Hello everyone,
I have been back to GT for about a year now (first on GTS and GT7 for about a month now, on v1.17 then 1.18), after switching to pc sims for a few years, being an "original" GT enthusiast, starting with GT1.
I thought I'd make a short review of GT7, based on the above experience.
First of all, I like to give praise when it is due, and I have to say that overall, both GTS and GT7, although flawed, are fantastic driving sims, the latter being nothing short of breathtaking at times.
Here is a summary of the + and - points IMO:
The "+":
- Amazing engine sounds and great overall audio atmosphere, the package being truly immersive. I might have encountered better engine sounds on specific cars here and there (ACC...) but overall GT7 is second to none, especially when you consider the number of cars offered. When you factor in the effect tuning has on the sounds, man, what can I say... BTW I'll share something I have discovered a few days ago in case people haven't noticed yet: the stage 2 weight reduction (as opposed to stage1) makes a clear difference in engine sound level and details.
- Impressive graphics, even on base PS4, with some jaw dropping moments. I think the lighting management has a lot to do with that. A "genius" feature IMO: the offset position in cockipt view: it helps immersion a lot and "virtually" enlarges the size of the screen, making you seat on the right side of the car, creating almost a "VR effect"
- Physics (on wheel) : even coming from pc sims, they are totally on point and really immersive. I am yet to try a car that doesn't feel realistic to drive. You can clearly differentiate between FF, FR, RR, MR and AWD layouts and "feel" each of them through the wheel (T500rs in my case). The last "moment" I had with that respect is when I drove a stock 911 turbo and could literally feel the front of the car lifting up and the wheels getting lighter under acceleration, with a definite "backpack" effect due to the RR layout if you accelerate too hard on corner exit, making the car harder to catch than say, a FR one.
- Tuning: I won't elaborate on that, but in 2 words: game changer.
The "-":
- First and foremost: I'm experiencing some really bad fps drops at times (basically when there are more than 2-3 cars on the screen, on some tracks more than others, mainly those that have a lot of trees), which can really impede the experience. It feels like it has gotten worse with patch 1.18 because the fps drops when from "mainly during race start" to "anytime there are more than 2-3 cars on screen".
I think this is a very serious issue and that PD should take any steps necessary to fix that once and for all. I thought it was due to the fact that I have a base ps4, but from what I found on the web even other consoles are impacted.
- the rest consists of a few questions I asked myself during my gaming time:
I might have forgotten a few things but there is no need to make this post longer than it already is...
I have been back to GT for about a year now (first on GTS and GT7 for about a month now, on v1.17 then 1.18), after switching to pc sims for a few years, being an "original" GT enthusiast, starting with GT1.
I thought I'd make a short review of GT7, based on the above experience.
First of all, I like to give praise when it is due, and I have to say that overall, both GTS and GT7, although flawed, are fantastic driving sims, the latter being nothing short of breathtaking at times.
Here is a summary of the + and - points IMO:
The "+":
- Amazing engine sounds and great overall audio atmosphere, the package being truly immersive. I might have encountered better engine sounds on specific cars here and there (ACC...) but overall GT7 is second to none, especially when you consider the number of cars offered. When you factor in the effect tuning has on the sounds, man, what can I say... BTW I'll share something I have discovered a few days ago in case people haven't noticed yet: the stage 2 weight reduction (as opposed to stage1) makes a clear difference in engine sound level and details.
- Impressive graphics, even on base PS4, with some jaw dropping moments. I think the lighting management has a lot to do with that. A "genius" feature IMO: the offset position in cockipt view: it helps immersion a lot and "virtually" enlarges the size of the screen, making you seat on the right side of the car, creating almost a "VR effect"
- Physics (on wheel) : even coming from pc sims, they are totally on point and really immersive. I am yet to try a car that doesn't feel realistic to drive. You can clearly differentiate between FF, FR, RR, MR and AWD layouts and "feel" each of them through the wheel (T500rs in my case). The last "moment" I had with that respect is when I drove a stock 911 turbo and could literally feel the front of the car lifting up and the wheels getting lighter under acceleration, with a definite "backpack" effect due to the RR layout if you accelerate too hard on corner exit, making the car harder to catch than say, a FR one.
- Tuning: I won't elaborate on that, but in 2 words: game changer.
The "-":
- First and foremost: I'm experiencing some really bad fps drops at times (basically when there are more than 2-3 cars on the screen, on some tracks more than others, mainly those that have a lot of trees), which can really impede the experience. It feels like it has gotten worse with patch 1.18 because the fps drops when from "mainly during race start" to "anytime there are more than 2-3 cars on screen".
I think this is a very serious issue and that PD should take any steps necessary to fix that once and for all. I thought it was due to the fact that I have a base ps4, but from what I found on the web even other consoles are impacted.
- the rest consists of a few questions I asked myself during my gaming time:
- Why, oh why, don't we have access to drag racing in arcade mode and can't test the cars’ times on 400/1000m??
- Why isn't the roulette actually random? Why make it just a gimmick?
- Why can't we sell ANY car, even those we won, as if IRL we couldn't sell a car gifted to us?
- Why limit the time of day we can choose on some versions of the same track (e.g.: you can select night time if you pick the 24h version of the nordschleife, but not the regular one, which is...shorter??)
I might have forgotten a few things but there is no need to make this post longer than it already is...
