The critical reception for Gran Turismo 5 was, unfortunately, considerably worse than its predecessors. An 84 out of 100 is more than acceptable for most games and their developers - but in the case of GT5 and Polyphony Digital it is unusually low. Words thrown around in reviews of GT5 included 'tedious', 'sub-par', 'bloated', 'messy' even 'unacceptable' and the list still goes on. A lot of the criticism centered around the game's inconsistent graphics, poor online play, long loading times, lack of innovation and lack of 'fun'.

However, since then Gran Turismo 5 has recieved numerous updates, improving most if not all of the above and adding extras that enhance the overall experience. The biggest improvements include fixes and alterations to the online multiplayer racing, online single player racing - including bonus events and online collector's garage - and graphical improvements (much of which was complained about in reviews). The game now makes the pre-updates version of GT5 look like a pixelated old GT5 shadow of its future self, and it looks like this is just the beginning of the expansion of GT5.

So, would all this count towards the overall critical reception and Metascore of the game if it were reviewed after update 1.09? Or would it make no difference at all or does GT5 seem more outdated than ever? Vote in the poll and discuss!

It would probably be around a 86 if they reviewed it now.

I would like to think it would have achieved 88-89 in its current state. The graphical improvements alone, especially the shadows, made the game so much better for me.

It'd probably be around 87-88 now with the updates. The reason it's at an 84 is a lot because of hype. There was just no way the hype would be met as someone above stated.

Which reminds me, I need to go pop in GT5 :D

If it not reviewed by the name Gran Turismo... it could be over 90 now.

The name Gran Turismo came with a HUGE expectations.

The hype was a big factor- so maybe a few points more with the recent impovements. Not 90 or anything like that though.

The game released with alot of horribly obvious flaws and some awkward design choices, some that've been fixed thanks to some updates. Photo Travel mode also made the hype skyrocket to unrealistic expectations with all the bullshots it produced.

Still though, when I play GT5, it doesn't really feel like I've been playing a game that's been in development for 5'ish years. The detail on the cars are ridiculous, but when you're actually racing that hardly even matters:  the chase cams are bad, with no 360 viewing feature (such as Grid, Shift, Forza, etcetc), and you can't even move your driver's "head" when in cockpit view using the right stick like you can in many other racers. That was a turnoff for me - so much detail put into the interiors yet you can't even look around unless you're using the headtracking feature (which isn't even useable in GT Mode due to some memory restrictions if I remember right).

In short, I think PD put too much time in the wrong areas. The sound in the game isn't that great either, which is a huge disappointment - NFS:Shift has me wanting to crank up the volume much more than GT5 does.

It's a good game with lots of content but like many have said, the quality is inconsistent.

prob a 88 or so but it did deserve the 8's it got in my opinion.

Destructoid would probably give it a 1 for giggles.

Actually you can, but you have to map it to the right stick first where you configure the controls. There you can also put accelerate on R2 like every other racer.

That's another problem that hasn't been fixed yet, a frigging complicated menu system with no shortcuts to controller setup, or sound levels etc. You get used to it after a while and it does respond quicker since a few patches back. But it often feels like you're remembering a list of combos to simply navigate around. Getting an oil chance while in an online room or buying an extra set of tires and getting back in the same room takes forever.