Game Review | Gran Turismo 7 – another you, so I could love you more

This article was brought to you by NAG

I have very fond memories, sitting on the floor just to the side of the TV, watching my dad split-screen race my grandad on their PS1 version of Gran Turismo 2. Often, I’ll be sitting somewhere and the “nnnwwaaauw nwwaaauw” of “My Favourite Game” will pop into my head and I’ll reminisce cruising the streets of Trial Mountain in a Jaguar XJ220. Every time I see some form of the Ford GT40, whether it’s the car itself or the baby blue and orange paint job on something else, I think back to my dad letting the other cars lap him twice on the Super Speedway before he decided he would get his GT40 going.

What I’m trying to say is, 23 years later, Gran Turismo still holds space in my ever-degrading memory bank, specifically Gran Turismo 2.

I’ve dabbled in every Gran Turismo since GT2, but nothing seemed to bring the same joy that GT2 did. Enter Gran Turismo 7. Yes, graphics have changed (ahem, drastically) and there are new features and modes and cars compared to GT2, but GT7 brings me that same joyous feeling I felt all those years ago and that’s why I love it.

Gran Turismo is the more elegant, soft, fine curves, Norwegian interior designer of the racing genre. It’s prim, it’s polished and it’s easy on the eyes. The UI has soft, round edges, the sound effects are gentle, and the music is, mostly, a sunny afternoon at the cafe, with a book in your right hand and a perfectly textured Caffe Crema in the left. It’s calming, it’s soothing and yet it’s still racing.

This time around I feel like they’ve put more attention towards the collecting of the cars; starting off GT7 has a “quest” system in the form of Cafe Menu’s where they mostly focus on collecting a certain type of car to complete. At first, I thought this felt a little “hand-holdy”, I mean, put me in a car and let me race man! but, in reality, it functions so well in getting you to play through the game and experience everything that GT7 has to offer. There are over 400 cars to collect at launch and over 2500 “scapes” for you to use in there, pretty neat, photography mode, your dream of photographing a once in a lifetime car at the salt flats has arrived.

“Fine” you say, “but I’m the kind of collector that takes their collections out of the box”, you say, well good! Let those puppies breathe! Take them out on the racetrack and enjoy them! GT7 is, obviously, a racing game, and race you shall! I found GT7 to have a nice blend of arcade and sim racing with all the assist options that they offer. The default ones, to be honest, are way too much, you could essentially pull the acceleration trigger and let the game do the rest, if you wanted to, but there’s no fun in that. What is nice about it though, is that you can start off with the assists on, and as you get a little braver with that big toe of yours, you can ease up on the assists and really experience the simulated racing that GT7 has on offer. Each car has its own personality and requires its own gentle touch to be brought around a racetrack in first place and each one, is a joy to race. There are few things better than nudging an A45 AMG off pole position with a turbo charged ’65 Mini Cooper S and if you don’t get toe cramps trying to get a Corvette around a corner without it spinning out, then I think you need to get your toes checked.

Speaking of turbo charging a ’65 Mini, GT7 offers an in-depth tuning system as well. You can easily just buy some parts and watch the performance points go up and up, but in the more elite categories, you are offered the option to fine tune each component to squeeze out every last bit of performance from the setup you’ve got installed. Personally, I just bung it in the oven and enjoy the sweet, sweet whistle of a super charger, but the ability to make it your own is there. This doesn’t exclude the appearance of your car either, there’s a full customisation section for your driver and your car, meaning that electric orange, purple lightning Trans Am you had on your wall as a kid is just waiting for you to whip it up.

Of course, with the greatness that is the internet at our fingertips, there is a wide array of online features offered in GT7. Not only can you arrange races with people around the world, but you can share your photographs taken and create a racing profile for all the public to see and if you’re old school, like my grandad, then split screen, the original king of playing with your friends, is included as well.

GT7 is a car fans dream, from collecting, to tuning, to racing, to showing it all off, it’s there and it’s all done in a sleek and professional manner, synonymous with the Gran Turismo name. If you love cars, GT7 will love you.