The March 4 release of Gran Turismo 7's races don't ray tracing, saving that particular graphical technique for garage sequences and replays. Despite this, GT7's lighting is seriously impressive, with believable shadows, reflections, and glares during gameplay.
The news that GT7 wouldn't be utilizing ray tracing on the PS5 version at all times was a bit disappointing, considering some of its PlayStation exclusive cohorts have gone to great lengths to balance ray tracing with frame rate. Both of Insomniac's Spider-Man games and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, for instance, have managed to include graphical settings which allow for a decent amount of ray tracing while targeting 60fps. Many had already given up hope on Gran Turismo 7 being a truly current-gen experience when it was revealed that it would also be releasing on the PS4, but regardless of these apparent setbacks, the game's visual fidelity doesn't appear to be effected much.
The most recent Gran Turismo 7 trailer on 2022's biggest PlayStation releases, but this trailer showing a race on Daytona International Speedway perfectly displays how realistic the lighting can be even without ray tracing. The trailer appears to take place shortly before sunset, giving the entire video a rather sharp angle for its light source.
GT7's Races Are Still Detailed Without Ray Tracing On PS5
Ray tracing is one of the more significant new features in the latest console generation. It promises lighting that is more realistically rendered, with accurate shadows and reflections being produced rather than them being results of other graphical tricks. The downside to ray tracing is how demanding it is on the hardware. With full ray tracing in Spider-Man: Miles Morales, for example, the game doesn't exceed 30fps. Racing games like Gran Turismo have historically had impressive graphics because of their comparatively limited scope, but GT7 is still apparently unable to ray tracing alongside a smooth frame rate and high resolution.
Despite this, the rendered lighting on display is gorgeous. While in first-person, shadows flicker flicker across the dashboard as the car es trees, light poles, and fencing. Glares from the sun slide across the cars' bodies as they bank around a turn, and windshields and windows reflect objects as they . This trailer may very well be footage of a replay, in which ray tracing could be enabled, but an earlier official trailer on Gran Turismo 7's more than 400 cars, but these early looks are very promising for its graphics despite there being no ray tracing while in a race.
Source: PlayStation/YouTube (Daytona International Speedway Gameplay Video, Deep Forest Raceway Gameplay)
