Better Sound, Better Graphics, Better Physics – The Gran Turismo 7 Review

Can you believe that more than eight years have passed since the last full one? Gran Turismo game? Actually, who am I kidding – fans of the series have become accustomed to long waits between episodes. However, that wait is almost over, because on Thursday, Gran Turismo 7 coming for the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 consoles.

It was a wait filled with some trepidation. although GT titles were vastly overrepresented in my very unscientific rankings of console racing games a while back, some episodes of the polyphony digital franchise weren’t as good as others – if you look at you, GT5† But that was then, and this is now, and there’s a whole new generation of hardware to show off the series’ signature dazzling realism.

GT7 shows that Polyphony Digital has not lost its touch. There’s room for improvement – history suggests updates will come over time – and there’s no question that the game plays better on the hard-to-find PS5 than the more mundane PS4. But in hard times, GT7 is the racing game equivalent of comfort food, made from a recipe that has been refined over 25 years but updated for the 4K generation.

25 years young

although GT6 debuted on PS3 in late 2013, it wasn’t really the last GT release. Polyphony Digital has made a habit of presenting its new game engines by releasing “minimally viable games” with relatively few cars and tracks, leading up to a later full game release. In the past, those stripped-down titles often felt like expensive demos. The GT series arrived on the PS4 in 2017 as GT: Sporta game that focuses heavily on esports and online multiplayer. GT: Sport got mixed reception when it was released but it got better with updates and has remained my go-to when i have free time for a race fix.

GT7 builds on that game by adding all the elements essential to Gran Turismo† The online multiplayer and esports stuff has carried over, but now they’re only a small part of the overall package.

the center of GT7the world is the Café, a hub run by a character named Luca. He’s prepared menus for you to work your way through, many of which require you to complete certain races to win specific cars, such as three French hatchbacks or three different Ford Mustangs.

Once you’ve completed all the menus, you’ll be treated to a little montage and rundown on why your cars are important. When Kazunori Yamauchi of Polyphony Digital told us about the game a few weeks ago, he said his goal for the game is “to get people excited about the allure of cars”, and this is one way GT7 is about that. In addition to Luca, several other NPCs line the cafe with car trivia demo scenes.

Several other locations have been set up around the Café, some of which will be known GT veterans. A tuning shop sells performance parts in the aftermarket and has a more extensive range of modifications than those seen in GT6† Unfortunately, the old “racing mod” upgrade from the first few PS1 games has not returned. But you can fit bigger turbos and stickier tires, and you can cut the weight to your heart’s content.

It wouldn’t be Gran Turismo without car wash and oil change

If the tuning shop is about making your ride go faster, GT Auto is about making your car look faster. Here you can personalize your car with new paint, wheels and body. You can even personalize your racing suit and helmet.

But the tuning shop is also the place where you do your essential car maintenance. As you add more mileage to a car, the oil will degrade, the engine will tire and eventually body stiffness will decrease. if GT6 is a random guide, you have to add thousands of miles to a car before this kind of work is needed.

Adding new cars is done in several ways. Each completed Café menu adds one to three cars to your garage, so it is possible to collect a large collection without spending the credits you earn by completing races and other events and challenges. But you can also just buy cars instead of winning them – that will satisfy Luca just as much as seeing the car win.

Buying is done in three places: the used car dealer, Brand Central and the Legend Cars collection. The used car dealer is self explanatory – it sells older cars that have some miles on the odometer. The stock rotates, so you are not guaranteed to find what you are looking for. And even if the car of your dreams is in stock, it may not come cheap. Brand Central was acquired from GT: Sport and divides the various OEMs into three geographic regions (Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific). Here you will find brand new cars to buy plus information about each of the car companies. In Legend Cars you can buy the rarest and most historic – not to mention the most expensive – cars in the game. However, be prepared to grind for some of them; price tags are as high as 20 million credits.

At launch, GT7 will have about 420 cars, which is a far cry from the previous titles that offered over 1,000 to collect. Unfortunately you have already seen many of these cars if you have played GT: Sport† But that game’s number of cars increased from 168 at launch to 338 at the time of writing, and Polyphony Digital has already told us it will add more rides and tracks to GT7 as time goes by.