For a long time, Gran Turismo has served an important role for PlayStation by showcasing the phenomenal graphics of each console generation. When gamers wish to see how much closer gaming has come to photorealism, Gran Turismo has continually provided the perfect benchmark. The first game in the series was released in 1997 on the original console, and while it may not impress modern gamers, it was a technical marvel for its time. The Gran Turismo series has also been a cheerleader for PlayStation’s portable consoles, and the PSP edition of Gran Turismo, if one is willing to forgive the excruciating loading times, provides one of the best visual experiences on the handheld.
All eyes are on Gran Turismo once again with the upcoming release of Gran Turismo 7 which should be a visual feast on the PS5, although it will also be receiving a PS4 release. With so many Gran Turismo games preceding it, Gran Turismo 7 runs the risk of falling into franchise fatigue, but fortunately, the game brings enough new features to prevent that from happening.
Relax in the Gran Turismo Café
Gamers who play Gran Turismo 7 on the PS5 will be treated to some next-generation bells and whistles which include ray-tracing, reduced loading times thanks to the PS5’s SSD, 3D audio, DualSense controller support to provide immersive haptic feedback, and 4K 60FPS gaming with HDR support. Players who will be racing on the PS4 need not worry about having an experience that feels dated, because they will also get to enjoy some new features.
Gran Turismo 7 will feature a new game mode called Gran Turismo Café where players have car collection “menus” to complete. The menus are completed by winning races and championships, and there will be over 30 car menus to complete. Gran Turismo Café will be an integral part of the game because, according to the director, Kazunori Yamauchi, completing all the menus will result in the game’s completion.
With Gran Turismo 7, Yamauchi wants to celebrate car culture, and Gran Turismo Café is one of the ways he intends to do this. When players hang out in the café, they can learn more about the history of cars and different car brands. Players may even hear from designers and engineers that have worked on cars, making the café as educational as it is fun. Although Gran Turismo has featured a car museum before, this is a new twist that deepens the franchise’s adoration of car culture, allowing players to discover more about the work that went behind some of their favorite vehicles.
Gran Turismo 7 Introduces the Music Rally Mode
Gran Turismo offers an assortment of races to participate in, including 24-hour endurance races that have players doing several laps around Nürburgring. Gran Turismo 7 will bring more races, including an interesting new Music Rally mode. This mode, as the name suggests, blends music and racing in a novel way. Players must race to reach checkpoints, but instead of a timer, players have beats. The objective is for players to make it to the next checkpoint before the beats run out, and to race until they can listen to a song from start to finish. Players can increase the number of beats they have by passing through colored gates, and different songs will have a different number of beats per minute. When regular races grow too frustrating, the Music Rally mode will likely be a fun change of pace.
As usual, Gran Turismo 7 will be catering to car fans first and foremost by featuring an almost impossibly large catalog of vehicles to try out. Although series veterans will likely feel right at home with the upcoming release, new features like the Music Rally mode and Gran Turismo Café ensure that the game is not just a clone of previous Gran Turismo titles.
Gran Turismo 7 is scheduled to release on March 4, 2022, on PS4 and PS5.
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