7 may be a lucky number, but for the Gran Turismo series, it’s not just luck, but dedication and love from the developers that I’ll go into detail in this review. With the series turning 25 this year, Gran Turismo has an immense history of car simulation and appreciation.

Gran Turismo 7 releases on PS5 and PS4 on 4 March 2022. Note that this review of Gran Turismo 7 is based on my experience playing the game on the PS5.

With that out of the way, let’s dive into this review of Gran Turismo 7!

Graphics and Audio

Gran Turismo games offer some of the most realistic-looking graphics, more than any other competitor out there. Considering that Gran Turismo is equal parts racing and vehicle simulation, it’s easy to see how the game looks so breathtaking compared to other racing games. It’s not just the cars—it’s how they belong so naturally in their surroundings and how light behaves in this game that exemplifies the visual goodness.

Specifically for the PS5 version of the game, players can chose between Frame Rate Mode and Ray Tracing Mode. Obviously, Ray Tracing makes the game look slightly better in exchange for keeping frame rate at 30 FPS. Note that the game actually suggests using Ray Tracing for modes where “quick response time is not really required”, such as race replays and photo mode.

Personally, I can barely notice the difference in graphics when using Ray Tracing mode. Lighting looks a teeny bit better with Ray Tracing on in photo mode, but I cannot tell the difference when viewing replays. For the most part, you’ll ought to be sticking to Frame Rate Mode, where the game run at a consistent 60 FPS.

As for the audio, Gran Turismo 7 uses 3D Spatial Audio. The audio quality is top notch—I could easily differentiate things like the details when driving, such as the sound made when moving from a wide road to a narrow one. Weather effects like rain hitting the roof your car feels natural and just right. Above all else, the sound that each car engine makes is distinct and divine.

Difficulty

The Gran Turismo series has always been a daunting series for racing game newbies to get into. This isn’t your Need For Speed where you just press X and steer—Gran Turismo‘s gameplay hinges more on physics and realism, making control of your vehicle a skill to master.

Thankfully, I feel that Gran Turismo 7 is the most accessible entry in the franchise yet for newcomers. The Assist Preset Selection is divided into three difficulties—Beginner, Intermediate and Expert. Depending on the difficulty, the game will provide assistance in the form of features like Driving Markers, Lines and even how much of the vehicle’s controls are taken care of by the AI. It really helps you get into the groove of things instead of throwing you into the deep end like early Gran Turismo games.

Player assistance aside, you can also choose the difficulty for the AI ranging between Easy, Normal and Hard. The difficulty of the AI in this game feel a lot more appropriate and balanced. Make no mistake—Hard is still an immense challenge.

Gameplay

Instead of open world where you can free roam around like in Forza, the World Map from Gran Turismo 4 makes a return in Gran Turismo 7, letting you choose where you want to explore. The game offers 34 locations and over 90 layouts available for its circuits divided into Americas, Europe, Asia-Oceania. There is a fair share of real life tracks and fantasy tracks to drive around in.

Gran Turismo 7 has over 400 cars for you to drive around in. You can tune them and change them to a terrifyingly in-depth degree. From changing tires to adjusting susnepnsion and transmission there is a lot of different ways to bring the most out of your car. Fine-tuning aside, you can also customise stuff like bumpers, wheels, decals and all sorts of modifications for your ride. Car maintenance is also a thing, so servicing and going for a car wash are important to ensure your car runs at its best.

Players progress in Gran Turismo 7 through the GT Café. The GT Café is essentially a menu that provides quests and missions to complete, giving players a sense of direction and what to do. However, the way Polyphony Digital presents this menu of quests is through a relaxing cafe. You’re not just hopping around quests like the typical menu, you can actually chill in the cafe while learning about the history of cars. If you love cars, you’ll absolute love how GT Café is presented. It took me about 20 hours to clear all the quests, so you can expect a fair bit of things to do.

As for the actual driving, you have many different ways to go about it. Getting a license will probably one of the priorities for many players. There are 5 licenses, ranging from National “B” to Super license. You will need a higher class of license for more prestigious tournaments, so be sure to clear the lessons. Thankfully, the lessons aren’t too hard to complete, especially when compared to older Gran Turismo games.

Licenses aren’t the only restrictions for races. Some races are restricted to specific vehicles. For example, you may be restricted to using a Japanese car with a maximum PP (Performance Point) of up to 600 only. You’ll naturally want to be collecting all sorts of vehicles, so the restrictions are a great way to get you to explore cars that you haven’t fall in love with yet.

Music Rally is a new mode in Gran Turismo 7 that I truly love. Depending on how fast you’re going, the game will set appropriate music with matching BPM to go along with your speed. It’s a cool change of pace that blends racing and rhythm games.

Outside of driving, you can express your love for cars through taking photos of them in Scapes. You can take photos in over 2,500 spots from all around the world for a picturesque memory. Beyond that, there is a huge collection of creative tools that lets you edit photos, replays and even stickers, which can be shared with other players.

Multiplayer

A pleasant surprise is the addition of local co-op in Gran Turismo 7. This is something that I feel is missing in quite a lot of modern racing games nowadays, so it’s awesome that Gran Turismo 7 lets you race with a friend next to you in splitscreen. One thing that I find a bit awkward is how the screen is divided. The screen is split vertically into right and left, instead of up and down like many other games.

Online, you can also race with friends through Rooms or take part in daily Races, Sport Mode and Championships. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to test the online multiplayer in Gran Turismo 7 for this review as the servers were offline.

DualSense Features

Gran Turismo 7 really makes good use of the DualSense features for the PS5. The adaptive trigger makes you feel the difference in weight between cars. A lighter car is easier to accelerate with R2 compared to a heavier one. Depending on how hard you press the R2 or L2 button, you can adjust how fast you want your car to accelerate or break.

Haptic Feedback in Gran Turismo 7 really amps up the immersion. You can clearly feel the specific parts of the controller vibrating when you’re steering.

Closing Thoughts

Gran Turismo 7 is the gold standard of how game franchises should make a new entry. It brings back the features in old games that people love and add new features that are innovative and fun. It’s the most accessible entry in the series to date, with better AI and just about better everything.

Learn more about the game by visiting its product page on the PlayStation Store.