The world’s biggest car video game is almost upon us and it’s everything we could’ve hoped for and more.
2022 makes 25 years since the original game, but we haven’t had a full Gran Turismo experience since the PlayStation 3, so comparatively GT7 is an incredible sequel.
Gran Turismo Sport was released on the PlayStation 4 in 2017, but it was less of a sequel and more of a game designed to fill in the online multiplayer gap.
READ MORE: Sony releases in-depth look at Gran Turismo 7 with State of Play video
Gran Turismo 7 looks and feels like a premium product, almost as if I’m playing a game designed exclusively for the rich and famous.
There are over 400 cars to drive and collect, with over 90 racetrack layouts. Many iconic tracks from around the world feature in GT7, just as they did in previous GT games.
Aussie players can look forward to taking on Bathurst’s Mount Panorama.
It’s not going to be hard for the gaming community to compare GT7 to Forza Horizon. But they shouldn’t, they’re on completely different ends of the scale.
The main difference between the two games is one is an open-world arcade, the other is a real-life driving simulator. It’s comparing apples to oranges.
READ MORE: Review: Forza Horizon 5 wows with hyper realistic graphics and stunning open-world
GT7’s opening sequence sets the mood and illustrates the passion the creators of Gran Turismo instill into their games. There’s so much passion and drive that’s gone into making this game, and it’s so evident the more you play.
The introduction to the game is essentially a documentary on car history, and it ends with a seamless transition from real footage to the in-game engine.
The game’s setting is luxurious, everything is clean and shiny. The characters you meet, while not voiced, present well and expel positivity to drive you forward.
PlayStation recently tweeted a phenomenal stat about Gran Turismo and it shows just how far game development has come.
In the first game, vehicles were made up of just 300 polygons (a polygon is what makes up digital 3D models in video games). Now, 25 years later, vehicles from Gran Turismo 7 are made up of an incredible 500,000 polygons.
In the beginning, the game focuses on Menu Books from the Cafe to steer you in the right direction, once you progress further you’ll unlock missions. Missions are essentially challenges for the player to complete and move forward with the main story, they’ll also help you earn some bonus credits and unlock new cars.
The Cafe is essentially your base, it’s a fine dining Cafe in the countryside, each car you collect through a Menu Book you’ll take here to present to the owner. He’ll then teach you a bit about the cars you’ve collected.
Much like an Apple Watch, or any fitness tracker for that matter, GT7 features a daily workout. But instead of steps, it’s counting miles travelled on the racetrack. It’s sad for me to admit, but each day I’ve found myself more committed to my GT7 workout than the rings in my watch.
Buying parts and tuning your car has significant weight to it. I struggled with a few races, but once I upgraded some parts and started the race again, the difference was significant.
As a non-car enthusiast, the idea of learning the ins and outs of the car world was daunting. Don’t get me wrong, I like cars, but I’ve never been a “car guy”.
Yet the more cars I added to my collection, the more I found myself deeply involved, committed, and in love with the history. Not only are the facts interesting, I honestly felt like I was learning something.
It’s an odd comparison, but it was almost nostalgic as if I were collecting and levelling up Pokémon (gotta’ catch ’em all).
I felt purpose in collecting cars in GT7, each car wasn’t just a number. I found myself spending more money on upgrading my average cars than buying new ones, as there’s no progression in buying the “best” car early on unless you’re keen to jump straight into multiplayer.
Just quickly on multiplayer, as I admit I didn’t get much time on it. Multiplayer competitions are ranked depending on the player’s skill, the better you are while racing the higher your rank.
Loading up multiplayer for the first time offers a series of messages, including this one: “Minding your manners when racing makes it more fun for everyone!”
Online gamers are under the microscope, overly aggressive players and players intentionally colliding with others will be punished, their online rating will decrease. Much like that of an Uber driver.
If you’re hoping to jump straight into multiplayer you’re out of luck, you must prove you’re ready by completing a couple of tasks from Menu Books in the Cafe before it’s unlocked.
GT7’s photography feature is the real deal. It’s called Scapes, and it allows you to place a car in a real-world location and snap a pic of it.
It includes over 2500 spots from around the world, including 60 locations around Australia.
In one location, Marvel stadium seems to have been snubbed by Sony and Polyphony Digital. Imagery still reflects Etihad, despite Marvel owning the stadium since 2018. Regardless, the Scape photo still looks great. I’m going to put this down to the Japanese developers of GT7 having minimal knowledge of Australia’s stadium ownerships.
Music holds a critical role in GT7, it was recently expressed as a necessity by the game’s creator, Kazunori Yamauchi.
The new Music Rally mode sees players race to the beat of a song, with the objective of hitting checkpoints to add beats to the counter, similar to a timed checkpoint race.
These races are very enjoyable, I found myself tapping my feet along to the beat to keep up the momentum.
The game’s developers say this mode was introduced to encourage those new to racing games to have a go. Right now there are six music tracks available, with more coming in the future.
PlayStation 4 users will still have an incredible experience in GT7, but it’s those using the PlayStation 5 who are in for a treat.
The DualSense controller on the PS5 dramatically elevates the gaming experience, it’s the best thing to come out of the new console, besides the SSD.
Every inch of track can be felt through the controller’s haptics, from tyre contact with the road to a puddle. Each car feels unique, depending on what you’re driving you’ll have a different experience. Being able to feel the car is a huge advantage over other racing games.
While driving in the rain, droplets of water cascade onto the windshield and move with the wind, while the wipers push the droplets aside to clear your view.
Puddles dry up as you drive, one lap may be bucketing down with rain, two laps later it’s just puddles, and a few laps after that the puddles have dried up. The way the track dries has been simulated as close to real life as possible, drying faster in the areas with more traffic.
An optional rain radar can also be displayed on the screen to see if there are any dark clouds on the way. It’s the most realistic, virtual weather experience I’ve seen.
I can hardly fault this game, if anything it might be that the tracks aren’t comparatively as real looking as the cars, but even that is a stretch as they still look phenomenal.
This game is near perfection. I have a large blister on my thumb from taking tight corners and I’m proud of it.
Graphically stunning, performs as intended, and is pure joy to experience. Gran Turismo 7 is the best driving simulator ever to come to PlayStation.
5/5 stars
9News was supplied an early access version of Gran Turismo 7 from PlayStation AU for the purpose of this review.
Source: 9NEWS
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