Gran Turismo 7 for PS5 and PS4 in preview.
With Gran Turismo 7 not just any racing game series returns to the screens at the beginning of March. But the one that has had a lasting impact on the genre since it started 25 years ago and is not unjustly often referred to as the forefather of modern racing games. So it’s no wonder that the expectations of the new episode are extremely high, since it’s the first part of the series since the somewhat differently focused one Gran Turismo Sports.
Polyphony Digital has long held back with information about the game, but now finally in the context of one State of Play a fairly comprehensive overview of what awaits you in the game. We were able to take a look at GT7 a few days ago and tell you everything important here.
tradition and modernity
In general, Gran Turismo 7 changes little in terms of the traditional orientation, so we get a racing game with a thoroughly ambitious simulation claim. According to Kazunori Yamauchi, GT7 also focused on two other important things: Firstly, the depiction of the complete fascination and culture surrounding cars. And second, the fact that the game should be accessible to everyone, regardless of the experience with the series.
As with the predecessors, the menu design is tidy and elegant.
Anyone who starts Gran Turismo 7 first lands on the playful “World Map”, whose buildings lead to the individual modes and features. As in previous numbered main parts, the heart of the game is the career mode, in which you first get a car from the used car market and earn your first spurs in races.
With earned credits you can then get new vehicles or improve existing ones by tuning and gradually work your way up the GT career ladder. The popular driving tests are also celebrating a comeback, in which you have to complete certain tasks and sections of the route in a given time.
By the way, you also need a permanent internet connection for career mode:
more on the subject
Gran Turismo 7 does not let you play the single player campaign offline
The “Gran Turismo Cafe” is completely new. Here, too, it is important to drive cars and win races, but the surroundings – the car culture already mentioned – also play an important role here. Because in a “menu” put together by the game, you discover certain vehicle categories and learn something about the development or design of certain models, for example the Audi TT or the Mazda MX5, partly through audio comments from the actual designers.
cars and tracks
In terms of scope, GT7 offers a thick package at launch, albeit no longer really surprising for the genre:
- over 400 vehicles and
- 34 route locations with a total of 97 course variations
The vehicle selection should cover a wide range, ranging from small cars and family carriages to outrageously expensive super sports cars and speedsters that are not street legal. The track selection is made up of real circuits such as the Nürburgring or Suzuka as well as fictional tracks, some of which are named – such as Trial Mountain or Deep Mountain – that should make the eyes of GT veterans light up.
There is no shortage of vehicles and routes in GT7, and supplies should also come via DLC.
In World Circuit mode, you can then decide whether you want to learn the courses piece by piece or run time, drift or “normal” races on them. Further routes and vehicles will be submitted via DLC after the launch.
You can buy new vehicles in the game in three different places:
- used car market
- Brand Central (direct selection from over 300 vehicles built in 2001 or later, sorted by brand)
- Legendary Cars (a series of timeless classics)
More than just stupid selection: There is also a virtual museum for each car brand, where you can learn more about the history of Porsche, Mercedes and Co. using historical photos and information – completely optional, of course.
The gameplay: attention to detail and crazy weather
We haven’t been able to try out the GT7 ourselves yet, but it looks very much as if the driving behavior of the cars will be on a similar level to its predecessors or will probably even surpass it. This is ensured by extensive physics calculations, especially when simulating the tires, and the aerodynamics, i.e. air flow, are also simulated. This should then ensure in the finished game that the lap times are the same as those of the real tracks and vehicles. It’s too early to make a hasty judgment here, but it sounds good in any case.
Of course, rain has an effect on driving behavior, and spray also takes away your view.
Especially since the DualSense of the PS5 will apparently be used more delicately in GT7 than in almost any other previous PS5 game. The haptic feedback should make it possible, for example, to “feel” blocked tires or even the resistance of the gas and brake pedals. Here, too, we are curious to see how this will present itself in the finished game.
It gets really wild with the weather conditions and times of day: Although previous GT parts already offered dynamic time and weather changes, GT7 obviously takes this to the extreme. Because depending on the location of the race track, there are adapted temperatures, probability of precipitation and even a “correct” starry sky. Puddles form when it rains, the routes should also dry realistically and there is even an optional rain radar. In this respect, the new GT should set new standards, at least within the series.
You can watch a current gameplay video for GT7 here:
3:57
Gran Turismo 7: New gameplay video shows racing at the Daytona Speedway
Look culture!
The core of Gran Turismo 7 takes place on the track, of course, but it is also clear off the track that Kazunori Yamauchi and his team want to put the cars in the right light, which is also expressed in the selection of the other modes and features:
- (Music) Replays: You can now add music to replays and the camera angles will adjust to match.
- scapes: GT’s photo mode is also on board again and lets you set up and move cars in any of 2,500 (!!!) photo locations and then use a number of settings to create pictures that can hardly be distinguished from reality with the naked eye.
- Music rally: In this new mode, the goal is to drive through gates before the on-screen timer runs out. However, this is not based on normal time, but on the beat of the current song.
- Tuning and Customization: You can pretzel your cars with a number of improvements (more than 60 categories per vehicle) and also beautify them visually in the paint editor. Those who are keen to adapt should therefore get their money’s worth.
Faster songs should be much more difficult to drive in Music Rally mode.
Multiplayer and technology
GT Sport is the focus here, but Gran Turismo 7 will also offer an extensive multiplayer mode. Local multiplayer fans will be pleased to know that there will be a split-screen mode for up to two players, so duels on one screen are possible.
And in terms of online multiplayer, according to Kazunori Yamauchi, GT7 will be identical to Gran Turismo Sport. So you can compete in individual races or tournaments or just hang out with friends in an online lobby and then set vehicles, route and options such as weather or time of day as you wish. So far, the developer has not been able to elicit more.
The setting options in Scapes mode are in no way inferior to those of real cameras.
On the other hand, the available gameplay material gives a good idea of the graphical state of the game, and here GT7 is immediately recognizable as part of the series. Very clean and elegant-looking menus with a virtual mouse pointer and extremely detailed vehicle models including chic reflections already make you want more.
Incidentally, ray tracing for the PS5 was confirmed to us by the developers, there is a separate mode in which the more complex light calculation is used in showrooms or replays, among other things, but not in the race itself. The other graphics mode is called “frame rate mode” and should be a ensure a constant frame rate of 60 fps.
Gran Turismo 7 will be released on March 4th, 2022 for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.
What are you hoping for from Gran Turismo 7?