Scaff
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It's been almost 18 months since GTS was released and I thinks it's fair to say that I was quite scathing of both the pre-launch demo and the launched product, to such a degree that I quickly put in back on the shelf and only broke it out to see what the updates brought.
So a year and a half later what's changed with GTS and more importantly do I still feel the same about it, feel free to either watch the video of my thoughts and re-review of GTS or scroll down past the video and have a read (or of course do both)
Let's start with the areas that I think have improved:
Physics:
GTS hasn't had a major physics update yet, it's been more a a gradual series of changes across the 18 months, changes that I'm glad to say have moved GTS in the right direction.
While it's still not a match for the likes of AC or Project Cars, the changes have been quite noticeable and have moved GTS into a much better place physics wish. For me this came to a head over the last few updates, with the turning point being a drive around the 'ring with an MX-5. The was the cars drive and react to load changes is a welcome update.
What is however a little ironic is that GTS now drives in a manner that’s very close to the build I enjoyed so much at the Copper Box event, while for me it's frustrating to wait near 18 months for GTS to get back to how good it was in a build from 2016, I'm certainly glad that it has.
Graphics:
A rather obvious one this, but worth calling out. On my PS4 Pro GTS runs at a solid 60fps and looks stunning, as it always has. However the lighting, PDs area of expertise, is still its star attribute when it comes to graphics. When expanded to the Photomode and 'scapes mode it manages to step well past the uncanny valley and into shots that are as real a thing as we have ever seen in any title, let along in the GT series.
Audio:
An area that the GT series has been historically criticised for, and quite rightly, regardless of what some apologists have tried to claim in the past (and I have heard all of the excuses) the series has had issues with sound.
GTS has without a doubt turned that around, and while it's not a genre benchmark in terms of audio, its most definitely heading towards being a contender in this area.
One interesting area of the audio for me, is how well that audio feeds into my tactile unit on my rig, and in that regard GTS does a good job of pushing both low, mid and higher frequency feeds to my rig. So I get the drivetrain thumps, the vibration of the engine through every part of the rig, from wheel, to shifter, to pedals. The curbs, expansion joints and track surface can all be felt via the tactile unit, and that for me is a very big plus point.
Updates:
Since GT5 throwing out regular updates has been something that the series has made a hallmark of its own, and GTS has continued that tradition. These have also included regular drops of cars and tracks, something that was certainly needed given that the title was light on content at launch.
Its seen the physics changes that have re-invigorated the series for me arrive, but also an entire single player mode get added to the title as well.
The only slight blot in this positive has been the introduction of micro-transactions along with the car drops, some would say they are a necessary evil given that the DLC cars and tracks are free, but for others its Kaz and PD going back on a promise not to use them. Certainly its divided the audience on how justified or acceptable they are.
Sports Mode:
While the influence of iRacing in sports mode is clear to see, it's still unique in the console market and with the budget of Sony behind it and the FIA events added in it's a game-changer for on-line console racing.
Now it's had its issues and it would be remiss to not mention that the penalty system is contentious, and hasn’t been as effective at driving up race-craft and driving standards as I think PD had hoped it would be. Nor has the move from events that change daily to weekly changes been appreciated by all.
These however shouldn't take away from what PD have managed to achieve overall with Sports Mode, or how risky a move making it the 'core' of a Gran Turismo title was.
VR:
While it is limited in scope, the VR integration in GTS has been one of the areas that has always been a technical standout. While VR is a natural fit to racing titles, very few on the PS4 market has embraced it. With GTS, the original Dirt Rally and Driveclub being the only ones doing so with real cars. Of these GTS is easily the best looking of them, unfortunately the trade-off for that is that it’s the least featured of them.
Those limitations aside, the quality of the PSVR in time trial is very good, particularly given the limitations of the PSVR hardware itself. It's an incredibly immersive experience and the one area in the past that has always drawn me back to GTS as a title, as taking just about any car around the 'ring in VR doesn’t get old.
The above I believe illustrates how GTS has moved on, but that's not to say that room for improvement doesn’t exist, it of course does, so now I'm going to cover these areas:
Weather and Dynamic Time of Day:
Now I know that dynamic time of day will need to wait for the PS5, as I don’t see PD taking a step back in terms of frame-rate and resolution to accommodate it, but it's still a loss coming from GT5 and GT6.
However weather, or at the very least wet surfaces is long overdue. We know it can be done, as we have a very limited example of it in one of the Missions. We also know that it's on the road-map, or at least once was, as we have rain and snow tyres that currently serve no purpose.
