Gran Turismo 7 is a celebration of the automobile. From the opening cinematic, it's apparent that Polyphony Digital wanted to share their love for cars and racing with a high-fidelity, realistic simulation. It's been 25 years since Gran Turismo wowed fans with its huge number of cars and attention to detail, and the latest entry in the series shows that passion hasn't gone anywhere.

The last game in the series, Gran Turismo Sport, had a heavy emphasis on online racing. This, paired with the small number of cars and tracks it launched with, had fans wondering about the future of the series. Fortunately, Gran Turismo 7 is a return to basics and releases with over 420 cars and 90+ tracks. However, the vehicle selection is a bit odd. There aren't many post-2017 models, so players looking for the latest cars will have to wait for future updates.

The campaign primarily takes the form of requests from the Cafe. Here, the owner, Luca, will give you a menu that is composed of related challenges. These aren't too tough and mainly consist of things like winning championships or collecting three cars in a certain category. For completing them, you're rewarded with cars, roulette spins (that can reward credits or cars), or credits.

The thing that sets Gran Turismo 7 apart from its contemporaries is the presentation. For example, when you complete a menu collecting three cars, you'll get a nice little cinematic sequence explaining a bit of history of the vehicle class and waxing poetic about the experience using them. The menus are all dripping with style and class and go beyond just practical ways to select options. Unfortunately, there are few voiceovers in this game. It seems like a glaring omission for a title with such high production value.

Of course, the biggest draw for Gran Turismo 7 is the racing. This game models a car's suspension, tire temperature, tire composition, road material, engine health, and all sorts of other factors. You have to be precise in your inputs when turning and braking, or you'll quickly find yourself in last place. All this makes for a sharp learning curve, but plenty of assists will help new players get used to it.  

With racing lines and auto-brakes you just have to worry about steering the car where the game tells you to. However, these assists don't help you improve your times, so it pays to try and acclimate as quickly as possible and ditch them. Otherwise, you'll find yourself at more and more of a disadvantage as the game continues.

The DualSense is used to great effect in this game, which is one of the many reasons I recommend the PS5 version over the PS4. The haptic feedback gives a great facsimile of road feel, and the adaptive triggers do an excellent job of approximating the gas and brake pedal. Most importantly, the increased resistance on the L2 button makes it much easier to control how much brake you're applying than a traditional controller.

Unfortunately, though I love the cafe menus, getting a more expansive single-player campaign would have been great. I'd have loved to have seen a rags-to-riches racing story where you gradually work your way into faster and faster tiers of vehicles. The license system, one of Gran Turismo's hallmarks, could have been worked into it. As it is, you get into supercars too quickly to really appreciate the daily drivers and sports cars.

Gran Turismo 7 is a gift to anyone that loves racing. It has flair and style that put it far ahead of the competition when it comes to presentation. I can't wait to see how the game develops as more updates are added.

I highly recommend jumping into Gran Turismo 7, especially if you're a racing fan who's been there since the series debuted back on the original PlayStation. And if you were wondering, yes, KontrolFreek products can certainly help you do your best when you're careening around each curve in your favorite vehicles.

If you want to upgrade your performance in Gran Turismo 7, be sure to try the CQC Rush Performance Thumbsticks. These thumbsticks are built with a concave design that's meant to reduce slips and allow for quick reactions in all directions. They're also perfect for players who want to keep their thumbs centered on their thumbsticks -- which is a great way to play any racing game, including a heavily realistic racing sim like Gran Turismo 7.

Their mid-rise design with an expanded surface area also features raised edges for better control. That way, even if you drift around the curviest tracks you can find throughout the game, your thumb doesn't slip thanks to the CQC Rush's thumbsticks' design contouring to your thumb.

This, by design, leads to more comfortable play that can help reduce wrist, hand, and thumb fatigue so you can enjoy racing even longer. Plus, the increased grip design creates a soft wall design created by the concave shape for the thumbstick. This helps both to reduce slips and allows for quicker reactions in all directions. Because of how versatile the CQC Rush is, you can play with a typical control style or claw grip and still feel right at home.

Additionally, the Rush thumbsticks offer 120% more surface area than the original stock PlayStation and Xbox sticks, adding 8.0mm of height to increase your arc distance by 90% for added control. You need every bit of precision you can get if you're going to be zipping around hairpin turns and motivating down straightaways.

If you’re looking to get into Gran Turismo, whether you’re a newbie or you’ve been racing along with the series for years, this is the game to bring you back – and you know the gear you need to do your best, too. Get ready to cross the finish line with KontrolFreek in tow!