Watch Gran Turismo 7 gameplay on PS5

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I watch some Gran Turismo 7 gameplay to see what we can learn from the Daytona International Speedway and Deep Forest gameplay videos on PS5.

If there is one game that will convince me to buy a PlayStation 5, it is Gran Turismo. I have been here since the first Polyphony Digital games on the original PlayStation. High-res mode, Suzuki Escudo, Trial Mountain – those were the days.

And here we are with the latest official Gran Turismo 7 gameplay video. Following on from the Deep Forest Raceway gameplay, we now get to see Daytona International Speedway. In doing so, Daytona racing from previous Gran Turismo outings has been confirmed.

Anyway, live-ish commentary time (press play above). Live at the time of making it anyway. The cockpit view looks good. Lots of detail, realistic lighting, loving the digital rear-view mirror. Somebody should be fired for leaving the finished bog roll though.

Also the hands and steering wheel actually correlate with the amount of steering going on. A common complaint of Forza Horizon 5 and other Forza games. Those Puma gloves in the air – hello sim racing detail.

Looking at the wheel, we can see the likes of oil pressure, oil temperature, water pressure and also traction systems. How much of this stuff needs to be monitored versus just there for detail?
Who knows, but then Gran Turismo was always the “advanced driving simulator” despite some arcadey handling tendencies.

Big points for the beautifully savage mechanical gear change noises. Take away all the sound-proofing in a road car, up the horsepower and this is pretty much how it sounds. The engines sound decent too – go watch actual onboard racing footage to verify that.

Looks like the AI is not trying to punt the rear as you go past. Unlike 99 per cent of the online racing community. But it also seems a bit predictable? Liking the tyre screech as the driver overdoes it slightly on entry speeds. Good for knowing where the edge of grip is like in real life.

What about PSVR2?

Will Gran Turismo 7 be PSVR2 compatible? I sure hope so, especially with this lovely cockpit view. It is, after all, a flagship Sony game and given that Microsoft is absolutely crushing it with studio acquisitions and Game Pass it needs to be as tempting as possible.

Shoutout to the Ford GT, which in its modern-day guise looks like a pig from Angry Birds. Sorry, Ford. There goes my chance of ever having access to it on the press fleet.

Now we have some external replay camera goodness. Here you get to enjoy a nicer engine note, as in real life. Also that exhaust popping, bad for trackside cats but great for realism and involvement.

Some lovely golden hour lighting going on, too. Notice the camera darkens as it points at the sun and then brightens back up after. Also nice to see the cars appear not to float on the track as much as in other flagship racers.

The suspension model as cars nudge apexes and shift from one direction to another also looks impressive, are we seeing a shift towards a more realistic driving experience?

Let’s just hope those crowds move a bit more – insert relevant football team stadium joke here. Maybe onlookers are trying not to tread on those trackside cats. Probably best.

Deep Forest Raceway

And now let us look at some Gran Turismo 7 Deep Forest Raceway gameplay. This looks closer to Gran Turismo Sport in my opinion. But there appears to be some nice HDR punch to details such as the trees in the background.

Again, nice engine sounds, tyres screaming for traction. High levels of cockpit detail. Seems like realistic levels of handling and grip too.

Maybe it is just the YouTube video compression, but the trees and other background scenery looks flatter than in Forza Horizon 5. At least, however, the brightness as you leave a tunnel is less eye-melting.

More realistic hand-on-wheel movement. Lovely job, Polyphony Digital. And some 80s videogame pixelation and colouring going on there. As you do.

I am definitely pleased to know we have Trial Mountain, High Speed Ring and Deep Forest included in Gran Turismo 7. Those were some of my favourite tracks from the series. Will we see the race management stuff though? Fingers crossed.

Conspiracy theory: Maybe the visuals have been streamlined to make PSVR2 available throughout the entire game. Now that would be a huge deal for those who care about realism. Or just lack the space for a giant TV.

And that is it for this video. You can now pre-order Gran Turismo 7 on PS4 and PS5. The release date is the 4th of March 2022. Pre-order owners get a three-car pack and 100,000 in-game credits. Subscribe and like. Let me know what you think about GT7 in the comments.