Tracks:
Right now, for me, this is the single weakest area of GTS. As despite a good number of tracks being added via updates, the number of tracks is still low and the new 'fantasy' tracks are in some cases weak in comparison to some of the classic fantasy tracks that are still missing.
A good number of real tracks that have now been long term regulars in the series are also still absent, the role-call is well known, but Silverstone, Spa and Imola would be high on my personal wish list.
I can only hope that PD keep up the pace of free track drops, and that its biased more towards Autopolis than Route X,
AI and Single Player Race structure:
AI is another area that has always been considered a weak area of the series, and that's still the case in GTS. At least this time around they don’t just follow a set racing line without deviation, however with this new independence the AI has found a long hidden desire to at times be far too aggressive.
Not that they are any quicker than they have been in the past, which leads to the other issue. To disguise the lack of pace we still have the solution that first saw daylight back in GT4s missions. The chase the rabbit approach that sees you start towards the back of a pack of spread out cars and have to effectively pass a series of moving road blocks and pass the leader before you run out of laps.
It has no relationship to real racing and is something that I had hoped PD and its AI would have grown out of by now, sadly that's not the case yet.
GRIND……………
Maybe I'm just too old to want to deal with it now, but the progression system pretty much demands you grind. The only alternatives are to keep your fingers crossed in the Daily Reward (good luck with that) or use real money and the micro-transactions.
So unless you want to go down these routes you are going to be grinding, and doing so a lot if it’s a CR20,000,000 car you are after.
GTS seems to me to be the least generous title to date when it comes to handing out money and prize cars, and to a degree this made sense at launch with the limited car count. However we are now a long way from that, and it would be easy to resolve, being able to sell duplicate Daily Prize cars and a return of the daily sign-in bonus would both be valid routes to take.
So after taking a look at the positives of GTS nearly eighteen months down the line, and a look at the areas I still feel could do with improvement, what do I think about it?
The simple answer is that GTS is now a title, that after a long time on the shelf, is back in my regular play list. It doesn’t have the physics of the likes of AC or PC, (and those who have known me long enough will know that's my main draw) but the physics are now more than solid enough for me to enjoy and recommend, add in the visual and audio quality, along with Sport Mode and it’s got one hell of a lot to recommend it, and I'm quite happy to do just that.
So a year and a half later what's changed with GTS and more importantly do I still feel the same about it, feel free to either watch the video of my thoughts and re-review of GTS or scroll down past the video and have a read (or of course do both)
Let's start with the areas that I think have improved:
Physics:
GTS hasn't had a major physics update yet, it's been more a a gradual series of changes across the 18 months, changes that I'm glad to say have moved GTS in the right direction.
While it's still not a match for the likes of AC or Project Cars, the changes have been quite noticeable and have moved GTS into a much better place physics wish. For me this came to a head over the last few updates, with the turning point being a drive around the 'ring with an MX-5. The was the cars drive and react to load changes is a welcome update.
What is however a little ironic is that GTS now drives in a manner that’s very close to the build I enjoyed so much at the Copper Box event, while for me it's frustrating to wait near 18 months for GTS to get back to how good it was in a build from 2016, I'm certainly glad that it has.
Graphics:
A rather obvious one this, but worth calling out. On my PS4 Pro GTS runs at a solid 60fps and looks stunning, as it always has. However the lighting, PDs area of expertise, is still its star attribute when it comes to graphics. When expanded to the Photomode and 'scapes mode it manages to step well past the uncanny valley and into shots that are as real a thing as we have ever seen in any title, let along in the GT series.
Audio:
An area that the GT series has been historically criticised for, and quite rightly, regardless of what some apologists have tried to claim in the past (and I have heard all of the excuses) the series has had issues with sound.
GTS has without a doubt turned that around, and while it's not a genre benchmark in terms of audio, its most definitely heading towards being a contender in this area.
One interesting area of the audio for me, is how well that audio feeds into my tactile unit on my rig, and in that regard GTS does a good job of pushing both low, mid and higher frequency feeds to my rig. So I get the drivetrain thumps, the vibration of the engine through every part of the rig, from wheel, to shifter, to pedals. The curbs, expansion joints and track surface can all be felt via the tactile unit, and that for me is a very big plus point.
Updates:
Since GT5 throwing out regular updates has been something that the series has made a hallmark of its own, and GTS has continued that tradition. These have also included regular drops of cars and tracks, something that was certainly needed given that the title was light on content at launch.
