Gran Turismo is 25 years old. A quarter of a century that Polyphony Digital intends to celebrate with a choral episode, resolutely unifying and particularly complete. Is Gran Turismo 7 the ultimate cash game that the PlayStation 5 deserve?
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See the priceSee the testGran Turismo 7
- Varied solo content
- Fun and encyclopedic
- Demanding and subtle handling on asphalt
- Challenges for everyone
- Advantageous plastic of the cars
- The rain and the light, magnificent
- Incredible slow motion and photo modes
After having revolutionized the small world of automobile simulation on consoles in 1997, Gran Turismo has gradually become gentrified. When players asked for visible damage, real weather management and a less systematic AI, Polyphony Digital temporized with incomplete spin-offs (Concept, Prologue, Sport) or sluggish canonical episodes without ever managing to beat the reference times. - critical, commercial - established by the first three components. Kazunori Yamauchi had to prove that Gran Turismo has its place in an ever-competitive genre. With GT7, it is now done.
Test carried out on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 using a code provided by the publisher, and after a good thirty hours of solo and online play. The game requires a permanent internet connection for most of its modes, and a PS+ subscription to play online.
Never in trend...
Going against the current of modern cash games, GT7 notably cherishes its heritage by keeping the hushed tone, the uncluttered interface and the jazzy atmosphere that have accompanied its journey. Far from the overplayed jeremiads of modern productions, Polyphony Digital takes the time to explain all of its mechanics and possibilities through a dad-style solo campaign, which unfolds quietly over a good twenty hours. If we could argue that the whole thing lacks a bit of rhythm and momentum, we finally appreciate that a red bull voice-over does not bellow us 300 notifications per minute with a false air of complicity.
To this “Café” mode, the difficulty of which is very gently sloping, a pretext for unlocking our first cars and all the circuits, GT7 adds around fifty license events and almost as many side missions. Sometimes fun, sometimes full-bodied challenges that end up exposing Polyphony Digital's line of conduct to us. The Japanese studio is rather subtle in its way of mixing historical information on manufacturers and driving advice, while varying the situations and racing conditions as much as possible. Dropping studs, drifting or playing dragster is not necessarily always as fun as swallowing the miles aboard an angry supercar, but it offers nice breaths that we peck regularly between two races.
GT7 is a sandbox that takes the time to explain everything to us. The photo mode, the settings, the creation of liveries, the purchase of new or used vehicles, the online modes… each segment will be politely introduced as you progress; everything comes at the right time to who knows how to chain the podiums.
The weight of the rewards increases at the same time as the displacements, and it is up to everyone to set the level of difficulty by playing with the very many parameters and assistance available. With its very permissive rubber banding - the car in front lets itself be caught, the one behind does not push too much - it will not be too complicated to set the best times, but you will have to want to put yourself in difficulty to face up to a real challenge. Would Gran Turismo have dropped its requirement in favor of accessibility?
… but always in the right direction
The first laps of the track are enough to convince you otherwise. Mass transfer, dosage of acceleration and braking, trajectory, suction: GT is always a rigorous simulation which nevertheless makes the effort to leave no one behind with its very gradual difficulty. Regulars of the license will console themselves with the golden trophies or the smooth races - and the additional credits and vehicles that come with it - but may still find the horse-riding a bit long. For all comers, it is a real pleasure to contemplate the progress made by gradually risking the most difficult events, until finally winning the most demanding races: those in ten laps, with fuel management and the condition of the tyres.
Driving is all the more subtle as many parameters make the approach more complex: weather (we'll come back to this), layout, settings, tires are all elements to take into consideration before the big start. Polyphony Digital doesn't make the mistake of bombarding us with clones to artificially increase the counter, but there are still 400 quite different vehicles waiting for us at the dealership. Depending on the limitations of the upcoming event, its route, our tastes and our finances, the choice of mount is more or less easy depending on the circumstances.
We don't approach the terrifying Nürburgring like the unmissable Trial Mountain or the timeless Monza circuit. The 90 real or fictitious tracks, spread over 34 locations around the world, offer plenty to please fans of pure speed and winding curves. We appropriate our favorite vehicles at the same time as these play areas and we gradually acquire sufficient wisdom to move upmarket and begin a new cycle of learning. Gran Turismo 7 again offers a good balance in terms of content, even if the harshness of the game's economy raises questions.
JVFR
The credit gains are unfortunately a little too low to allow us to give free rein to our desires. Microtransactions or frenzied grind are the only solutions to get your hands on the most prestigious or powerful vehicles, which sell for gold. The rewards obtained thanks to the roulette tickets (gatchas) are insufficient, and it is impossible to resell the cars which one never uses. On the one hand, this pushes us to make do with what we have: giving us too much ammunition at the start would undoubtedly have diluted the feeling of gradual control we were talking about above. This still becomes problematic in endgame, when you would like to take advantage of the sandbox without constraint. We hope for a reaction from Polyphony Digital, which could rebalance all that a bit with an update.
Make me vibrate!
Back on the track: it's when the speed increases that the sensations are obviously the best. In cockpit view, the speed can become dizzying to the point of requiring maximum composure. The Dual Sense plays a big part in our ability to "feel" the road, with remarkable precision vibrations and effective haptic feedback, the injunctions of which we gradually learn to decipher. The joystick gives valuable information that you have to learn to read, just like the engine and tire noises, which are always so flawless in nuance.
