GoldenEye 007. The unfavorable comparison comes after a new trailer for Gran Turismo 7 was shown off at PlayStation Showcase 2021. The Polyphony Digital developed title features real-time ray tracing with for 4K resolution and 60 frames-per-second on the PS5 version. It is a little odd to see a 2022 graphically intensive game being compared to the 1997 classic that was released when 3D gaming was just getting started.
Unfortunately for Gran Turismo fans looking to get the highest graphical fidelity from their games, Gran Turismo 7 has no ray-tracing during races. For a racing game that relies on fast and smooth performance, the computational cost of the advanced lighting technique may slow the game down. Racers might not even recognize the ray tracing as they zoom down speedways, making split-second decisions. However, the technology can be implemented in replays or when the player is in the garage, gazing at their cars. While ray tracing is still a new feature for consoles, the technique alone was unthinkable in 1997, when both GoldenEye 007 and the first Gran Turismo were released. Even CGI backgrounds and car models in video games were still in their infancy.
Twitter remade in Far Cry 5 along with the rest of the game. GT7’s low-resolution dam looks blurry, while GoldenEye’s dam is in focus, having sharp, pixelated aliasing which was indicative of graphics at the time. JustAnLED was critical of Polyphony Digital.
Many Twitter s were quick to defend the driving simulator, providing different images of High Speed Ring that included the dam. Others explained that the shot in the trailer was from the Career map in the game’s menu, offering an aerial preview of the racing course in its entirety. JustAnLED’s tweet was most likely designed to prompt a console war. Biased gamers replied to the tweet, chiming in with their favorite games. Some keen Gran Turismo fans, however, might be disappointed by the appearance of this dam, especially after Polyphony Digital CEO Kazunori Yamauchi refused to make compromises on attention to detail in Gran Turismo 7.
Regardless, JustAnLED’s comparison is a bit of a reach, pitting together two different games from completely different times. GoldenEye 007 had more limitations than Gran Turismo 7. Perhaps the reason GT7’s dam model is at a low resolution is because it is used in a flyover shot in a menu screen. When a model is seen from a distance, developers often use a low-quality version of it to avoid taxing a system’s GPU. Meanwhile, GoldenEye’s dam is prominent in the shot JustAnLED presented, designed for players to focus on as James Bond makes his daring leap over the side. The model would be of the highest quality afforded in 1997. It holds up well, and was very impressive for its time, but it is ultimately incomparable to today’s graphics.
Gran Turismo 7 will release on March 4, 2022 for PS4 and PS5.
Source: JustAnLED/Twitter
