With just over a month to go until its full release, Sony’s latest State of Play unveiled a fresh batch of details on Polyphony Digital’s PlayStation exclusive Gran Turismo 7 – including some surprising new modes, a look at the vastly improved customisation options as well as a more detailed look at its new weather system.
The 30 minute presentation reestablished the line that this is a Gran Turismo game that’s returning to the series’ roots, with a fresh focus on optimisation and the player’s journey from starting behind the wheel of a humble starter car after the more stripped-back, multiplayer-focussed Gran Turismo Sport.
Enabling all this is the return of a world map, a hub from which you can access one of the three places to buy cars within Gran Turismo 7: Brand Central, the Used Car Dealer and the Legendary Car Dealer. Brand Central is effectively a supermarket where you can pick up one of 300 cars made from 2001 onwards.
Gran Turismo 7 – State of Play Deep Dive 4K | PS5, PS4 Watch on YouTube
The Used Car Dealer is, unsurprisingly, where you’ll buy used cars, with their value fluctuating in accordance with their real-life value – so you might be able to pick up a bargain mk3 Supra, for example, but still expect to pay over-the-odds for its more in-demand mk4 sibling. The Legendary Car Dealer is akin to an auction house like Sothebys, where you’ll find more rarified beasts such as the Porsche 917 and Aston Martin DB5 – all with price tags to match their status (and all of which, it should be noted, is using in-game currency).
The car count amounts to just over 400 at launch, with more to come post-release, while when it comes to tracks there are some 34 locations offering 97 different layouts.
Also returning for Gran Turismo 7 are the much-loved Licence Tests (or much-hated rather, if you’ve ever lost a weekend trying to best one of them). There will also be Mission Tests that introduce disciplines such as drag racing and drift trials, while multiplayer is supported both by two-player splitscreen as well as the returning Sport online mode.
At the heart of the new campaign is the Cafe, in which players will get to interact with the history of car culture as they’re guided along by the cafe owner as well as given insight from some of the names behind famous cars such as the original Mazda MX5 and its roadster kin the Audi TT. There’s an added dash of Pokémon to it all with the campaign being built around you filling out 30 different ‘Menu Books’, collecting cars and learning more about them as you go – and once you’ve filled out those 30 books you’ve effectively completed the campaign and unlock the final credits, but that’s only intended as a starting point for your further adventures in Gran Turismo 7.