Gran Turismo 7 (GT7) is the latest chapter in the long-running racing franchise, which has attempted to highlight and capture the speed, power, and beauty of car racing for 25 years. While there technically isn’t a “story,” players will embark on a campaign to become a world-famous racer by engaging in a variety of races and challenges scattered across the globe.
Some of these will require specific vehicles before you can get to the starting line, while others will be challenges, like completing a lap with a limited amount of gasoline in your tank. Some races will also require licenses proving that you have the technical skill to control a powerful vehicle.
As you meet these requirements, you’ll head to over 90 different tracks across the Americas, Europe, and Asia to compete against AI-controlled opponents, or even against human competitors testing their driving abilities.
As players successfully complete courses, they’ll earn credits to buy new machines, as well as vehicles that can be added to their car collection. Every car can be modified thanks to a tuner shop that provides tailored performance parts, like additional horsepower or tighter handling for corners.
More than 460 cars have been included from manufacturers from around the world, from rally cars and supercars to luxury vehicles and off-road machines. Interiors and exteriors have been meticulously recreated to showcase each vehicle, with slick presentational videos and links to external promotional content as well.
Players will also have the option to take their own promotional photos with their cars via the Scapes feature, which features more than 2500 scenes from places around the world, or watch the vehicles highlighted in visually striking clips thanks to the Scapes Movies feature.
GT7 may seem like it’s really designed only for hardcore racing fans, but newcomers and casual racers will find the gameplay very accessible thanks to the menu system at the in-game café, which gives a minor amount of structure when it comes to courses to enter and challenges to take on.
Once you’ve cleared a number of the campaign elements, though, and opened up multiplayer races or missions, you’re provided with a better sense of track competition and fast-paced play through its various modes. Like all cars, GT7 does have some pings and knocks that you’ll uncover as you’re flying across highways or tarmacs.
For one thing, the amount of credits that you’ll earn for a race is incredibly low. Even with perfectly clean races and racing lines, you earn fractions of the amount of credits you need to earn a mid-tier, premium, or luxury vehicle, so you’ll be grinding your way through previously completed races repeatedly to earn credits, or sinking cash into the store for the machine you really want.
Platforms
PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
We say:
Gran Turismo 7 is the pinnacle of simulation racing, with a wide array of vehicles, customisation options, and experiences that both newbies and series veterans will enjoy.
Rating: 5/5 stars
