When Sony released a batch of 4K Gran Turismo 7 screenshots of the new pre-order cars last week we were suitably impressed. Though it’s never really been in doubt, it showed that GT7 would be right up there when it comes to visuals.
However those of us who’ve been playing Gran Turismo Sport for the last four years — including the Beta — will know that the current title is already a bit of a stunner on this front, especially when allowed off the leash in 4K60 on PS4 Pro and PS5.
That got us thinking: just how much of an improvement over GT Sport will GT7 be? Fortunately the majority of the new GT7 image assets use existing GT Sport Scapes locations, so we’ve set about recreating them as best we can, shot by shot, to find out.
As GT Sport doesn’t have the famous Castrol Tom’s Supra, returning to GT7 from previous titles, we’ve decked out a roughly equivalent Gr.3 Supra GT Racing Concept in a very similar livery for these posed shots.
Though they aren’t quite in the same shades of white, red, and green, the lighting model of GT7 is what stands out here. This is apparent in all three shots, where the areas of the cars shrouded in shadow in the current-gen game are now more clearly visible.
There’s a notable detail uptick too on the vehicle model, particularly with regards to the meshing covering the radiator duct and the intakes.
We had to take a couple more liberties with the Porsche 917 Living Legend, as there’s no real equivalent model in GT Sport. A livery recreation on a Porsche 962 — which filled the same brief for Porsche as the 917 — seemed appropriate.
Again, we can see the clear difference in the lighting model, particularly with regards to the shadows which are too dark to make out any detail in the GT Sport shots.
Oddly, although the background Scape itself is almost identical — notice the course vehicles parked in the distance — there are also clear changes and mild detail enhancements, suggesting that the Scapes team has been as busy touching up existing shots as capturing new ones. If you’re not a fan of spot-the-difference images, count the number of overhead cables across the circuit…
The one vehicle that exists in both games is the Mazda RX-Vision GT3 Concept, albeit in slightly different forms. You’ll receive a “Stealth Model” version of the car if you pre-order GT7, accompanying the regular race car (and it looks like the road car concept is coming too). This gives us our clearest look at how the two games differ graphically.
Ignoring the visible carbon-fiber weave of the GT7 car which we didn’t replicate, you can again see detail enhancements coupled with improvements to the lighting model. We’re again drawn to how much better the darker areas are, but you can also see changes to the light reflection from the brake caliper and improvements to the glass too.
Ultimately, while it appears the changes are very subtle, the effects are pretty stunning. GT Sport certainly impresses even four years on, but GT7 looks to have moved the game on again.
There’ll likely be plenty more fresh images from GT7 coming over the next few months ahead of the game’s launch on March 4 2022, so watch this space for more!