JVFR
The landmarks are still cloudy with the possible arrival of rain, which can reshuffle the cards and penalize the less careful. In addition to the visual change in circumstances and possible visibility problems given the projections of our competitors, the water requires even more finesse around the bends. A light drizzle or a heavy rain will not have the same repercussions on grip and the track will not dry evenly at the end of the downpour. The parameters to be taken into account are so numerous that the playful potential seems infinite.
The sad radiant city
Those moments, when the sun breaks through the clouds after the rain, are some of the prettiest shots GT7 can come up with. The modeling of the vehicles is impeccable - it's a tradition in the series - but it's really the work on the lights that steals the show from the exceptional rendering of the cars. Perfectly highlighted by reflections crying out for realism, the different light conditions offer a real artistic cachet to a title that also seeks only to get as close as possible to reality.
JVFR
If it's been a long time since the license no longer acts as a technological showcase for PlayStation consoles, we still expected a lot on the technical side after the regular slaps inflicted by Forza. Too much, no doubt, since our disappointment is real at the discovery of decors of absolute sadness. Often empty, bland or too clean, the decorum of GT7 contrasts radically with the rest, to the point that a tenacious aftertaste of old gen remains irretrievably in our mouths when we take the time to look beyond the next loop. At least we take advantage of the few aesthetic flashes of the game with an irreproachable refresh rate, at 60 frames per second constant in 1080p as in 4K.
JVFR
age-old flaws
Since we opened the list of grievances, we might as well place one for artificial intelligence. GT7 certainly manages to find a certain compromise between the somewhat filthy brutality of the GT6 robots and the somewhat rigid systematism of the beginnings of the franchise: our opponents take advantage of the slightest of our mistakes, and we feel a certain energy when the we are in touch. But these good intentions nevertheless disappear when you are 50 meters ahead or behind, each returning to its initial pathfinding as during a warm-up lap.
Too rarely the opposing cars quarrel between them, and the risk-taking of the AI is extremely measured. The result is less believable than we would have liked, even if at equal power the behavior of the opposing cars seems more coherent than usual. Announced with great fanfare as aggressive and ethical, GT Sophy (this is the nickname of the revolutionary AI program put forward by Sony) could bring a little bit of bite on this side when it is implemented in the game.
JVFR
Status quo on collisions and damage. True to its values, Gran Turismo cuts its realistic vision of motorsport as soon as two metal cages rub against each other. Touchettes like big shocks are rarely penalizing for the one who causes them, and if we scoop a penalty online for having caused an accident, the sanction is often more difficult to overcome for the victim.
We often lose a lot more than a few seconds to regain a decent speed and trajectory after going off the track, while the culprit will simply be condemned to decelerate during his penalty. Unfair. Finally, only a few models see their fairings marked by impacts: it is not yet this time that spectacular accidents will brighten up the sublime slow motions that punctuate each event.
JVFR
Sharp and demanding on asphalt, the driving becomes downright messy during the few rally events, fortunately quite rare. The repeated slides even cause some big unsightly collision bugs between the car and the ground after certain bumps, with a camera that seems as lost as we are during these (rare) loss of control. Gran Turismo 7 could have found a better way to celebrate this important part of motorsport.
Un portage PlayStation 4 correct
Same content, same fluidity on PS4, except in the busiest situations (rain, many cars on screen). Obviously less impressive, the modeling of the vehicles comes out with honors despite a slight aliasing effect on the cabins. The general rendering is lower than that of the PS5 version, and this is not the only concession of this version: the loading times, very very contained on PS5, remind us here of the importance of the SSD in video games.
It was also the few laps on this version that allowed us to embrace the full power of the Dual Sense. The triggers of the Dual Shock 4 seem very soft, and the vibrations a little vulgar compared to the incomparable sensations of the controller of the latest PlayStation.
Finally, no Ray Tracing here. This is logical, and not regrettable insofar as the option is currently confined to slow motion and other staging of vehicles in the menus on PS5, which somewhat limits its interest. Maybe Polyphony Digital will find a way to enable it in-game without compromising performance. In short, the Gran Turismo 7 experience on PS4 is difficult to appreciate when you have touched the queen version, but remains quite valid in itself.
JVFR
Gran Turismo 7 : l'avis de JVFR
Composite bundle of the 25 years of history of its license, Gran Turismo 7 draws on its history to offer us the best balance between quality and quantity of content for a long time. Polyphony Digital's love for the industry and motor racing transpires from all the essential components of its production, and if the AI, the collisions, or the decorations clearly left us unsatisfied, the magic still happens throughout our exploration of the sandbox.
We take a monster step to choose, personalize, improve, adjust and photograph our favorite cars, but above all to drive them in the many situations that the game offers us. noisy big cars, aesthetes of mechanics and convicts of the trajectory. Gran Turismo is back, and that's pretty good news.
Gran Turismo 78
Generous, accessible and didactic without compromising the demands of its driving, Gran Turismo 7 is an excellent motorsport simulation on PlayStation 5. laid a sound foundation for one of PlayStation's iconic franchises.Most
- Varied solo content
- Fun and encyclopedic
- Demanding and subtle handling on asphalt
- Challenges for everyone
- Advantageous plastic of the cars
- The rain and the light, magnificent
- Incredible slow motion and photo modes
The lessers
- Very bland decorations
- Collisions complaisantes
- Driving on land perfectly random
- Lack of credits that pushes microtransaction
- Visible damage that is too discreet (or absent)
- A certain austerity that may displease (menus, music, atmosphere)
