Gran Turismo Sport Reviews

Gran Turismo Sport is a love letter to racing fans around the world that redefines competitive online racing.

Gran Turismo Sport is the beginning of a new era for the titular PlayStation racing franchise, but some aspects should have been tuned further if they wanted to remain competitive. Unnecessarily convoluted game modes, a pointless photo mode, always-online connectivity, and terrible rosters of tracks and cars bog down an otherwise fun and immersive driving experience. Although this is easily one of the best feeling and best sounding racing games on PlayStation 4, other racing games are just mo...

In many ways, Gran Turismo Sport feels like a tech demo. Visually, it pushes the bar, with car models that are as good the real thing and environments better than ever before. And the lighting; holy hell, the lighting. It is glorious. In terms of content though, it’s lacking. The sublime handling of the cars and the thrill of competing in events that truly test your skills make Gran Turismo Sport the most exhilarating entry in the series yet, but all of its potential is squandered by a poor campaign and infrequent network issues. If Polyphony Digital’s goal was to take the series in a new direction in which competition and the thrill of racing was brought to the forefront, then it has succeeded. But it comes at a cost, and it’s one that I feel won’t sit well with much of the established fan base.

Gran Turismo Sport has just been released making the franchises big return to console racing, but was it worth the wait? And does it make the grade in today’s racing game market? There was a time long ago when Gran Turismo was the gold standard in console racing simulators, but after being out of the game (so to speak) for so long you’d be forgiven for being a little hesitant to step back behind the wheel. Competitors like Forza Motorsport and Project CARS have since taken the spotlight f...

If Lewis Hamilton is anything to go by, there are three prerequisites for becoming a racing pro: practice, patience and a planet-sized ego. As ever, Gran Turismo Sport goes big on the first two to deliver the latter once you’ve conquered its never-ending plethora of races, time trials and challenges.

With its excellent focus on online multiplayer supported with some innovative fair-play features and related social features, Gran Turismo Sport is a great choice for drivers focused on those aspects. For offline players and those that don't want to grind to gain access to an extensive collection of cars and tracks, though, there are better alternatives.

GT Sport's shift away from the normal structure of racing titles was a risky bet.  It pays off for racing purists, but those who judge a game solely by the number of tracks, cars, and modes it has may be a little disappointed.

From its very first moment, Gran Turismo Sport floods the player with a melancholic symphony of sound and picture that takes you back to the racing days of old. I say racing because that’s what it’s all about, not merely waltzing past mistake-prone AI on a quest to attain the next driver level. Sport is about the sport, putting all its focus on the sheer thrill and heavy disappointment that comes about from the result of a closely contested race. It’s this undying focus on identity that makes GT Sport a welcome game in a market flooded by some overly ambitious and mediocre racing games.

The simulation racing field is a lot more crowded than it was when Gran Turismo last hit the asphalt back in 2013. The Forza franchise adds impressive new layers of depth with each new entry, Project CARS has successfully introduced a more meticulous brand of simulation racing to the masses, and Codemasters have niche fans locked up with their F1 and Dirt series. And that’s to say nothing of ultra-hardcore PC racing sims like Assetto Corsa and iRacing. Folks who are into cars in a serious way have plenty of options right now.

Gran Turismo Sport is a near essential purchase for PlayStation 4 racing fans. There might be a few disappointments in some of the limitations and regressions, but the brilliance of the game is in the small details that combine to enable willing players to become better drivers and racers and the implementation of multiplayer. Underneath it all, this is still a very familiar feeling Gran Turismo racing game, but it’s also one that’s set to grow and evolve over time and looks set to herald a new era of competitive online racing.

Gran Turismo Sport isn't perfect, but it is a focused sim with a genuine love of driving. Excellent driving, beautiful cars, a strong online component, and tons of features help it overcome a stringent online requirement, a smaller number of cars and tracks, and weak crashes and damage modeling.

GT Sport looks incredible, but does it have the content to back it up?

In many ways, GT Sport is the most polished Gran Turismo game in over a decade. It looks great, feels great, and what’s here has been carefully and well executed. However, while I can forgive the sprinkling of eccentric nonsense, the lack of car and track content really hurts, and the online-only nature of the vast majority of it is worrying. Overall it just isn’t as complete as its key competitors.