What are you most excited about when it comes to video game releases or announcements?Because people lose their collective consciousness on Twitter Grand Tour 7 A rather unremarkable-looking map screen was shown in the initial reveal, as die-hard GT fans thought it could mean the return of the “classic” Gran Turismo, after the competitive esports leanings motorsport. A few moments later, the celebration is further celebrated in some footage from a stretch of the road, which showcases the beloved classic Gran Turismo circuit. Then, confirm! Gran Turismo 7 — the sequel that true fans have been waiting for years — is coming to theaters. As they say, racing game Twitter is an absolute limb.
Gran Turismo 7 itself is like an important, elegant thing. It’s a far cry from the Fortnite-style noise and Forza Horizon’s constantly unlocked barrage. The intro sequence features nods to things like the arrival of the South Pole, the birth of cinema, and even the bloody Beatles, subtly alluding to—perhaps—Gran Turismo’s cultural touchpoint as important as these things. Some people will say confident, some people may say it well and really behind their own backs. Gran Turismo 7 is good, fair enough, but come on now.
Once you’ve gone through this self-congratulatory introduction, that classic GT map screen now serves as the hub for all the different elements of the game itself. Whether you’re buying a new or used car, installing parts, tuning them, or setting up a single or multiplayer race, it all starts from the map screen. However – and this is probably the most divisive part of the GT7 – before you get started, you have to visit the GT Cafe. Here, you’ll see a menu with three cars linked by make or type. For example, three Japanese FW driving cars, you have to race to win these. Complete the menu, go back to the cafe, and you’ll be rewarded: a car, some money, or maybe a token for GT Roulette. A brief history lesson on the car you just won, and you’ll move on to the next one.
The car has been the star of Gran Turismo and the collector side has also had some ‘Pokedex’ style makeovers – which I found convincing, although not very interested in cars, found the offer here The encyclopedia of information and history is really worth a look. What’s different about this structure is that almost everything in Gran Turismo 7 is locked behind this process. If you’re part of GT Sport, you’ll probably spend hours unlocking the power of online play. It’s an odd choice that will almost certainly frustrate hardcore sim racers looking for a next-gen multiplayer competitive racing solution.
For those approaching GT7 from a more casual location, this allows a very dense game to slowly feed you content, gradually giving you access to more modes and features and explaining them without immediately overwhelming you measures. There’s definitely some series reset vibe here, taking beginners and guiding you from secondhand road racing races, through customization, through those challenging license tests, and the ultimate goal is to have your racing online mirror the gaming side of GT Sport, And a successful entry into the world of eSports.
It’s a great-looking game, and playback utilizes ray tracing (albeit at 30fps). The actual race car prioritizes framerate, so there isn’t any ray tracing, but honestly you won’t notice that when you’re going 200 mph in the Nordschleife.
Throughout single events and championships, you’ll notice that the AI drivers are true Gran Turismo esports competitors, so this game gets you used to the main part of the GT focus on previous-gen consoles — and maybe skip the GT Series fans of Sport may not know it. The ultimate goal of Polyphony Digital is to keep people playing GT Cafe long after they’re done.
Of course, sim racing is a pretty intimidating thing to do.People who are good at sim racing keep driving real life racing, that’s the authenticity offered these days. There’s a decent amount of assist options kits out there to allow players of all skills to enjoy what’s on offer here, but there are a few other smart features to help bridge the gap between the hardcore petrolhead and the average gamer. For example, of course no player is expected to know what any of the parts you can buy for a car actually are or what they do, so Polyphony added a PP number as a means of summarizing the car’s performance. Think of it as a strength number in Fate, or an armor rating in MMORPG.
Take a few shots in the car and watch the numbers go up. The race has a “recommended PP rating” and you can choose to buy a car that meets the requirements or tweak a car you currently own until the opportunity arises. For those of you who are held back by how simple this all seems – you can still go into each section in more detail and super-tune until the settings are exactly what you want, giving you the extra horsepower to go away Vehicle of your choice.
Apart from the cafe-led event, there is a lot to do. In the back Scapes mode, you can take a picture of your motor in a photogenic background. Sport mode is also back, with daily races and – eventually – proper GT League races becoming available. The multiplayer aspect is pretty limited in pre-release, but the sessions being played seem to be pretty solid and follow the same blueprint as Sport; pick a race time, go into qualifying laps until the start. Go to a showroom for a new car, or keep an eye out for bargains in the used car section. There’s even a “Legendary Cars” section featuring some famous cars from pop culture at eye-popping prices. This all helps you tick off entries in that car list and improve your collector rating, unlocking more content, more modes.
Even if you don’t like racing, everything you do feeds back into the heart of your car collection. If you want, just head to the coffee shop, talk to some of the regulars, and learn the history of some of the cars in your garage. There’s also “Music Rally,” which lets you cover as much distance as possible before the song ends, which sounds odd, but does tie into Gran Turismo’s heritage of having a very famous soundtrack. Unfortunately, this game doesn’t. In fact, the overall OST is pretty bad – can I justify lowering the score for a game without Feeder in the 2022 soundtrack? It’s a bit of a shame that this aspect of GT history hasn’t gotten more love, but hey, here’s a license for you!
Of particular note is the use of Sony’s DualSense controller. Aside from some very few first-party efforts, the controller’s fancier features are a bit of a letdown, but the Gran Turismo 7 makes up for the past year – it’s relentless! Every downhill, every shift, even the feel of the sponge running along the hood, can be felt in the pads or triggers. Off-road rally tracks are absolutely ridiculous!
This also ties in nicely with the new weather system.Rain can seriously affect the race, and in one situation (I was a bit cocky at Brands Hatch and tried to run an extra lap on wet hard racing tires), I felt The handlebars of the car slid off me as I jet skied into oblivion. The feeling is indescribable until you experience it in person, and it actually helps improve your car because it’s more effective at communicating what’s actually going on in your car than anything visually. It’s no substitute for a decent wheel setup, but given that’s how most gamers play the GT7, the DualSense integration is really impressive and will definitely improve the experience.
After the now customary delay, Gran Turismo 7 is here, just in time to celebrate the series’ 25th anniversary, and the celebration is a fair way to look at it – it feels like the real “best” Gran Turismo. Moving from the obvious to a more single-player-driven (sorry) sport, the series’ standard bearing visuals, now incorporating the competitive edge seen in sports, a mash-up of near and far history from one of the biggest games in the game, the racing series should be See it back at the top of the genre.
You might be able to reduce Gran Turismo 7 to “GT Sport with single-player components”. But given that’s all it takes for GT Sport to be an absolutely great racing game, it’s a must for die-hard racing fans, and it’s such a great game that it might actually turn some casual players into into a real gasoline head.
