5 Reasons Why Ferrari Challenge Beats Gran Turismo 5: Prologue

by Andrew Jeffery - 2008/07/10 4:07pm

It has been well reported over the last few months that the developers at System 3 haven't been shy about bigging up their most recent title Ferrari Challenge for the PlayStation 3. They even in an interview with GamesRader went onto state that it will be better than Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. Now did these statements System 3 were making carry any weight or were they just shouting to create pre-release hype for the game.

One way you can see if these shouts did carry weight is by reading our reviews for Ferrari Challenge and Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. However this two part feature will show if and where System 3 did keep to their word and surpass Gran Turismo, however it will also flip the coin over and show how Gran Turismo 5: Prologue surpasses Ferrari Challenge. Part one will focus on Ferrari Challenge.

Five Reasons Why Ferrari Challenge Beats Gran Turismo 5: Prologue



AI

There is no deigning that the Ai isn’t the Gran Turismo franchises strongest point, however while it isn’t that bad, the AI in Ferrari Challenge blows it out of the water. The computer in Ferrari Challenge will block your racing line and even push you off track every now and then. At times you do get the feeling you actually playing people not the computer.

Rain Effects

The rain effects in this game has raised the bar about what we should expect from Racing games, not only do they look stunning, they also have a major effect on the way your car handles as you would expect, one race your going flat out down the straight and you leave it to the last second to break before turning, now do this while it’s raining and say goodbye to your front bumper or expect a nice big dent in your car. The change in weather really makes you a different driver, and while on paper this sounds pretty standard for a game with rain effect, it will be a while before a game pulls it off this well as again.

Engine and Car Audio

The Audio in this game is near spot on perfect, whenever it is the noise the car makes when you slam the breaks, the noise the windscreen wipers make when it’s raining or even the crowd noises you can briefly here when you drive past a grandstand. Beating Gran Turismo 5: Prologue in this department, takes some doing however the one thing which pushes it past the level we hear in GT5:P is the noise coming from the Engine. The Engine in each Ferrari in Ferrari Challenge is near spot on with its real life counterpart. The sounds the engine makes when you change gear or when you put your foot down are almost perfect.



Car Customisation

While you could argue this isn’t a major reason why you could say one game is better than the other, it is nice being able to create your own decals and do more than just change the colour. Its a feature which would be appreciated in the final version of Gran Turismo 5.

Better Track Selection

This is one advantage Ferrari Challenge has which you really could put down as opinion. Whereas Gran Turismo 5: Prologue has the world famous Daytona speed ring and an impressive track through the centre of London, these tracks are beaten hands down considering Ferrari Challenge has the likes of Sliverstone and Monza in its ranks.