Hands Impression of GT6

Our friend Jordan from GTplanet (and VisionRacer VR3 owner) had the pleasure of being present at the GT6 announcement.  Let's see what his first impressions were.

By participating in the big Gran Turismo 6 reveal at Silverstone, I had the opportunity to be one of the first people in the world outside of Polyphony Digital to get some hands-on time with the game. It was, sadly, all too brief, but it was enough to give me a good idea of what the game’s new physics engine feels like, and to capture some of the first gameplay video footage.

Above, you’ll see a few (admittedly quite slow) laps around Silverstone’s International Circuit in one of GT6‘s new cars, the KTM X-Bow R, along with a brief replay.

So, what does Polyphony Digital’s all-new physics engine feel like? It’s hard to describe, but let’s just say I think it will be hard to go back to Gran Turismo 5 after having experiencing GT6.

With traction control disabled and ABS set to 1 (I didn’t notice SRF was “on”…ugh, sorry!), it felt difficult to be “quick” around the track. However, the car was also easier to control, as if I had a better sense of the level of grip available at each wheel and exactly what the car was doing. It felt good.

When I play an older Gran Turismo game, I notice a kind of “numbness” or “dullness” in the handling characteristics of the cars, after having become accustomed to GT5. Now, I think I will feel the same way about GT5 the next time I play it.

The audio which you hear in the video was recorded via the television’s line-out headphone jack. It’s mono (single channel) sound, and doesn’t quite represent the sound that I could hear through the TV’s speakers. Although it’s not a radical change, I did notice a rougher, more visceral texture in the engine note that was more satisfying than what’s provided in GT5.

Regardless, Polyphony Digital’s work with Yokohama and suspension company KW Automotive has no doubt paid off, and the changes were immediately apparent to me after having spent only a very short time with the new game.