really does have the capacity to take over your life thanks to the enormous amount of challenges on offer. Fans of the series will be more than familiar with the need to obtain different licenses which will enable players to participate in new events and, just as importantly, unlock lots of new cars. There is an RPG feel to the game with the need to level up and upgrade and it&amp;#039;s a compelling experience gaining more and more experience and trying to compete in special events and unlock the better cars. For those craving the thrills and spills of games such as Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, GT5 may appear to take itself a little seriously, and even the new car damage isn&amp;#039;t implemented quite as earnestly as one would have hoped, while the computer A.I. is still as rigid and lifeless as in previous games, albeit the extra amount of cars on track makes it more exciting than past efforts. GT5 is very much the simulation, but does contain more handling assist options than before as well as an arcade mode, which is a good place to start for those more used to the drift mechanics in Outrun rather than the racing lines of Gran Turismo. There is also the B-Spec mode which is a fairly comprehensive management style mode of play, with players able to dish out instructions to their custom driver, telling them when to slow down and speed up etc. It won&amp;#039;t be to everybody&amp;#039;s taste but does add more variety to a game already cram packed with things to do. The ability to customise tracks is perhaps a little misleading, as the courses are more computer-generated than anything else, with player input limited to setting the fundamental course criteria. Gran Turismo 5 is an extremely deep and satisfying game, held back slightly by some poor design choices. Perhaps if the game hadn&amp;#039;t been in development for so long and so eagerly anticipated certain issues could be overlooked, but the developers have always set such a high standard that any flaws - from occasional graphical glitches, to frustrating menu navigation - are much more glaring than in other racing simulations. If you are looking for a racing game with plenty to do and one which, at times, features some of the most impressive visuals and easily the best handling to date, then Gran Turismo 5 is the game for you and comes highly recommended. Let&amp;#039;s just hope the next game isn&amp;#039;t another six years away.  &amp;amp;gt; What do you think of the game? 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