Its seen the physics changes that have re-invigorated the series for me arrive, but also an entire single player mode get added to the title as well.
The only slight blot in this positive has been the introduction of micro-transactions along with the car drops, some would say they are a necessary evil given that the DLC cars and tracks are free, but for others its Kaz and PD going back on a promise not to use them. Certainly its divided the audience on how justified or acceptable they are.
Sports Mode:
While the influence of iRacing in sports mode is clear to see, it's still unique in the console market and with the budget of Sony behind it and the FIA events added in it's a game-changer for on-line console racing.
Now it's had its issues and it would be remiss to not mention that the penalty system is contentious, and hasn’t been as effective at driving up race-craft and driving standards as I think PD had hoped it would be. Nor has the move from events that change daily to weekly changes been appreciated by all.
These however shouldn't take away from what PD have managed to achieve overall with Sports Mode, or how risky a move making it the 'core' of a Gran Turismo title was.
VR:
While it is limited in scope, the VR integration in GTS has been one of the areas that has always been a technical standout. While VR is a natural fit to racing titles, very few on the PS4 market has embraced it. With GTS, the original Dirt Rally and Driveclub being the only ones doing so with real cars. Of these GTS is easily the best looking of them, unfortunately the trade-off for that is that it’s the least featured of them.
Those limitations aside, the quality of the PSVR in time trial is very good, particularly given the limitations of the PSVR hardware itself. It's an incredibly immersive experience and the one area in the past that has always drawn me back to GTS as a title, as taking just about any car around the 'ring in VR doesn’t get old.
The above I believe illustrates how GTS has moved on, but that's not to say that room for improvement doesn’t exist, it of course does, so now I'm going to cover these areas:
Weather and Dynamic Time of Day:
Now I know that dynamic time of day will need to wait for the PS5, as I don’t see PD taking a step back in terms of frame-rate and resolution to accommodate it, but it's still a loss coming from GT5 and GT6.
However weather, or at the very least wet surfaces is long overdue. We know it can be done, as we have a very limited example of it in one of the Missions. We also know that it's on the road-map, or at least once was, as we have rain and snow tyres that currently serve no purpose.
Tracks:
Right now, for me, this is the single weakest area of GTS. As despite a good number of tracks being added via updates, the number of tracks is still low and the new 'fantasy' tracks are in some cases weak in comparison to some of the classic fantasy tracks that are still missing.
A good number of real tracks that have now been long term regulars in the series are also still absent, the role-call is well known, but Silverstone, Spa and Imola would be high on my personal wish list.
I can only hope that PD keep up the pace of free track drops, and that its biased more towards Autopolis than Route X,
AI and Single Player Race structure:
AI is another area that has always been considered a weak area of the series, and that's still the case in GTS. At least this time around they don’t just follow a set racing line without deviation, however with this new independence the AI has found a long hidden desire to at times be far too aggressive.
Not that they are any quicker than they have been in the past, which leads to the other issue. To disguise the lack of pace we still have the solution that first saw daylight back in GT4s missions. The chase the rabbit approach that sees you start towards the back of a pack of spread out cars and have to effectively pass a series of moving road blocks and pass the leader before you run out of laps.
It has no relationship to real racing and is something that I had hoped PD and its AI would have grown out of by now, sadly that's not the case yet.
GRIND……………
Maybe I'm just too old to want to deal with it now, but the progression system pretty much demands you grind. The only alternatives are to keep your fingers crossed in the Daily Reward (good luck with that) or use real money and the micro-transactions.
So unless you want to go down these routes you are going to be grinding, and doing so a lot if it’s a CR20,000,000 car you are after.
GTS seems to me to be the least generous title to date when it comes to handing out money and prize cars, and to a degree this made sense at launch with the limited car count. However we are now a long way from that, and it would be easy to resolve, being able to sell duplicate Daily Prize cars and a return of the daily sign-in bonus would both be valid routes to take.
So after taking a look at the positives of GTS nearly eighteen months down the line, and a look at the areas I still feel could do with improvement, what do I think about it?
The simple answer is that GTS is now a title, that after a long time on the shelf, is back in my regular play list. It doesn’t have the physics of the likes of AC or PC, (and those who have known me long enough will know that's my main draw) but the physics are now more than solid enough for me to enjoy and recommend, add in the visual and audio quality, along with Sport Mode and it’s got one hell of a lot to recommend it, and I'm quite happy to do just that.
