Gran Turismo Sport: The Good, the Bad, and the Transformation of Everyone’s Favorite Racing Game

Gran Turismo is the longest running simulation style racing franchise in video game history. It debuted for the original PlayStation in 1997, meaning this game has been around for over 20 years. And with over 80 million sales it is also the highest selling franchise for the Sony PlayStation brand.

Throughout its 20+ year history, there have been many changes both good and bad. But through all the ups and downs, it is still one of the most beloved sports and racing franchises in the world. And even then it only comes in second after Mario Kart, which is a completely different kind of racing game.

The launch of Gran Turismo Sport came with some of the largest changes to the franchise so far. So what do you need to know? Keep reading to find out everything you need to know before clicking the purchase button!

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Gran Turismo Sport: A Complete Guide

There are a lot of different elements that go into this newest entry into the GT franchise. But before we get into the good and bad, let’s start with some of the major changes.

Transformers: Racers in Disguise

One of the biggest trends in video gaming over the past decade has been the push toward online play in games, with some being strictly built for online gaming. The beauty of this lies in the ability to be able to play games with friends anywhere in the country and even the world. It makes the world feel like a much smaller place, and many times has even sparked brand new friendships.

There are currently over 55 million online console gamers and that number is expected to rise another 3% by 2020. That is a massive amount of online gamers, which means video game publishers have been trying to create games that help to feed that.

The problem with this is that there are still 42% of U.S. gamers not subscribed to any form of online services. So what happens to all of these people who want to play certain games, but can’t without a premium subscription? Well, sadly they are left behind with games like Overwatch, Fortnite and Rocket League. 

If you belong to that 42%, then you may be disappointed with Gran Turismo Sport. For the first time in the franchise’s history, online gamers have become the target demographic. With the rise of Esports, GT has decided that not only want a piece of that action, but that they want a major share in it.

This is a change that some may view as a step toward the future and a form of progress. While others will undoubtedly be disappointed by the lack of effort put into single player modes. So let’s get the bad parts of this game out of the way first, and save the best for last.

Bad to the Bone

When Gran Turismo Sport launched in October of 2017, it was met with a lot of mixed reviews. On Amazon, about 39% of reviewers gave the game a 5/5 rating. However, a whopping 34% of reviewers gave it a disappointed 1/5.

The reviews with this game are widely situated at the far side of each end of the spectrum. That is never good news for a game when over a third of your customers despise your product. Longtime fans and followers of the franchise tend to lean more toward that 1/5 rating, while new customers who were raised in the online are populating the 5/5 side.

So what has veterans of the franchise up in arms?

It’s not the addition of online play. It’s the way Polyphony Digital, the game’s developer, seems to have completely disregarded their fan’s love of playing solo. Growing up playing GT on the PS2 and PS3, my favorite game mode was always the career mode. 

This allowed you to choose from hundreds and hundreds of cars, and then customize them any way you want in a very detailed way. This new iteration has all but removed this in its entirety.

As an example, GT 6 had over 1,300 cars to choose from. When GT Sport launched, there were only 160 cars available. As of January this year, even with a significant amount of updates over the past year and a half, the game still hasn’t even reached 300 available cars.

To most old school racers, this is a travesty.

Adding fuel to the fire, the game has completely removed the beloved upgrade system. And the career mode is now somewhat irrelevant. Nothing you do actually matters or has any real effect on the way you play.

You can “unlock” or “win” cars through various challenges. But the algorithm is so poor that you can sometimes win the exact same car a half dozen times in a row or more. This redundancy makes doing any sort of campaign boring with no real reward.

One of the other disappointments in this game is the lack of visual eye candy. Throughout most of the game, the backdrops and surrounding visuals are bland and honestly boring.

If you are wanting to pick this up, hoping for the same game you’ve always loved, with a few improvements, this may not be the game for you. Now that we’ve got the bad things out of the way, let’s get into the good parts of this game.

Feel Good Inc.

What this game lacks in the solo experience, it does make up for with the quality of gameplay. GT has always tried to be the most realistic driving simulator on the market, and in that sense, this game delivers in spades.

The ability to incorporate equipment and build your own rig with actual steering wheels and even VR (virtual reality) really help you feel like you are the one driving. Anyone looking for a borderline real driving experience is going to walk away extremely satisfied with this game. Whether you’ve been playing for a long time or this is your first GT game, there’s no doubting the authenticity of the driving.

While the ancillary visuals are somewhat blasé, the amount of detail put into designing each of these cars is mind-blowing. If one didn’t know better and saw this on a TV, it’s very possible to mistake these for real cars. The lighting throughout this game is also stunning and allows the detail in the car to really stand out, especially in the action replays.

One aspect of play that has always been somewhat missing, is the pure adrenaline rush you would get from racing in real life. This game changes that in 2 major ways.

The first thing is that the AI racers in Sport are actually competitive for once. It’s not just you driving around leaving the computer in the dust time after time. The AI has learned to be aggressive and is not afraid to kick your ass.

That might sound like a bad thing, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The best part about competing is having to work and refine what you do so you can earn that 1st place when you pass the checkered flag. Having difficult competition also helps you to really measure how good you are.

The second thing is the addition of online play and pursuing actual championships. What scares people the most about playing a game online is the vast difference in skill level. Why play Call of Duty online when you know a 12-year-old brat is going to absolutely destroy you?

Don’t worry friends, that is not an issue with this game. One of the best parts of online play is the development of a skill-based classification.

This means that if you are a brand new rookie, you will be racing against other rookies who are at the same skill level you are. And if you are the cream of the crop, it means that you will be competing against the best of the best to determine who is actually Driver Supreme: The Lord of the Racetrack.

Moving Targets

Depending on what way you look at it, Gran Turismo Sport is either a major step in the right direction and a departure from what made you fall in love with GT. The bottom line is that this game was made with a certain demographic in mind. And if you don’t fit within that demo, it will be tough for you to enjoy this game and justify spending your hard earned money on it.

That being said, Gran Turismo Sport is a gorgeous game and is still one of the best-simulated racing experiences you’ll find on the gaming market.

If you’re willing to give online play a chance, you might find yourself really enjoying this. Otherwise, you might be better off booting up that old PS3 and getting your fix through a previous iteration of the game.

Racing simulators are always a blast for car enthusiasts, but sometimes the simulation world can be hard to navigate. For all the information you need about taking that next step in your simulation, head to our website now!

As the legendary Ricky Bobby once said – “If you ain’t first, you’re last!”