Gran Turismo 5's December DLC disappoints

As promised, Polyphony have confirmed the details for the next batch of car DLC for Gran Turismo 5, which arrives 20 December. And guess what? It’s yet another shambles of a car pack containing variants of cars we’ve all driven before.

The following cars are confirmed to be available for download at €3.99 – UK price still to be confirmed:

2011 Mini Cooper S

2010 Volkswagen Golf VI R

2010 Volkswagen Scirocco R

2012 Nissan GT-R Black edition R35

So that’s two out of four cars that are merely updated versions of cars already in the game that are cosmetically identical, along with the not-so new VW Golf that was launched last year. Likewise, the Scirocco makes its first appearance in Gran Turismo, but this only goes to show how embarrassingly behind the times Gran Turismo 5 truly is.

And since the GT-R is seen as the successor to the Nissan Skyline, I’d class that as yet another friggin’ Skyline added to GT5’s car list. Do Polyphony have some sort of an in joke when it comes to Skylines?

As an added “bonus”, the Toyota 86, it too an updated model that looks virtually identical to its concept version, will be offered as a free Christmas gift following Polyphony's previous teaser. Furthermore, anyone who purchased the first batch of DLC will receive a free Gran Turismo Racing Kart 125 SP along with five "New Car Refresh" cards that magically restore any choosen car to factory fresh condition, retaining any modifications installed.

I know I have a habit of comparing Gran Turismo 5 to its Xbox rival Forza Motorsport 4, but compare Turn 10’s delicious December DLC dish, which is loaded with new, unique and exciting cars, to Polyphony’s pathetic table scraps offered here. Sorry Polyphony, but this is nowhere near good enough.

It’s not all bad news, however. On the same day, Gran Turismo 5 will be updated to version 2.02 following from the significant Spec 2.0 update last October, which actually includes a number of smart additions and fixes:

• Users can now change wheels on Standard cars
• The settings sheets will include a new ‘copy’ feature
• In GT Auto, players will be able to see how the oil changes, aerodynamic parts, engine overhauls, and racing modifications will affect performance points and engine power, before and after their application
• Free coupons have been added that allow you to wash cars, change oil, overhaul your engine, or refresh the car body in GT Auto (10 coupons will be distributed for free to each of those who have downloaded the 2.02 update)
• Pressing the Square button in the car coupon selection screen of the Car Delivery will now allow you to exchange all car coupons at once, rather than doing one at a time
• In screens where the [Garage] and [Driver List] buttons are displayed in the A/B Spec events, Special Events, and Seasonal Events, pressing the Square button will now show the [Garage], and pressing the Triangle button will bring up the drivers list
• In My Lounge, the room settings will feature a new ‘Max. number of participants’ setting
• In the event selection screen of seasonal events, there are now ☆(star) marks that show the number of Gold Trophies attained in each event
• Improved racing sound effects
• Elements of the steering assist controls (used when using certain controllers on Racing Karts) have been tweaked.

In particular, the ability to change some of the godawful wheels of the Standard cars is a massive improvement – it’s taken over a year, but what with this and the addition of interior views from the last update, Standard cars are now infinitely more appealing to drive. We just wish they would get round to upgrading them to the lustrous yet sorely limited range of Premium cars.

We’re also intrigued by the “improved racing sound effects” – have Polyphony finally made the cars no longer sound like dying Dyson vacuum cleaners?

Polyphony have done a lot right when it comes to Gran Turismo 5’s updates. They have been released consistently, often with meaty content and new features that have dramatically improved the functionality – it’s a very different game to the product launched this time last year. It’s bewildering, then, that their paid content pales in comparison and seriously lags behind the competition.

Words by Martin Bigg (Twitter: @drivinggamespro)

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