The world of motors is back on the PlayStation console thanks to Gran Turismo 7, the new racing from Polyphony that we tell you about in our review
The one between Kazunori Yamauchi and the world of engines is a very strong, almost morbid relationship. An infatuation that leads the Japanese designer to experience the four wheels in an absolute and essential way, and which cannot remain confined to one's self, but which must be made manifest and shared with as many people as possible.
This has always been, since 1998 (a year earlier for Japanese gamers), the principle on which the The most famous Real Driving Simulator in the world, a production capable of transcending the simple being a racing game, to become almost a sort of digital journey through the automotive universe. An experience that today touches its creative and proactive peaks, higher thanks to its latest incarnation, that is Gran Turismo 7 that we will try to tell you in the our review.
The pleasure of the story
A verb, that story written above, certainly not randomly placed, but which is vehemently wedged within the modus playandi of the title signed by Polyphony. A production, that linked to Sony consoles, which does not revolve around simply getting on the track, despite its undeniably being a racing game, but which chooses a decidedly more transversal approach.
Get close to Gran Turismo 7, in fact, he will not only see us intent on collecting as many cars as possible (and there are over 400 waiting for us, between old and new), but it will also ask us to make a further effort, aimed at knowing and deepening what we are about to pilot. Yamauchi has in fact given birth to the largest interactive museum dedicated to the world of the automobile, a 360 ° experience that aims to embrace every facet of this great passion of hers.
Telling and telling oneself go hand in hand with the unbridled processing of vehicles, with getting lost within a thousand thousand settings, useful to allow us to file that hundredth of a second that we are missing. The automotive enthusiast does not live, in fact, solely on the basis of the deafening roar of the engine, but he also wants to explore every historical aspect, to know its evolution and importance. All this, in essence, is Gran Turismo 7, a very successful journey to the center of this roaring world, in which the friction of the tires on the asphalt is nothing but the sum of a much more complex and interesting route.
Drive me home - Gran Turismo 7 review
After the parenthesis called Sports, capable of unsettling all the historical fans of the series, Gran Turismo 7 marks a pleasant, how welcome, return to the origins of the brand, which can be found right from the familiar (albeit modern) hub that will welcome us at the first start. Partly greeted the world of online competitions, the new one esclusiva PlayStation it will open before our eyes by means of a map, capable of making the hearts of historical fans beat faster, of which the various interactive segments will be disclosed to us little by little.
Everything starts from Café managed by Luca, the starting point of the renewal single player campaign, where we will find a series of menus waiting for us, each characterized by always different challenges. It is from here, after we have bought our first used car, that we will begin to ring a series of races, in what is a sort of gigantic tutorial: little by little, continuing along 39 chapters, we will unlock the tuning, the legendary car dealer, the multiplayer, the photo mode and much more, up to the iconic Driving license menu.
A return to the past, this, in which each small portion takes its due time to introduce itself and make itself known, a clear sign of how Gran Turismo 7 you want to please the aficionados of the series, but at the same time you also want to be the entry point for a whole new group of fans. Certainly very staid, at times almost Zen, the career of the Polyphony production it is certainly not suitable for those who simply want to give gas, but it is good to underline from now on that it is not this type of user that the title is aimed at.
The progress, in addition to allowing us to unlock tracks and cars (and accumulate credits to spend), will be punctuated by a series of historical and narrative elements, which will allow us to deepen the history of models and brands linked to the world of engines. Whether it is through the words of real existing historical designers, perhaps attracted by the car parked outside the Café, or through the full-bodied showroom, we will be able to embark on a journey capable of embracing the entire life cycle of the invention born from the genius of Karl benz. And it is the game itself that suggests us to choose this more all-encompassing approach, structuring the progression so that it is the knowledge of means and components that allow us to give our best once we get on the track.
Author's Guide - Gran Turismo Review 7
The link with the past of the series is very strong even once we hold the steering wheel in our hands, however virtually: Gran Turismo 7 repeats, in fact, the driving model already appreciated and seen in the spin-off Sport which, in perfect balance between simulative ambitions and accessibility, presents us with one highly scalable system, able to adapt to any type of pilot.
While never trespassing into purely arcade territories, nor simulative tout court, the mechanism for managing the various aids, as well as the general difficulty, allows you to sew the racing experience around each player who, provided you have the patience to miss a moment in the various configuration options, will be able to find the square useful to tame horses and hairpin bends.
Even in this case, however, it is worth underlining how the authorial imprint of Yamauchi, with its peculiar way of understanding racing, is very present and overflowing: Gran Turismo 7 inherits, albeit net of a guide system that is certainly more refined than in the past, the historical "defects" of the series. Say goodbye to people once again cosmetic damage pronounced (but not mechanical, fortunately), which will be limited to a few slight scratches or dents, as well as the various trains of cars often the subject of irony on the web.
