What all that means is that while we've been excited about its impending release later this month, we've approached it with a healthy dose of cynicism, despite it bearing the prestigious Gran Turismo name. Maybe it's also because we still remember the disappointment of Gran Turismo 4 Prologue, a serious blip in arguably the best racing game series around, which was released in Japan and Europe, but not in North America. So what was our major problem with GT4 Prologue? In a word, content. It was limited to just 50 cars, compared to Gran Turismo 4's 700, five tracks, versus GT4's 60, and offered very little in the way of races, not to mention a glaring absence of a two-player mode. It may have run beautifully, but there was very little there to keep us playing for a significant length of time.

One thing that Gran Turismo 4 Prologue delivered on was graphics, and it's here that Gran Turismo 5 Prologue suffers, but only slightly. GT5 Prologue is gorgeous without doubt, idealistically photorealistic in high-definition when at its best. However, contradictory to our experiences in our preview article, the game does suffer frame rate stutters on certain hard-braking corners, and minimal screen-tearing, particularly on the London City track. Also, the Fuji International Speedway seems to be less visually impressive than the incredibly detailed offerings of other tracks, especially the unerringly accurate London City track, down to the correct locations and realisations of restaurants and tourist shops, and the striking backdrop of the picturesque Eiger Nordwand course. This may seem like quibbling, and maybe it is, but the Gran Turismo series has always been graphically impeccable, and GT5 Prologue's visual issues are noticeable in contrast, even if it still is a graphical tour de force.

However, any minor graphical issues are made up for by the addition of the extraordinary cockpit mode. Placing you in view of your car specific dashboard and driver's arms, whose movement reflects your input, the cockpit mode is a fantastic inclusion not just visually, but also from a gameplay standpoint. Driving from the cockpit perspective feels more organic than other modes of view, thanks in part to the inclusion of wing and rear-view mirrors, and whilst it may offer an experience too difficult or unfamiliar for some players, a significant number of gamers will make it their mode of choice, due to its fresh and natural feel.

Despite this more natural inclusion, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue still keeps to its ethos of synthetic perfection, and the new 'My Page' start-up interface certainly epitomises that. It's from here that you select which mode you want to play, but you may find yourself distracted by the menu's background. This will be an idealistically enchanting picture of your cars parked in various scenic locations that almost seem too perfect, all to the backdrop of sophisticated and unobtrusively mellow instrumentals. It's also full to the brim with classy-looking, but fairly extravagant widgets, including a worldwide weather read-out. All of which will make you feel like you should've worn something dressier before starting up the game. We found ourselves hypnotised just watching the camera circle around our newly purchased, and very shiny Mazda RX-8 sitting in the light snow of a German village marketplace. It serves as an excellent start-up menu that we hope to see return in future incarnations.

In contrast to the relaxing music found in 'My Page', Gran Turismo 5 Prologue's races offer up a decent mix of more adrenaline-pumping rock and electronica tunes that suit the game, headlined by an impressively exclusive remix of Weezer's Automatic, but one that fails to match the immaculate Gran Turismo 3 soundtrack. We find ourselves wondering why custom playlists haven't been included at launch, but they will be patched in, along with private races and in-game voice chat, at a later date. It's good that these features will eventually be present in the game, but they remain disappointing exclusions in the meantime. Before moving on to the meat of the issue, namely driving, we must mention the new purchase screen. On buying a new car, you'll be greeted with it menacingly coming straight at you, covered in shadow to the accompaniment of a mysterious whooshing noise, which is strange enough, but pales in comparison to the transition into a squeaky woodwind melody that is instantly evocative of the awful music you hear in a dentist's waiting room. Look out for it.

With that out of the way, let's talk about the small matter of how it handles. Joking aside, it is something of a small matter, because Gran Turismo 5 Prologue unsurprisingly handles absolutely wonderfully. There remains no other racing series which forces you to brake, turn and accelerate with as much precision and care as Gran Turismo games do. The various cars have enjoyably different feels, and the petrol nuts out there will feel satisfied by the accuracy and attention-to-detail that's present in each car on show. The six tracks offered up in GT5 Prologue provide enjoyably different experiences as well, such as the narrow and hard turns of London, contrasted against the speed-centric Daytona course. This is all pretty par de course for Gran Turismo games, as are, unfortunately, a lot of the game's major issues.

Another expected disappointment that returns from previous games is the AI of other drivers, although Gran Turismo 5 Prologue's AI drivers do step up a grade from their predecessors. There are more of them for a start (up to 16), plus they stick to the racing line a little less, they don't always let you overtake them without a fight, and they do bicker amongst themselves more. However, on the whole, they do tend to still be soullessly religious in their driving styles, and it only serves to give us further reservation about the game's supposed realism.

As we have repeatedly underlined, much of what we've discussed is not anything new for the series. That leads us back to discussing what was frustrating about the last Prologue, and we're pleased to report that Gran Turismo 5 Prologue packs much more content and longevity in than its predecessor. There are 40 events, separated into four classes of speed and difficulty, and some of them provide fresh experiences, such as demanding you to chaotically overtake 15 other racers in the frenzy of a single lap.

Having been forced to purchase an annoyingly sluggish motor due to the lack of funds upon starting the game, completing more events rewards you quickly, and you'll have your hands on something more beastly within a couple of hours. All the events will take you between six to eight hours to complete, but GT5 Prologue has much more to offer beyond this, such as a decent two player mode, time trial, drift trial and quick-tuning modes, and most significantly and new to the series, an online mode.

GT5 Prologue lets you pit your wits against other drivers from across the globe, and it's remarkable that the game can still look as good as it does in an online setting with up to eleven other drivers. Other pluses are that it takes very little time to get into a race, as long as there are other people who want to take part, and that you receive game money based on how well you do in a race, which goes into your in-game account like it would for an offline event. The latter certainly serves like experience points in an MMORPG, and certainly provides a good reason to put in the hours online, especially when there's a Ferrari F2007 Formula 1 car on offer for a colossal 2 million credits.

Unfortunately, despite all these gold stars, the online mode is just not up to par with the rest of the game. Races are often blighted by lag, with opponent drivers looking very odd as they stutter along the track. Also, because the game chooses one player as a host for the race, many races are brought to an untimely halt because the host has given up on the race or has simply lost their connection. However, the most galling problem of all, is actually a product of an issue we mentioned earlier - the poor collision physics. This means that races become much more aggressive affairs that seem to go against the Gran Turismo principle, with players deliberately using fellow drivers as a braking point. It's not that isn't fun, because it still works well enough to be reasonably enjoyable, but it's just not Gran Turismo, and that's a shame. There are some temporary speed-restricting punishments for using shortcuts, hitting a barrier or deliberate collisions, but these are often awarded when there's been no fault, or not awarded when they should have been. The implementation of realistic collision physics would have done much to separate the men from the boys, both in offline and online play, but without it the game still has the feel of something that could have been so much more.