Genre: Racing
Developer: Polyphony Digital
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment

When Gran Turismo 7 was first shown off during the PlayStation 5 unveiling, it was the game which made this reviewer want Sony's then-upcoming platform. Unfortunately, it underwent significant downgrading since then, and during actual gameplay the game is downright plain looking: the tracks themselves have flat, primitive lighting, and while the cars are dazzling in "bullshot" photo mode, they don't look that impressive in the races themselves. Driving at night is a whole different story, as the car headlights cast shadows off each other, off of trees, and even illuminate the insides of the cabins! Everything is wrapped in the series fetching trademark, gray-themed, quasi-skeuomorphic menu designs. NPCs dot the various menu areas, and they are universally and wonderfully dorky-- "Rupert" looks like a guy from a "Tires Plus" commercial!

Since the original Xbox, Polyphony's primary competitor has been Turn 10 Studios and their "Forza Motorsport" series. That aforementioned series of releases has always had the upper hand on Polyphony's own Gran Turismo games in the aural department, and that holds true here: this latest entry's engine noises are a little flat sounding, and don't "pop" out of the speakers like they could. On the flip side, the increasingly obnoxious "Forza Motorsport" Hollywood-style aesthetic is vastly inferior to this latest Gran Turismo title, which stays true to its roots: nothing but light piano, a little Mozart, some cheesy techno elevator music, and lounge Jazz. Superb!

Unlike its direct series predecessor, Gran Turismo 7 is focused on a full career mode. Unfortunately, cars, tracks, and races are gate-like drip-fed to the player through a ridiculous and thematically non-sequitur "cafe" system, where the player completes "menus" of cars. Huh? Fortunately, the core race physics are phenomenal, up there with the best in the "simcade" sub-genre. The haptic feedback through the PlayStation 5 controller actually adds an additional dimension to the gameplay, providing interesting track, throttle, and break feedback. Annoyingly, the races are all "rabbit chases"-- but custom races can be configured on any of the unlocked tracks.

The biggest issue with Gran Turismo 7 is that it requires a permanent internet connection, simply because Polyphony designed the game's pacing around "encouraging" the player to spend real-world money on in-game credits. Right after launch, the servers went down for thirty hours, and no one could run the title. What's more, they blocked access to the game to anyone who had their console set to the "Russian" region, for political reasons. Gran Turismo 7's races play fine, but why treat the player like he's an idiot who can't figure out an open-ended campaign? Besides that, this title has no preservational future: when the next release comes out, undoubtedly this game will be "bricked" forever as the servers are retired.