No, it’s not the Porsche
Grand Tourism 7 it just got its 1.29 update, and it’s important. The patch introduces support for Sony’s new PlayStation VR 2 headset, a fearsome new racing AI, a classic GT track, and five new vehicles, one of which, okay, maybe two, can claim to be the most awesome and beautiful car ever. .
The big news is really the virtual reality mode that, unlike the implementation of VR Grand Tourism Sport, is available in all races and game modes (except two-player split-screen). There’s also an exclusive VR showroom to look at the game’s gorgeous car models. In accordance with John Linneman of Digital Foundry, this mode is quite special; could make this patch GT7 one of the killer apps for PSVR 2?
PSVR 2 support isn’t the only notable technology being added to Polyphony Digital’s game in the latest update. The “revolutionary superhuman AI racing agent” Gran Turismo Sophy, developed by Sony’s AI labs and first revealed a year ago, is designed not only to be unbeatable fast, but also to race against others aggressively while respecting the etiquette of the races. You can take on Sophy, either one-on-one with identical machinery or in other racing scenarios that might give you a fighting chance, in a special limited-time mode from now until the end of March.
The classic track is Grand Valley, one of the most technical and demanding tracks of the original Gran Turismo tracks designed by Polyphony. He returns to the series for the first time since 2013 Grand Tourism 6. And the five new cars are two versions of the Italdesign Exeneo (a Vision Gran Turismo concept car); the 1965 Honda RA272, a classic Grand Prix machine; the iconic 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS, perhaps the most desirable 911 ever made; and… the Citroën DS.
The Citroën DS is not a fast car. It’s not even vaguely sporty. It is a French sedan, known for its use of peculiar technologies such as hydropneumatic suspension and directional headlights, and for looking like it was from the future. Frankly, this car, which, mind you, made its debut 1955 — It still seems like it’s from the future now. Here it is inside Grand Tourism 7.
Image: Polyphony Digital/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Polyphony Digital has opted for a late model, the DS 21 Pallas from 1970, with its shark-covered headlight units. Here’s another one, in the real world. Just look at it. Have you ever seen a sleeker looking automobile?
Photo: Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images
(It’s at this point that I should confess that my maternal grandfather, a lifelong Citroën loyalist, owned two of these things, so I’m a little biased. But still!)
The DS is undoubtedly a car of historical significance: Flaminio Bertoni’s aerodynamic bodywork was striking at the time and highly influential, predicting at least the next half century of automotive design. But it’s also ineffably cool and cool in a way that race cars never can be. Gran Turismo mastermind Kazunori Yamauchi and the team at Polyphony have once again shown their class and deep affection for automotive lore by incorporating it.
And yes, I would probably have the Porsche too.
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