First of all, I should say that I got this game free from a site called freeipodsandconsoles but I would have bought it using my own money anyway. After waiting many years for this game to come out and many delays, finally the game was released and I got it on release day and played it for hours every day until the game was complete. I have other games for the PS3 but this was the one I had been waiting for since the PS3 came out.

One thing I love about driving games is the ease of which you can just pick up a controller and get started, you don't have to wade through pages of instructions to learn what every button does, basically all you need to know is how to accelerate and how to brake. Ok, so it's a bit more complicated than that but you get my drift.

The game does have its bad points however, including having to download data onto your PS3 hard drive before you can play the game, this is supposed to reduce the loading times of tracks but the download took me about 50 minutes, which might be ok if you want to do things around the house while you wait but if like me, you just want to get stuck into a game, this download will feel like hours.

Anyway, like all good games, Gran Turismo 5 is addictive and gives you a huge choice of cars to buy using credits that you earn by taking part in races. You also earn experience points which soon add up and allow to to unlock new levels (there are 40 levels). With each new level comes new races and usually harder challenges involving new cars and tracks, and usually mean each race getting longer or racing in the dark or in rain. Once you win a race, you will probably receive a free car as a prize also to add to your garage.

The cars come in all shapes and sizes including go-karts and small family cars through to sports cars and super sports cars which you can use to race around street circuits, world racetracks, Gran Turismo tracks and even the Top Gear test track. The average person will never own a sports car or be able to race around tracks like Le Mans so this will be your only chance of being in the cockpit as you speed round the track.

The landscape graphics as you might expect are amazing and sometimes distracting as you race around at night and see fireworks go off or a Ferris Wheel go round at Le Mans and the graphics are simply amazing in the mountain races. It is very hard to have a computer game that makes you feel like you are actually in a real car but this comes close, and is a lot safer when you crash out. Once you get into this game, it is easy to get addicted and I found myself having a few more races when I really should have been in bed but I wanted to reach the next level and see what car I would get.

The game is split into two sections, these are A and B specs. The A spec is you actually doing the driving and the B spec section sees you swapping from being a driver to being a manager. You choose a car and a driver and basically let it race itself but can give instructions to your driver during the race, like when to pit or when to speed up.

To be honest though, I found the B spec section boring and a waste of time as you win every race first time without any effort. For example, the endurance level which opens up at level 25 allows you to take part in races starting at a couple of hours all the way up to two different 24 hour races but you can't save or pause a B spec race so you have to just let it run. I started the 24 hour race in the evening, went to bed then got up and went to work and got home to find I was many laps in front and almost time up. The point I make is what fun is it to do this kind of "racing"?

Another downside about the game is the fact that when you get to the later levels, you end up having to keep doing the same races over and over again just to get your experience points up to reach the next level rather than just unlocking the next race when you win one. I think I had to race the 9 hour race about 10 times before I finally reached level 35 and my first 24 hour race. The next race was at level 40 so this meant having to do many more races to get my experience points up which was very time consuming but you feel that you have to complete these just so you can actually complete the game as it would seem pointless getting to 99 percent completed and then leaving it.

There are only a couple of downsides in my opinion and there are far more positive points about this game like being able to race online with up to 15 other people. It's fun being able to taunt someone as you pass them, using your microphone but i found most of the time you just end up trying to run each other off the track instead of racing but it's still good fun.

Can this game be improved and will there be a Gran Turismo 6? If there was a GT6 it would be years away and I'm not sure what you could do to get this game to the next level as you can never fully recreate the driving experience you would get from actually driving a car. I could see them bringing out new tracks and updated cars and maybe releasing an add on game rather than a full game which would appeal to the addicted gamers who would still be playing GT5 and also people like me who had completed the game and not really found the need to play it after that.

So, would I recommend this game? Yes, I really would, especially if you like to race online or if you are a fan of driving games as this is the best one around and well worth every penny.