There’s no denying 2020 has been a terrible year, but Sony is here to give us a small ray of light in what is otherwise a very dark period. That’s right, a new instalment in the Gran Turismo series is in the works, and it looks like it could be a launch title for the PlayStation 5.
Unlike Gran Turismo Sport on the PS4, which launched with a stripped-out single-player campaign in favour of online events held under the FIA banner, GT7 will be a true squeal to Polyphony Digital’s more traditional racing titles and will put the player back into the hotseat of an offline-style career mode. We say ‘offline-style’, because we’re not yet sure if GT7 will require a constant internet connection.
Anyway, GT7 bears a striking resemblance to Gran Turismo 4, and we’ve very happy about that. Open up the game and you’re thrown into a menu map, where the icons for your garage and ‘brand central’ (the new car dealership) are scattered around the map of a fictional city. Several classic GT features will return, judging by the map, including an upgrade shop, used car dealership and GT Auto.
Another Gran Turismo icon making its return in GT7 is Trial Mountain, although it’s been slightly altered to improve overtaking. The legendary fictional circuit now has a more aggressive final chicane, adding a potential overtaking spot if spoiling the flow of the track. Some diehard GT fans say the track has been ‘Tilke’d’, a reference to F1 track designer Hermann Tilke, who has a habit of creating somewhat dull circuits.
We also know there’ll be more cars, though we’re not quite sure how many at the moment. The trailer shows the single-seater BAC Mono, Porsche 911 GT1 Stassenversion, Carrera GT and 917K complete with Gulf livery. Other spots include the Mazda RX-7 Vision concept and the fictional GT3 version, which recently made its debut in GT Sport as downloadable content.
GT7 will be available on the PS5, but it’s unlikely we’ll see a version on the PS4 as the game uses a new lighting engine that will require the extra horsepower of the new console. The trailer suggests the game is in a near-complete state, so we could see GT7 arrive alongside the PS5 at the end of the year.
But we’ve been burned by Polyphony Digital before, so don’t be surprised if GT7 doesn’t arrive until the end latter half of the decade. We wish we were joking.
Keyword: Gran Turismo 7: PS5 racer confirmed as Trial Mountain returns