The much anticipated Gran Turismo 7 has finally released, and I get the sense that the franchise is actually living up to the hype for the first time since GT5 or even 4. If you're an adult who grew up on this series you're probably going to like 7, and if you're a newcomer to the series you're also probably going to like 7.
The new look GT mode's primary feature is the GT Cafe, which serves to give you missions to complete throughout the campaign. It's a more linear game than we're used to seeing, though it goes retain GT's traditional open-endedness in the form of additional races and activities not tied to GT Cafe progression. Beyond this, the old mainstays of GT mode are all back, from tuning parts, to a used car yard, to oil changes and car maintenance, as well as a few improvements to said features, such as the largest selection of visual customisation options yet.
A big and much needed change to races in campaign mode is the inclusion of difficulty levels and removal of rubberbanding. Whilst the races are still catch the rabbit style, the thrill of the chase is greatly enhanced by having a harder mode and not seeing the lead AI suddenly go 10 seconds a lap faster just because you're in 1st. This will tide me over until Sophy is implemented in a later update.
As for online, Sport mode makes a return largely unchanged. This was the highlight of Sport, so little change to the iRacing-lite formula was necessary for 7. There are however new features here, such as the launch week races having specific power and weight limits that players have to build their road cars around. Custom lobbies also remain available.
However it is important to point out that your options are limited at first; many features are locked until you've made some GT Cafe progress, and some circuits won't unlock for free play until the mid to late game. This could be off putting for sim racers who are used to sandbox style games and/or career modes segregated from free race options. But if one is willing to treat GT7 as a journey and enjoy slowly unlocking content rather than fret too much about a destination, you should be able to have a lot of fun with this game, and whilst it's not perfect, I believe GT7 is indeed excellent, hence the 5 star rating.
The new look GT mode's primary feature is the GT Cafe, which serves to give you missions to complete throughout the campaign. It's a more linear game than we're used to seeing, though it goes retain GT's traditional open-endedness in the form of additional races and activities not tied to GT Cafe progression. Beyond this, the old mainstays of GT mode are all back, from tuning parts, to a used car yard, to oil changes and car maintenance, as well as a few improvements to said features, such as the largest selection of visual customisation options yet.
A big and much needed change to races in campaign mode is the inclusion of difficulty levels and removal of rubberbanding. Whilst the races are still catch the rabbit style, the thrill of the chase is greatly enhanced by having a harder mode and not seeing the lead AI suddenly go 10 seconds a lap faster just because you're in 1st. This will tide me over until Sophy is implemented in a later update.
As for online, Sport mode makes a return largely unchanged. This was the highlight of Sport, so little change to the iRacing-lite formula was necessary for 7. There are however new features here, such as the launch week races having specific power and weight limits that players have to build their road cars around. Custom lobbies also remain available.
However it is important to point out that your options are limited at first; many features are locked until you've made some GT Cafe progress, and some circuits won't unlock for free play until the mid to late game. This could be off putting for sim racers who are used to sandbox style games and/or career modes segregated from free race options. But if one is willing to treat GT7 as a journey and enjoy slowly unlocking content rather than fret too much about a destination, you should be able to have a lot of fun with this game, and whilst it's not perfect, I believe GT7 is indeed excellent, hence the 5 star rating.
