Gran Turismo Sport: Release Date, Car List, Early Impressions, Top New Features

The long, winding road for Gran Turismo Sport comes to an end October 17 when the game launches in North America on PlayStation 4. 

As the seventh mainline entry in the iconic franchise, several delays only helped to build more hype for the release, which drops a day later across Europe. Developer Polyphony Digital faces the task of meeting lofty expectations and stepping into the ring with Microsoft's Forza Motorsport 7, which launched recently. 

What longtime fans of the franchise will want to know above all else, of course, is what they'll be able to drive in the game. 

As expected, Gran Turismo Sport doesn't hold back in this area while picking out realistic recreations from manufacturers such as Audi and Bugatti and beyond. The 164 vehicles and classifications are detailed here: 

Granted, some will point out competitors like Forza Motorsport 7 and even past iterations in this series have offered more in the way of sheer numbers, but Polyphony Digital doesn't seem interested in padding numbers with variances—intstead opting for the most realistic digital representations possible, especially from series debutants like Porsche. 

Even so, those working on the game have already confirmed more vehicles will enter the fray via DLC, according to GTPlanet's Kyle Patrick. Those will join an already-impressive garage. 

As far as features go, campaign mode makes a strong impression out of the box thanks to the depth found across four categories, not to mention the deep tutorials and challenge modes. Progression through these modes and challenges (which can range from a certain number of passes during a race to something else) are tracked on an online leaderboard. 

Speaking of online, one of the bigger talking points around Gran Turismo Sport is the online championship overseen by the FIA, the real-world organization that governs motor racing. This mode gets dubbed FIA GT Championship and requires a constant online internet connection for the sake of fairness and integrity. 

Along the lines of the integrity angle, the game judges skill through Sportsmanship Rating, which is exactly what it sounds like, and Driver Rating—meaning the classic push for the "S" rating returns, this time online among peers. 

Of course, it wouldn't be Gran Turismo without stunning visuals and the option for aficionados to check out their hard-earned vehicles. A new mode dubbed The Scapes gives users a photography mode with a powerhouse of an editor for users to experiment with. 

SCEA product manager Ken Chan provided more detail over at the PlayStation Blog: "The Scapes feature in GT Sport is a new format of photography developed from a True HDR workflow and physics-based rendering technologies. Basically, each photo location contains all the light energy information of that scene, which means your favorite car can realistically be placed in hundreds of real world locations."

To be competitive in this scene these days, a game like Gran Turismo Sport has to offer much in the way of customization as well. It does, with a Forza-esque assist feature making it into the game as well as the tuning options for each vehicle we've come to expect from an entry in the series. 

Chan also dove into this area, where a new currency system aims to reward players: "In GT Sport, every mile driven means extra rewards for you; with Mileage Exchange, you can trade in-game miles for a host of customization options for your driver avatar and vehicles within your Garage."

The feature list is like the car list—Polyphony Digital isn't trying to blow anyone away with numbers. This edition in the series is about living up to the reputation with an offering that looks and feels like the best offering on the market. 

Fans can be the judge on October 17.