Gran Turismo 7 Review
In 1997, Polyphony Digital released Gran Turismo for the original PlayStation, and it was an instant hit, establishing itself as Sony’s premier exclusive racing game franchise in the process. Some of the Gran Turismo sequels have reached similar heights, but there have also been some bumps in the road. 2017’s Gran Turismo Sport launched with significantly fewer cars to collect than franchise fans were used to and neglected the single-player experience to focus on online play. Anyone who was disappointed by that game will be happy to know that Gran Turismo 7 has put the franchise back on track. Gran Turismo 7 starts with historical footage of the auto industry then transitions into a very beautiful, very long, very unskippable cutscene showing off its various tracks and vehicles. Once that’s done, Gran Turismo 7 finally puts players behind the wheel, allowing them to progress through a linear single-player experience where they compete in races, earn new license, and of course, collect hundreds of cars. Gran Turismo 7 has so many game modes, features, customization options, and more to the point where it risks becoming overwhelming. Instead of throwing everything at players at once, Gran Turismo 7 offers a more guided single-player experience, introducing each new feature one at a time. Some may find it rigid compared to other modern racing games, but others will enjoy the sense of progression and direction.
Players progress in Gran Turismo 7 primarily by completing menus that they pick up at the cafe. These menus make Gran Turismo 7 players complete objectives to get new cars, unlock new tracks, and generally advance the game. For example, a menu might give players to obtain three specific car types by finishing on the podium in races. Then the next menu players can customize their car in several ways. And after that, they can be taken to a new feature that pops up on the world map that gives them more options to consider and things to do, while learning interesting history about the vehicle they are unlocking. Gran Turismo 7 has over 400 cars, and while it’s certainly not the most cars the series has to offer, it’s more than Gran Turismo Sport had at launch. Gran Turismo 7 cars are obtained by finishing races, completing special challenges, buying them with credits, and through random rewards. Completionists looking to add every car to their Gran Turismo 7 collection should be prepared to put a significant amount of time into the game, to say the least. The overall goal in Gran Turismo 7, aside from completing the cafe menu books and progressing through the single-player experience, is to collect every car in the game. The main way players do this is by winning races, so it’s a good thing that the actual racing is so much fun. Gran Turismo 7 offers a calmer, almost relaxed type of racing game experience compared to some of its competitors, with players having total freedom when it comes to how much agency they want in the driving experience .
Gran Turismo 7 offers a wide range of accessibility and assistance features that allow players to fully customize the race to their liking. Someone who wants a pure challenge can adjust the difficulty settings and turn off the assists, while those who struggle with braking in time and successfully getting around corners will want to keep some assists active. This gives players the ability to play the game exactly how they want and is better for it. Even with the aids, however, winning a Gran Turismo 7 race still requires players to come in prepared. Races have certain requirements that cars need to meet in order for players to participate, and so that’s where tuning comes in. Players are able to spend their hard-earned credits to purchase various parts to upgrade their vehicles, with more options available as the game progresses. Hardcore fans will likely spend some time tuning their cars and customizing their appearance, but casual fans may simply choose parts that increase the car’s PP rating. Similar to how the help options have expanded its horizons, Gran Turismo 7’s tuning and customization options are designed to be simple enough for casual gamers to understand while also catering to gearheads of the deep complexity they look for in a game like this. Players are able to take their cars to dozens of Gran Turismo 7 tracks set in different locations around the world, all of which look absolutely stunning on PlayStation 5. The lighting in Gran Turismo 7 is especially impressive, helping the game almost seem real-life at times. Players will especially get a kick out of the game’s day/night cycle, where they can start a championship race on a track at midnight, only to have it switch to night by the time the race is over.
Gran Turismo 7 is a cross-gen game, and thus it doesn’t use the PlayStation 5 to its full potential, but it’s still one of the best-looking racing games ever made. Aside from the incredible lighting and weather effects, the level of detail on each vehicle is mind-boggling, and it’s honestly hard to imagine how things could get better from here. The game’s stellar graphics go a long way toward immersion, but there’s a lot to be said for the way Gran Turismo 7 handles the PS5 DualSense controller. While hardcore racing game fans will probably want to go with a proper steering wheel controller, those who decide to stick with their controller will find that the GT7 makes good use of DualSense’s unique features, particularly haptic feedback. The vibration on the controller perfectly mirrors what’s happening on the screen, giving everything an extra sense of realism that wasn’t possible before. DualSense makes driving feel smooth, while high-speed spin-outs are more intense and furious. There’s definitely a lot to like about Gran Turismo 7, and anyone who considers themselves a fan of the franchise should rest easy knowing that it should check all their boxes and then some. However, the game has some notable drawbacks. For example, players have to take some time to properly unlock the online multiplayer offerings thanks to the way the game is set up, and while most fans probably won’t mind, it can be frustrating to those who are only interested in multiplayer. .
The biggest concern with the game is its use of microtransactions. Gran Turismo 7 uses credits as its currency, with players using credits to buy everything from custom liveries to car parts to new cars to performing maintenance on their current Cars. Gran Turismo 7 does a good job of giving players a lot of credits, but there are a few instances where it seems like it’s trying to push players towards microtransactions. While Gran Turismo 7 players can earn a lot of credits just by playing the game, they also have to spend a lot on them to stay competitive. This means acquiring new vehicles as well as upgrading existing ones, which can be a very expensive endeavor. And so the game seems designed for Gran Turismo 7 players who keep spending their credits, but it also tempts players with special deals. For example, Gran Turismo 7 players can receive a letter from a brand that will take them to a very impressive but expensive car. It can cost more than 3 million credits and most players will not have the money available. If players who are low on credit try to buy these vehicles, they will be greeted with a “convenient” pop-up asking if they want to top up their PlayStation Store credits. Gran Turismo 7’s microtransactions weren’t set up during our time playing it and so it’s hard to say how much of an impact they’ll have on the overall gameplay experience, but it seems like the game is deliberately trying to lead PlayStation players Store that spent money on a game they already paid full price to play. Time will tell how fans will react to Gran Turismo 7’s microtransactions, but putting them aside, there’s still a deep racing game experience that will keep fans of the genre busy for hours. It’s a gorgeous racing game and while it won’t break any boundaries to convert non-racing game fans, Gran Turismo 7 should really appeal to its target audience. Gran Turismo 7 launches on March 4 for PS4 and PS5. Today Technology was provided with a PS5 code for this review.