Name: Gran Turismo Sport
Developer: Polyphony Digital
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Released: 18, October 2017
Platforms: PlayStation 4
Reviewed on: PlayStation 4
Acquired: This review is based on a self bought copy of the game
Gran Turismo returns once more, but with a bigger competition than there was 20 years ago, does it have what it takes to keep up with the others?
Gran Turismo arrived on 23, December 1997 in Japan and 12, May 1998 in Europe on the original PlayStation. And since release this series have been known for their details on the cars and for solid gameplay through the years. But with all the competition there is you have to evolve to keep up.
Graphics
Gran Turismo Sport really delivers when it comes to graphics and details, and is one of the best looking car games in recent time. This may not come as shock since Gran Turismo has always been known for it. It’s smooth and has some great colors. I played it on a regular PS4 and there is nothing that I know of to complain about it. I haven’t experience any drop in framerate or any thing like that. In VR Tour which is the VR mode details has been slightly reduced to maintain steady framerate during races. But it still looks good, and the interior in cars are excellent and in VR you will be amazed of the level in details of the cars.
10/10
Controls
Gran Turismo Sport is more a simulator when it comes to the controls. But also feeling familiar to it’s previous instalments. Cars feels heavy and will slide if pushing them to hard. Steering can be tricky if not used carefully, and can feel a bit unresponsive on lowest settings. You will have to practice a lot to get known with every car, and how to control them.
7/10
Gameplay
Gameplay is where I felt the most conflicted and was not certain if i liked it or not. Was it the nostalgia that did this maybe.
First off the cars feels great but can be really difficult to control because of the physics, there is a lot of assists to turn on to help you. But many want to play without any assists and that can be difficult to handle the car. The cars spin out easy and is hard to control so unless you are driving a 4WD you will have to get used to spin out of the track. At least with a controller it is difficult and I think it’s weird there’s almost none options to calibrate/tune the controls except for steering sensitivity. Project Cars really showed how to implement that and give players the option to how they want it. Also the counter-steering is to brutal even with assist on, even with a slight steering correction the rears jumps out and you spin out. But if you want you can just turn on all assists and just hold the acceleration and the game do the rest for you.
Rally returns aswell but it’s very limited with tracks and cars. It is a nice break from racing on tarmac, but it doesn’t give much. The cars just feels slippery when driving on gravel so you are just sliding from side to side to get through.
Then the most important part the cars.
It’s weird that there is only 170 cars available at the moment, when Gran Turismo 5 had over 1000 cars. And it feels a bit thin comparing to Forza 7 which has over 700 cars, there is announced more cars to come but at the moment it is lacking so much in the car selection. Also because almost every manufacturer has just the same car with different classes.
That applies to the tracks also with it’s 17, opposite GT5 that had 100. Every track has different variations to them in time of day and some of them the weather.
The relatively small selection had not been so bad if the game had offered a proper campaign mode with leagues and tournaments, but at the same time. Instead, everything is getting a variety of training modes and challenges, which despite being educated are not far enough to make up for decent traditional cups. I want to win the trophies and achieve real victory, not a golden disco-ball.
One thing people maybe will have a reaction to, is that you will not be able to play the single player unless you are connected to the internet. The arcade mode is all available offline. For a game that does not seem to be a full-fledged Gran Turismo title, it’s completely incomprehensible that Sport in fact a online-only game.
Despite a little optimal single player mode, Polyphony has fortunately not introduced real-time microtransactions. In return, we get some different resources that can be collected and used on various items.
By running and winning races you will receive Credits. This is the currency of the game and lets us buy flickering new cars. How much you get per race depends not surprisingly on how well you do it. In addition to Credits, we have “Milage Points”, a currency that you can switch to special items like new outfits for the avatar and modifications to your car. Finally, we have “Distance Driven”, which tells us how far we’ve driven, which helps to unlock other “achievements”. Virtually all of this also helps increase your profile level, which will offer prices like new cars and lanes available in arcade mode.
Gran Turismo Sport delivers a VR mode as mentioned called VR Tour, that is compatible with the PSVR. it is a fun experience but it is not a really deep mode. It’s only a 1vs1 duel against the AI,where you race against each other. You also have showroom, where you can take a look on your cars. But you can only look at it from the outside which is weird, when they have made cars so detailed.
VR is a fun mode to try, but it is not enough to give people a reason to buy PSVR just for that.
6/10
Multiplayer
The multiplayer offers a mode where you can play without risk with friends and unfamiliar, but the real fun is to be found in Sports mode. Here you will find exclusively rated races, but they stand out by requiring you to write up on races that take place a certain number of times per hour. Everyday there are three such races that run over and over again, and there will be official tournaments in the future. However, I wonder why there are only three different races at a time, because one has to wait around twenty minutes from a race start to the next of the same kind of beginner, it will be a while to wait if you want to drive the same race time after time – something I think is quite fine because it takes time to get to know both cars and courts.
Gran Turismo Sport puts a lot of emphasis on sporting behavior. The game is forcing you to watch two YouTube videos on how to behave.
The focus on sporting behavior is reflected in being punished when crashing and sabotaging the opponents, as well as trying to cut turns by driving on the outside of the road. It’s a philosophy I like very well, but still needs to be implemented right so as not to spoil the experience. So far, this only works a few groves. For although it is good and right that those who sabotage others are punished, the system often makes mistakes of who it is who creates nausea. It’s annoying to be penalized if you’re the one who gets pushed away, even the smallest penalty seconds can ruin a race.
7/10
Replay value
Car games in general can have a lot of replay value because of their genre. And the same can be said about Gran Turismo. You can always just pick a car and drive offline racing for hours. Or head in Sport mode and drive against others. So it makes it easy to just pick up and play whenever you want.
8/10
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Multiplayer 7
7/10
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Graphics 10
10/10
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Gameplay 6
6/10
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Controls 7
7/10
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Replay Value 8
8/10
Verdict
Gran Turismo Sport is a great game that will give racing fans hours of enjoyment on PlayStation 4. It is one of the most beautiful racing games on console, and keeps the Gran Turismo standards. It might be a disappointing game for GT veterans for not including a single player campaign. But can live for a long time if the online servers comes with more content and is fresh. Content wise it is a bit short at the moment, but if they keep adding cars and tracks it will be better.
Overall
7.6/10
