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| Mazda uses Gran Turismo as a platform to show their dedication to rotary-powered cars by committing to only create them in video games. |
It is a big deal, of course. The Gran Turismo series is one of the most realistic driving games available today, featuring a huge array of cars and stunning photo-realistic graphics that would surely push the Playstation hardware to the edge. It is an exciting time for a long-time Gran Turismo fan like myself.
It just so happens that one of my cousins is a beta-tester at Polyphony Digital, and I have been able to get my hands on a pre-production PS5 and a secret beta copy of GT7.
With a massive release like this, there are many things that Polyphony Digital are trying to improve over the previous titles, while coming up with new content to keep the series fresh. This game being still in beta stages however means that there are some glitches and bugs as well.
Here are some of the things that I have observed while playing this game.
- The new intro video, at over 3 minutes long, features brand new, never-before-used music. A special in-game timer is shown on the screen to let you know how fast your button mashing has achieved to skip this new intro.
- Over 1500 cars will be featured. In a stunning improvement over the previous games, only about 530 of them are different variations of the Nissan Skyline GT-R.
- Some classic enthusiast cars such as the Mitsubishi Eclipse and the Ford Mustang are back as well. Weirdly, due to a rendering error, they now look like some kind of ugly crossover.
- Faraday Future makes a surprise appearance in the game. However, when you try to go to their dealership, the screen goes to an infinite loading screen and no cars are ever shown.
- Cars are once again organized by their performance groups. For instance, hypercars such as the Koenigsegg One:1 and the Bugatti Chiron have the N1000 rating to reflect their real world performance; and on the other end of the spectrum, all Volvos have an N100 rating, also to reflect their real world performance.
- License Mode is back. In addition to the B, A, I-C, I-B, and I-A Licenses, there's now an ultra difficult "PR" License where you have to roleplay as a spokesperson for Elon Musk.
- To reflect on the advancement of modern technology, autonomous driving is introduced to the game. However, the AI doesn't seem to be very realistic, as the Model S that I piloted did not attempt to drive full speed towards a fire truck, a semi-trailer, or a concrete divider.
- The revamped Sport Mode provides three difficulty settings: Novice, Professional, and Survival mode, which is a 16-player lobby all driving Gr. 3 Nissan GT-Rs around Monza with their brakes disabled.
- Sport Mode also features a revamped Penalty System -- if you cut a corner, you will be automatically penalized with a 3-second penalty; if you rear-end another car, you will be automatically penalized with a 5-second penalty; if somebody rear-ends you out of nowhere, you will be automatically sent to the shadow realm and ejected from the race.
- The Daily Races makes a return as well, with three different races to choose from each week. When I played, I had the option to play an endurance race with Gr. 2 race cars, a short high-speed race with Gr. 3 race cars, and a long test of patience where you lap the Nurburgring 20 times in a go-kart.
- The new game introduces even more variety of race events than any other previous titles, and promises to challenge you more than ever -- as now you have to spend even more time to find that oval race to grind for the most amount of cash so you can buy a Miura for $20 million.
- Before committing to buying a new car, you can now test drive vehicles on a test track to test out their performance and handling. After some exhaustive testing, I ended up with a fleet of Volkswagens.
- NASCAR makes a return to the game. To keep with the current political climate, the outside parking lot at Daytona is filled with a bunch of angry hillbillies flying the confederate flag while erecting Kid Rock statues.
- A rendering glitch has been reported where some BMWs appear to have a supermassive blackhole on the front fascia where a regular-sized grill is supposed to be. For some reason, BMW has expressed no interest to address this issue.
- In a series first, there is a cross-promotion with the movie Ford v. Ferrari. You can live as Ken Miles as you drive a Ford GT40 down the Mulsanne Straight. However, having Matt Damon appear in a cutscene having an orgasm as I revved past 7,000rpm was a bit much.
- The game now features a fully operational used car marketplace, where you can sell your own car to another user online. Sadly, the realism of this game mode could also do with some work, as the cost of used Supras and Civics often reach beyond $100,000.
- The Grand Tour track was going to be introduced into the game. However, according to the dev team, Jeremy Clarkson got hungry during a recording session and now Forza owns the rights for the next 4 games.
- With the continued partnership with FIA, Formula 1 is retained in the game, with the addition of sponsors as a way to inject realism. Sponsors will interact with you in many different ways. For instance, upon signing with the Mercedes F1 team, you will be sponsored with a brand new AMG GT-R as a reward. However, signing with other teams also means that you will personally be receiving a series of angry tweets from Rich Energy calling you a loser.
- Following the success of the Lewis Hamilton DLC in GT Sport, where you compete against other racing fans to beat his lap times, there is now a Romano Fenati DLC, where you line up to wait behind other racing fans to beat the living crap out of him.
- I found a special minigame: If you visit the Nissan dealership in East City, you will find yourself crawling out of a Tuba case in Lebanon while being pursued by Interpol.
- Many of the beloved city tracks, such as Seattle, New York, and Hong Kong are back, fully showcasing the new life-like dynamic environment system such as overcast, rain, fog, fire coming out of burning buildings, and smoke from tear gas grenades.
- Vision Gran Turismo makes a return. In an unrelated note, I was able to confirm that my garage's "Delete Car" feature works amazingly well.
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