Gran Turismo Sport (PS4)
By: Sony
WITH a level of forensic attention to detail reserved for hardcore autophiles and serial killers, Gran Turismo celebrates 20 years in the brrrm business with a PS4 debut that proves less is more.
Over two decades, Sony’s best-selling franchise made racing sims cool, with an unashamedly nerdy approach to the genre that’s as deeply anal as an aggressive colonic. Not so with Sport, which ditches Gran Turismo’s obsessive collectathon campaign mode in favour of an experience that not only embraces online racing, it demands it.
Solo diversions this time are limited to the classic license tests and mission challenges, meaning you’d better have a robust online connection to really let rip. Of course, Gran Turismo has a grand online heritage, with the GT Academy using the games to scout real-world talent, and Sport's online mode is endorsed by the FIA as the future of racing eSports.
A competitive multiplayer structured around the regulations of real world motorsport, races are held every 15-20 minutes, with up to 24 players competing in each. More significant events, such as rounds of the Nations and Manufacturers’ cups, run to a tighter schedule.
Being Gran Turismo, success demands ridiculously nuanced understanding of your chosen ride’s handling while videos on etiquette will whip bad habits into shape as your rank and sportsmanship are determined by how reckless or aggressive you drive, with repeated flags booting offenders from races.
There are no wacky races here, with the earlier games’ flights of fancy reined in for purists. A substantial single player isn’t the only noticeable cut. Compared to GT6’s thousand-odd cars, GT Sport offers a comparatively paltry garage of 177, though each is a joy to drive over its 17 locations and 28 track layouts.
With no classics or nostalgic wheels here, the emphasis is on recent performance models and pocket-busting concepts from the likes of Aston Martin, Audi, Bugatti and Ferrari, and with more to be delivered via DLC. With flawless recreations of every jalopy right down its lug-nuts, Sport finally adds full interiors to all cars while the sound design is a massive leap over the series’ usual festival of angry wasp.
Never a technical slouch, the base PS4’s visuals offer some beautifully rendered tarmac to skidmark while it's a Gran day out for those with the kit, delivering juiced-up scenery porn on PS4 Pro and virtual reality support with PSVR.
Despite the reduced amount of content and an anorexic single-player, Sport represents the most polished Gran Turismo experience yet. A start-from-scratch reboot, favouring quality over quantity may rankle given earlier games managed both. But online it sings, offering the most comprehensive celebration of the combustion engine on current consoles. Vorsprung durch technik, as they say in, erm, Japan.