The first element, although it may displease many, is nevertheless a sign of extreme coherence with the way that Yamauchi has to mean both driving and the car: it is the game itself, especially in online competitions, that pushes us to a correct and clean gait, which avoids the doors and wild bounces on walls and so on. The means, then, are seen as sacred temples by the designer, to the point of almost considering sacrilegious the mere thought of seeing them irreparably damaged. Regarding caravans, strange as it may seem, it is still a phenomenon that anyone who has ever raced on the track can only find plausible, given that the close search for overtaking never characterizes every single moment of racing.
However, it should be emphasized how the opposing AI is still far from offering a credible and convincing challenge, yes, anchored as it is to behaviors that are not always exciting. Which given how the competition has been moving for some time (yes, let's say to you Drives), can only make us insistently desire the announced implementation of Sophy, the artificial intelligence unveiled a few days ago. Here, then, that the opponents we will find on the track end up representing more of a sort of benchmark for our performance, than a real obstacle to victory.
This being a title that, although complete and full-bodied already at present, aims to expand with the passage of time, by means of future updates, is evident in some shortcomings that could make the most upright fans turn up their mouths: let's talk about the absence of endurance competitions, with the various customizable races that will not allow us to set more than 10 laps per race. A gap that is very out of place also in relation to the presence of variable weather and the day / night cycle, and which would certainly have maximized the impact of such features. We hope that the next updates will fill this gap.
Can we give more? - Gran Turismo 7 review
As already happened with Forza Horizon 5, but also with Forbidden West (just to stay in the Sony), one naturally wonders what it could have been visually Gran Turismo 7 without the ballast of cross-gen development. As far as the scenic impact on PS5 proved to be convincing, however some elements that were decidedly more out of tune than the rest emerged, albeit relegated to marginal portions of the experience. We refer in particular to the rendering of accessory objects on the track, certainly more sketchy than the rest: see on the new hardware Sony NPC made in a sketchy manner, like some architectural and landscape portions, it caused us a little heart skip.
It is true that we talk about irrelevant elements once we find ourselves competing for the lead, but that emerge too much if we decide to have fun with the always excellent replay mode. And also the visual rendering of the rain, mindful of the incredible results appreciated in Drive Club, can only make your mouth twist. Fortunately, at least the impact of wet asphalt on game physics has a very different scope.
Removed these wobbly teeth, however, all the rest touches the heights of photorealism, having a manic vehicle modeling, capable of setting new standards in the genre, whether we are talking about interiors or (especially) exteriors. Getting lost admiring our jewels, albeit in the absence of a feature like Forzavista, it is part of that path of knowledge traced by Yamauchi, and which has its ultimate sublimation in Scapes mode, Or the Official photo mode of Gran Turismo 7.
This is an option that will allow us to immortalize our racing cars within spectacular truly existing scenarios, relying on a photographic component of the highest level. And once you've created the perfect shot, why not share it with users? After all, the motor lover is still an incurable narcissist. The overall performance is solid, whether you choose to prefer the network frame or the visual rendering, although ray tracing, in the latter case, is relegated only to modes that go beyond the track.
Another flagship of the title Polyphony, in perfect coherence with the pedigree of the series, it is the audio compartment which, especially if enjoyed by means of a good pair of headphones, will allow us to fully appreciate the quality of the work done in the sampling phase of the various engines. With the music tracklist that inevitably ends up taking a back seat.
Very good, in a current gen sauce support for DualSense features, capable of taking the stage thanks to the progressive stroke of the triggers, as well as the presence of a haptic feedback able to make us perceive every slightest nuance of the car / track ratio. And there would be much more to say, perhaps about the multiplayer sector, which fully mutates what we saw in Gran Turismo Sport, as well as the split screen, or the Music Rally mode (a sort of race against time to the sound of music), but after almost 1700 words we think we have really said everything there is to know about Gran Turismo 7.
The king is back!
Gran Turismo 7 marks the return with great fanfare of one of the most important brands in the world of videogame racing, thanks to the chapter more massive and impactful since the days of Gran Turismo 3. The new work directed by Kazunori Yamauchi, reaffirms with even more vehemence the creative vision of the Japanese designer, who gives us the most heartfelt and poignant (as well as fun) love letter to engines.
Far from wanting to be a simple racing game, whose ultimate goal is to get on the track to devour the asphalt, the exclusive PlayStation it is a journey aimed at teaching us and making us appreciate the world of four wheels, all through a mix of elements capable of approaching this complex universe from every possible direction. Of course, his desire to be so strongly anchored to his past, albeit revised in a more modern key, will not make the detractors of this peculiar philosophy change their minds, but surely it can only exalt all those who are looking for a more complex and faceted. And in which crossing the finish line first is just the tip of a much more gigantic iceberg.
This concludes our review, and in the hope that you enjoyed it, we renew the invitation to stay in the company of {marca_origen}, as well as to keep an eye on the offers on Instant Gaming.
