There is a lot going on in Gran Turismo 7 (GT7) and there is something for new players and existing fans of the franchise. This is the purpose of GT7, it was produced to celebrate the idea of car culture in the modern day and inspire people to want to be a part of it, whether players are interested in racing, scapes and photography, livery design, tuning, or collecting cars.
What can players expect this year? Once drivers get behind the wheel on March 4, how do the modes seen in State of Play reveal themselves as they play?
Polyphony Digital provided some insight into new features of GT7:
Music Rally
The first thing users will do is hop into a Porsche Carrera Speedster ’56 and race through the Music Rally. On the surface, it’s an arcade-style race where drivers can enjoy some motivating, up-tempo tunes while trying to reach checkpoints before time runs out. For new players, this is also a way to experience GT’s driving simulation gameplay and an opportunity to set the steering and pedal operation type and driving assist presets (auto brakes, braking zones, driving lines, etc.).
Purchasing a car
As seen in State of Play, the World Map is a driver’s home base in the resort-themed world of GT7. The first task to complete is using some provided in-game credits to purchase a used car of one’s choice (in the demo video, it was a Toyota Aqua S ’11). With a set of wheels at a player’s command, stop by the Garage and then head to the new Café.
Café
This comfy locale offers drivers “menu books” of activities to complete for new cars and other game-progression goodies. The first menu book request is to acquire three Japanese compact cars, one of which was purchased earlier in the gameplay trailer. So that’s one down, but how does one obtain the other two? By winning them from specific races called out in the menu book. Venture out to those courses in the World Circuit area of the map, fulfill the placement requirements (3rd place or higher in this case) and voila, new cars are then obtainable.
Tuning
With a handful of cars now in a player’s garage and new skills at their command, a Café menu will direct users to the newly opened tuning shop. As players can imagine, this place is loaded with parts of all shapes and sizes, with even more to be unlocked as the play. As drivers acquire new cars, for instance, they build up their collector level, and hitting level 4 unlocks the “club sports” category in the tuning shop.
So race, collect, unlock, whatever one does, this helps shape their preferred stream and style of the game. The Café menu will also guide users to new areas and modes, so fulfilling those is a great way to ensure one is taking advantage of all the sights and sounds of GT7.
All this content is experienced within the first hours of the game (depending on winning races, fulfilling menu books and so forth), at which point drivers are off to a special championship event at the high speed ring. This will open the brand central, where one can purchase new vehicles from over 50 car manufacturers and tuners.
This is just the tip of the iceberg though, as one progresses through the game, they will open many more features to explore, such as the GT Auto where one can dress up their cars and perform maintenance, the Livery Editor, Scapes, Race photos, and more.
Players can pre-order Gran Turismo 7 at the PlayStation Store for both PS4 and PS5. The 25th anniversary edition includes the PS5 version and a digital code for the PS4 version, so it’s suitable for those who have a PS4 now but are thinking of purchasing a PS5 in the future.
Releasing on 4 March 2022, Gran Turismo 7 is available for pre-order at BT Games, Game4U, KOODOO, LOOT, The Nexus Hub, Takealot and RARU.