Gran Turismo 7: Champion among simulators

Only PlayStation owners will be able to enjoy the seventh episode of Sony's award-winning racing series.

Riding in the wind of the backrest and squeaking the tires on the asphalt has always captivated a group of people looking for an adrenaline rush at fast speeds wherever, including the world of games. As a result, game developers began to develop realistic simulators that simulate the sensation of a genuine race. Of course, within the limits of technical feasibility.

This category also includes the Gran Turismo brand, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. In style, no less. Polyphony Digital and Sony Publishing have "delivered" players a full-fledged sequel, armed with the capability of today's PlayStation consoles and the capacity to blur the barrier between game and reality.

Is this to say that Gran Turismo 7 is superior to earlier installments? And how does it fare in comparison to the competition? We've got the answers.

All roads lead to the race circuit

Your fantasies about a career as a professional racer will become a reality in the seventh Gran Turismo. As soon as you complete the basic settings, you will be transported to a world of fast wheels and high speeds situated in a lovely vacation resort. You may access all game features and material from here.

The standard single-player mode, multiplayer over the Internet and in the form of a split-screen, and the competitive Sport mode, in which your performance is evaluated and compared with players from all over the world, are all available here.

This trio forms the foundation of a gaming experience that necessitates a willingness to study yet rewards you with hundreds of hours of pure enjoyment.

You might also be interested in the new, more casual Music Rally mode, in which you go through checkpoints while listening to a song.

However, this would not be conceivable without rapid cars. Gran Turismo 7 has a portfolio of almost 400 licensed vehicles from top manufacturers. You can ventilate the classic Ford Mustang, the legendary Porsche 911, the famous James Bond Aston Martin, and the Bugatti Veyron created for global cream. But every car has a price tag.

And what better way to earn it than by racing? The game includes 97 tracks spread across 34 locations, some of which are virtual copies of real circuits, while others were developed just for gaming purposes. This is a very good introduction to the tracks and vehicles, but for those who want more, more will be added in the future in the form of updates.

One of the most notable developments in the virtual cafe, in which we receive collecting missions - for example, obtain three Japanese sports cars - and learn interesting information about the history as well as the benefits of different cars. This educational component is an important feature of the seventh section and is also available in the game showroom.

Thus, the Gran Turismo 7 game map depicts a vehicle utopia, a true promised land for all motorsport enthusiasts. You will not only be able to drive in it, but you will also be able to admire the genius of automotive designers. Other titles have demonstrated a similar devotion to the business, but Polyphony Digital takes it to a new level.

Most racers will tell you that only at high speeds do they feel truly alive, and Gran Turismo 7 does not shy away from instilling that sensation. You sit behind the wheel of a race car from the start and can cut corners, overtake opponents, and improve your times in a sophisticated driving model with an emphasis on realism.

Not for nothing did the developers hire seven-time Formula One world winner Lewis Hamilton as a consultant. Driving enjoyment is the fictitious apex of racing simulators, and you frequently have the impression that you are sitting in a real automobile. However, thanks to help systems, you don't have to feel burdened by responsibilities.

Sir Isaac Newton would appreciate how the game is governed by real-world physics rules, and how every action (such as a driver error) logically elicits a reply. The only exceptions are the shocks, which are the series' Achilles heel. Even the Seven lacks a damage model, and each collision with a passing car results in a brief bounce.

This isn't so much of a problem in Sport mode because you have to dodge it, but it does affect singleplayer.

Tuning and vehicle modification, in addition to driving, are important aspects of the gameplay. In this regard, the developers have given us a lot of leeways, and we can "tinker" with dozens of various components and parameters. With a little money, you can also turn a 50-year-old veteran into a powerful machine capable of contending with today's cars.

This system is quite sophisticated, but you don't need an engineering degree to operate it. The designers created a fantastic "tweak" - a comprehensive indicator of the vehicle's performance, based on which you can always tell if your alterations help or harm the vehicle. As a result, you won't be confused between engines, gearboxes, and clutches.

High resolution car show

Gran Turismo 7 looks like the "crème de la crème" of racing games, the best in the genre. Vehicles and tracks are indistinguishable from reality, and the only reminder that you are in a virtual environment is the view of grandstands and other distant objects with a substantially lower level of realism.

However, the trip and everything associated with it is a delightfully addictive visual experience, which is aided by the brilliantly caught variations in the weather. That is why it makes little difference that ray tracing technology, which provides realistic light reflections, is not directly used in gameplay and can only be found in replay mode, Scapes photo mode, and demo scenes.

While we're on the subject of the photo series, the creators have provided us with a variety of tools to help us capture eye-catching images of their vehicles. They don't have to stay in the console's storage, but thanks to the Showcase gaming platform, they may be enjoyed by gamers from all over the world. Not only images but also car designs and driving records are available.

Gran Turismo 7 is primarily an online platform for automotive enthusiasts to meet, engage, and share their gaming experiences. This is aided by good connectivity, with which we had no major issues during the game. Only on rare occasions did the other players' vehicles move jerkily.

Technically, the authors have fine-tuned everything so that the PlayStation 5 version operates smoothly in 4K resolution (3,840 x 2,160 pixels), even while using a graphics preset that promotes a faster frame rate. We propose this setting to anyone who is serious about racing - the ray-tracing graphics style is a needless "luxury."

Furthermore, the great utilization of the DualSense driver has increased our experience with Sony's next-generation platform. Let's face it, it's not a professional steering wheel, and you'll need one if you want to be among the greatest, but the haptic reaction of this tiny marvel flawlessly matched the experience of real driving. 

Gran Turismo 7 is grandiose, but the extremely intimate, celebration of motorsport, made by fans for enthusiasts. From a fully reproduced driving model to intricate car models and a wealth of attractions, there is a tremendous fondness for the world of racing. And if you share the same passion as the Polyphony Digital team, the Seven Gran Turismo is made for you.

Of course, if you're seeking a racing simulator rather than a pleasant arcade game like Forza Horizon 5. The new Gran Turismo, on the other hand, is a different kind of high-octane experience that will provide you with precisely as much joy as you are willing to invest first. At the same time, it is not perfect, and it demands a more elegant solution, particularly in the area of automobile crashes, although we recognize that this has drawbacks.

However, we must underline that, while the game focuses on building a worldwide community, it does not overlook the soloists. The seven can enjoy the favor of players for a very long time with the continual delivery of new courses and the increase of the range of cars. To be sure, a superior racing simulator would be useless on the market. Kazunori Yamauchi, the Gran Turismo series' spiritual father, has once again pushed the industry's boundaries.

On March 4, Gran Turismo 7 will be published exclusively for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.