The Gran Turismo franchise has made a great name for itself. Every old-school PlayStation gamer remembered his first steps with this racing game. In the beginning of the gaming environment, this game was classified as a Real Driving Simulator. This game offered a challenging race game that would easily enhance your driving skills. Later on, different developers tried to compete with this “Simulator” but only a few would uphold the challenge. A couple of them are worth mentioning when it comes to “Real driving Simulators” namely Forza Motorsport, Project Cars, etc. Times have changed drastically for this type of games and after a couple of years being absent within this gaming genre, it’s Gran Turismo that must re-invent its name and face the challenge to compete with all other driving games. Will this franchise live up to its name? Let’s see.
It’s been a couple of years since Gran Turismo 6 rose to the surface. Rumor had it that Kazunori Yamauchi was working on the next-gen Gran Turismo for the PlayStation 4 but it would only be a small project. In the end, the game gained so much content and got the name Gran Turismo Sport. This game had to be the successor of Gran Turismo 6. However, it didn’t become your average Gran Turismo focused on single player gameplay. In the end, the developers wanted to focus on the social and multiplayer aspect. They would emphasize more on online tournaments and leagues which allows players to develop their racing skills and gain rewards by doing so. It’s something new and different but challenging to attract new and old racing veterans.
Even though the developers are focusing on something new, it does seem to work. The Gran Turismo franchise has succeeded in bringing you one of the most complete experiences you’ll ever get from this “Real Driving Simulator”. The online aspect won’t be for everyone because you always have to be online but the moment you can look past that, it’s a magnificent well worked-out game that offers a great amount of online content. Players can compete in official and non-official single race events or tournaments where the rules are made up by players themselves or by the developers. Every player will gain a certain rating based on their driving experience within the past few days. So placing yourself first or last within a race, will have a major impact on your rating. Not only is this rating based on your “competitive” experience but your behavior on the racing tracks will have a big influence as well. So, don’t be an aggressive driver that’ll push other players off the road because it will be considered for your driver’s rating. This rating system will eventually place you in online events where people will have approximately the same rating as you have.
“It’s something new and different but challenging to attract new and old racing veterans.”
This online rating system is new for the franchise but it’s very known for experienced virtual drivers. The rating system works from the beginning, even though you beg to differ within the first few racing events. The first racing events give you the opportunity to learn how to drive, getting familiar with the game and eventually hone your skills. So these first battles will feel a bit chaotic since the game is still figuring out what kind of player you’ll be. But after a couple of racing events, you’ll be placed within racing events that’ll have equals to battle with. It’ll help you to be positive and challenge your limits. It will always be a satisfying win because your racing against other players with the same level of experience. It’ll be hard but eventually, it will be an honest fight. The physics within the game are also spot on but it doesn’t bring the kind of next level experience like Project Cars 2 did.
Gran Turismo was also a game that was very keen on the eyes and this time it’s still no different. The game looks gorgeous, colorful and realistic. Gran Turismo succeeds in bringing you a realistic view of these different cars and racing environments. Forza Motorsport had its fair share of coming on top when it came to beautiful graphics, but it wasn’t for long until Gran Turismo climbed its way to the top once again. The differences between Gran Turismo and any other “current” racing game is tremendous, and it makes other racing games look like old gen consoles.
The game also offers a photo mode where all the available cars can be photographed on different environments. Some of these environments are real-life photos where a car of your choice can be placed in. Every detail of the car can be spotted thanks to this special photo mode. If you’re a CARoholic than this is THE game for you. Buy a new TV, use the PlayStation’s PRO 4K mode and you’ll be blown away by this gorgeous work of art. However, this mode can’t make up for the fact that the game only offers 160 cars and 17 tracks. Wouldn’t it be a lot cooler if you could take some photos from special vehicles or even cars from the old ages? Hopefully, Gran Turismo won’t fall to these DLC diseases, but I think it’s already too late to hope for something different.
Gran Turismo Sport offers a lot of great things and quality for its money; however, the game doesn’t offer a lot of new things when it comes to “innovating”. Even though the game is worth your money, it does bring the franchise down a level when it comes to the single-player experience. One of the best gameplay modes in theGran Turismo franchise was the fact that you had a career mode. A mode where you start as a racing noob, got new cars while climbing up the ranks, earning race licenses and eventually become the king of the racing tracks. This mode is completely absent and that’s a shame. There are still events where you can earn licenses and money to buy new cars, but you don’t feel like it’s a whole package. They are separate from each other and that’s the reason why it doesn’t feel like it’s the next big thing. I see this “absent mode” as a downgrade instead of an upgrade. Gran Turismo feels more like an arcade kind of game than an adventurous mode where you would become a professional driver within the racing universe. A career mode is key to the Gran Turismo franchise.
Conclusion:
Gran Turismo is a great racing game, but I don’t think we can’t mark it as the next generation of “Real Driving Simulator” games. The online system works and that’s the reason why the game should definitely earn a spot alongside the other racing games. However, the game offers a lot less than previous Gran Turismo games and other popular racing franchises. The lack of a Career mode doesn’t feel right to me, especially when it comes to the Gran Turismo franchise. It was a classic mode that made Gran Turismo into a great franchise. The game also offers 160 cars and 17 tracks, all beautifully created but is it enough? The VR mode is also a nice touch that’ll definitely be popular among those veteran players. Gran Turismo Sport is a great addition to the next-gen amount of racing games but it’s not the best.
