Developer: Polyphony Digital
Platforms: PS4, PS5 (Reviewed)
Genre: Racing sim
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
It’s the 25th anniversary of the Gran Turismo, and the release of Gran Turismo 7 coincides with this amazing achievement. I do remember the original Gran Turismo, but it’s hazy at this stage; however, Gran Turismo has been a standout racing title over the years. Gran Turismo 7 is the latest in this long-lasting franchise and the first instalment on the next-gen console.
Gran Turismo 7, is celebrating cars and car culture throughout the world over the past; 2 centuries. This game pays tribute to cars from everywhere in the world and the joy they have brought to the people.
Gran Turismo 7 (GT7) is the ultimate car racing simulator that is aimed at the hardcode; for car enthusiasts but also is quite open to the casual player too.
The developers have made the extra effort to go above and beyond this to make it accessible to all. I know this sounds like quite a contradiction but bear with me. In GT7, you can play the game without any computer AI assists such as braking, steering and race lines or with them all.
For the car enthusiast, you can modify and tweak every aspect of your car from the tyres to engine tweaking and weight reduction; there are over 60 items that; can be tuned. The player can decide the level of customisation that suits them. There is something for everyone in this game. Â
There are lots of game modes from Café, museum, car dealer, custom race, licence, music rally, world map, time trials, sport mode and custom race modes. You get a sense of the huge and epic scale of the game from the numerous game modes alone. For anyone new to racing games, the licence test mode allows you to learn basic driving skills and move to more advanced skills; as you progress. The more you practice and experiment, the more you hone your driving style too. The Café mode allows the racer to understand the history behind cars and helps you to amass new cars; to your garage. There are tons of tracks, numerous locations (34) and a plethora of cars (over 400) to keep you occupied through time trials, races and championship races. Each mode of the game; unlocks cars and items to help you on your car journey. In your garage, you can store all your cars; the garage doubles as a modification centre for your cars, as well. The game is ridiculously detailed and in-depth; the sheer number of tuning and modifications is huge. Fantasy tracks in GT7 include some of the favourites from past games. Kazunori has confirmed that more tracks and cars will be coming to the game in future, another boon to fans of the series.
Graphically the game is stunning, which is illustrated through the cars, tracks and the weather effects. The game is breathtaking at times, and the use of diverse locations helps to showcase the stunning presentation and graphics. The first wet track I raced on helped to show how the weather affects the driving but also how detailed and rich the weather conditions are in the game.
The sensation of rain is rendered beautifully and helps the sense of immersion in the game. The game support two graphical modes: Framerate and ray racing mode. Framerate ensures the best consistent framerate possible. 4k at 60fps ensuring, that your game feels quick. Ray tracing focuses on improved graphic fidelity and reflections to the detriment of the frame rate. I preferred the framerate mode, but the graphics look even more amazing on ray tracing mode.
The PS5 SSD ensures super quick load times, which matches the action-packed nature of GT7. The use of haptic feedback allows the player to feel the car accelerate as well as every bump and crash too. The vibration of the controller helps you feel that you are in that racing seat.
The music soundtrack didn’t blow me away; it feels more like background music as opposed to something integral. However, the rally music mode puts the driving and music to the fore. In this mode, you have checkpoints that are synchronised to the beat of the music, which turns the game into a time trial. I enjoyed this merging of driving and music; it is novel and lots of fun. Adds another layer to this deeply rich game.
Replay and Photo modes allow players to watch back, their races with ray-tracing added. Replay lets you relive the thrills and spills of races, while photo mode gives the player in-depth features to capture their cars in wonderful beauty.Â
The online game – I didn’t manage to find a lobby or get anyone to join my lobby to test the online elements of the game; I will update the review in due course after I get to play it online.
Gran Turismo 7 is a beautiful and in-depth car simulation. The developers have pushed the boat in terms of modes and realism. I cannot fault much in the game as they; have catered for car enthusiasts and casual gamers. The graphics, levels, locations are stunning; every track and car has been meticulously rendered to give a realistic feel. While the game is a racing simulator, it’s not always super-serious and is tons of fun. GT7 really highlights the next-generation consoles and what is possible.
Overall: 8.5/10
Enjoys more than the odd game, long time gamer, somewhat a technologist and everything else in between.
Also enjoys a good solid game of FIFA online. Currently PS4, XBOX 360 and STEAM.
