Gaming Influence: Review - Gran Turismo 7 (PS5)

Hello everyone, 

Welcome to Gaming Influence which is a reboot of the same name that I created back in WrestleCorp. However, not only will I be giving my thoughts on certain video games and video game series, but also video game movies, video game anime, video game digital presentations, etc.

For this edition of Gaming Influence, I'll be going back to my roots with this one being a review of a video game. In terms of the game I'll be reviewing, it's a request from Murdock (Stark Sinclair), and it's none other than Gran Turismo 7.

Anyway, let's get started!

Now, this is where I would talk about what is Gran Turismo and so forth, but already covered that when I talked about the State of Play of Gran Turismo 7 as you can check out my thoughts on the digital presentation with the link below:

Gaming Influence: Thoughts - Gran Turismo 7 State of Play 2/2/22

Before I start the review, I'm going to go over my criteria on what makes a fun racing simulation game:

• Tracks
• Gameplay
• Modes
• Graphics
• Music

Also, when reviewing this game, I'll be talking about the PS5 version so keep that in mind and will touch on the base game and not with the updates that they've added for the past few months. Alright, now with that out of the way, let's start the review!

Tracks

One of the most essential features that a racing simulation game needs to be fun, is having great and fun tracks to race on. If the tracks in a racing simulation are generic, have no depth to them, or not fun enough to race them on, then it won't be fun at all and it kind of hurts the game a bit in my opinion. 

With Gran Turismo 7, there are 35 tracks to race on with 25 of these tracks having alternative layouts. That's an impressive number of tracks in this game and I feel like each track is unique and different in their own way in this game. 

Some of my favorite tracks include Deep Forest Speedway, Trial Mountain, High Speed Ring, Apricot Hill, and Red Rock Valley Speedway to name some.

Here's an example of what a track is like in-game:

Despite having some pretty good tracks here, they are missing some classic tracks that were in previous Gran Turismo games but didn't show up here which felt weird not seeing them in this game.

Granted, they will add more tracks due to the updates that they have been putting out on the game, but we'll see how the tracks are overall once the updates are completed.

As for the base game, pretty good overall where they have a good mix of tracks here but missing some classic ones which hopefully can be fixed once the updates are completed.

8.5/10

Gameplay

Just like with other game, in order for a racing game to be fun, gameplay is essential. To me, a racing game needs to feel like you're actually driving the car that you are using. Whether it's the speed or the pressure on the tires when you turn, you need to feel like you're the character driving that car in the game. 

With Gran Turismo 7 and with the use of the DualSense controller for PS5, it really does feel like you're driving the car due to the car physics in this game which is very impressive. When driving the car in the game, you can feel the tension and pressure of the front wheels of the car which feels awesome and next level of what the next generation of gaming should be like. 

Now, without the DualSense controller for PS5, using the DualShock controller for PS4 would be the same as your typical Gran Turismo game which is usually fun. However, with the use of the DualSense controller, this is the future of what the Gran Turismo games should feel like as it's that good and I don't think there's no going back after experiencing it myself.

10/10

Modes

For racing games, having a variety of modes for players to play with is essential because players don't want to play the same mode over and over again so changing things up for a racing game is great. Without extra modes in a racing game, it would get really repetitive even playing with different players or by yourself which cause disinterest in the game over time.

For Gran Turismo 7, they have a good variety of modes that players can play with to gain interest of players to continue playing over time. These modes include World Circuits, Licence Centre, Missions, and Music Rally to name some.

World Circuits are basically your typical racing mode where you race certain tracks in a tournament and whoever get the most points in the end wins the tournament. Despite every racing game having this, it's fun as usual whether you play against CPUs or other players online, it's always a blast to race in World Circuits so that stays the same.

Licence Centre is a mode that originated from the first game in the series where players can take on short time trial challenges. Basically, this is a time trail mode which is also in pretty much every other racing game, but the concept is always great, and this mode continues to be fun as expected.

Missions are different compared to World Circuits and Licence Centre where the player needs to achieve certain objectives in order to complete the mission such as aiming to be the fastest in a straight line or accumulating the most points with drifting to name a few. This is another mode that is quite common in racing games, but just like with the previous two modes, it's fun in the end and these missions can pack quite a challenge too.

Music Rally is a new mode for the Gran Turismo series where players can drive while listening to the music. Now, this is a mode that is really common in racing games, but this is a very welcome addition to the Gran Turismo series as this game does have pretty good music and listening to what you want while you drive is awesome. Love it.

Even though all of the modes in this game have what almost every racing game has, they're a lot of fun and with the new mode of Music Rally, this really make this the best Gran Turismo game yet with the modes that they have.

9/10

Graphics

Even though graphics are not the important aspect of what makes a video game, but graphics are essential to bring eyes on the game itself. It's similar to covers on books and posters on movies, if it looks interesting, people will try it out and see what it is about themselves which applies to video games as well.

With the graphics of Gran Turismo 7, it’s out of this world. The Gran Turismo series generally do their best to make the best graphics possible for their games as they want to not only make their cars look detailed, but also make the environments and tracks look stunning and beautiful to look at. Gran Turismo 7 is the best example for the series yet when it comes to graphics as it looks very realistic and be compared to real life cars and environments as well.

Here are a few examples to demonstrate how beautiful Gran Turismo 7 looks as well as comparing to past Gran Turismo games:

Not only that, the way that they also affect the weather with the clouds is a sight to behold as well in the game. 

With the use of photo-realistic graphics for the game, this is the best-looking Gran Turismo game yet.

10/10

Music

Despite a lot of people not thinking that music makes a game, it kind of does. Granted, music doesn’t make a game, but it does help make a game feel more impactful with the addition of music. Depending on the music, it will make players feel a certain way or emotion in a segment of the game that can enhance the overall experience of the game as a whole.

In Gran Turismo 7, the music in this game is definitely well made with its soundtrack with its use of variety of different tones and melodies to make the players feel a certain emotion when racing in the game.

Here are a few music tracks from the soundtrack of Gran Turismo 7 of what the game is like:

With these types of music when racing, it makes the players feel the adrenaline and excitement when racing on the track going on full speed which is the purpose of having music in a racing game. Gran Turismo 7 delivers in that front with the use of its energetic beats whether it be licensed or non-licensed music, they're something to enjoy listening to whether in game or outside of the game.

In addition, with the use of the Music Rally, you can listen to these music tracks in this special mode while worrying about winning the race which is totally awesome as it makes it easier for players to enjoy the music whenever they please to.

So, enjoy the music in Gran Turismo 7 however you like as you will be in for a ride.

10/10

Overall, despite being not perfect in my eyes, Gran Turismo 7 is pretty much the best example of what a racing game should be as it is definitely the best Gran Turismo game in the series in my opinion especially on PS5. If I were playing this game on PS4, it would be a little bit different, but my overall feelings for the game would remain the same as it’s an excellent racing simulation game with fun gameplay, beautiful graphics, and awesome music to listen to. If you’re into racing simulation games, this game is for you and with more updates coming to the game in the future, it’s only going to get better from here.

Verdict

8.5/10 + 10/10 + 9/10 + 10/10 + 10/10 = 47.5/50

9.5/10 = Excellent

That is my review of Gran Turismo 7.

Does this review help you get more interested in purchasing the game yourself?

Let me know why or why not in the comments below.

Thank you for reading and special thanks once again to Murdock (Stark Sinclair) for this topic.