Gran Turismo 5's Damage Model Isn't Quite The Flaw Reviewers Claim.

It's a statement that's not strictly true, and has been exposed by those who've actually had time to play through the game since its release last week.

To be fair to IGN, they weren't the only publication to single-out GT5's "damage issues". That numerous publications should fall under the same banner shows an alarming weakness in some quarters of the games press. It's been well publicised that Sony sent out review code fairly late, and yet still some publications managed to release launch day reviews for a game which could easily hold over 200 hours of content.

Players that have reached the game's top level have been uploading videos of GT5's impressive damage model all over the Internet. Of course, it's fairly apparent that reviewers criticising the model didn't play the game long enough to unlock the feature. There's an argument to be made that damage should be available from the off-set, but Gran Turismo 5's approach is to teach the player how to drive before letting them smash cars up. The consequences of the game's damage model carry a realistic burden — it's expensive to get your in-game cars fixed.

There's a criticism in the way the game handles content, but it's not an inherent flaw in the model as claimed by some publications. The damage is good (as evidenced by the YouTube video below) and it exposes a number of reviews as rushed and inaccurate.

We suppose Polyphony Digital has the last laugh, but it's hard to muster a giggle when publications are outright underselling a game that's been worked on for over 5 years.