Gran Turismo games have always been technical marvels, always pushing the hardware they are made for to the limit. Gran Turismo Sport is out now (you can read our review here– we really liked it!), becoming the franchise’s debut on the PlayStation 4. As such, we’re all obviously excited about what Polyphony Digital can do with the hardware that they have at their disposal, both on a regular PS4 as well as Pro. As it turns out, they can do quite a lot.
Before I get started, however, I need to make it clear that you really can’t go wrong with either version of the game. Gran Turismo Sport is an inherently beautiful game with crisp, sharp visuals and very little performance issues to speak of, so if you don’t have a PS4 Pro, don’t feel like you’re missing out on anything that might drastically change the experience. This is still an excellent looking game, even on a base PS4.
With that out of the way, it also needs to be said that while the regular PS4 version of GT Sport does look great, it looks significantly better on a PS4 Pro. One of the biggest advantages the PS4 Pro version of the game has over the base version is that it has more than twice as much GPU power to play with. What it does with that power is that it produces a steady, solid frame rate, delivering a locked 60 frames per second.
On the base PS4, Gran Turismo Sport does hit 60 frames per second as well, but there are quite a lot of instances when that figure drops down. During particularly busy or frantic on-screen moments, the frame rate drops can be pretty drastic- that’s still not bad, and it doesn’t really affect the actual racing per se, but the slow downs are quite noticeable, and a few times they can bring you out of the experience.
On the resolution side of things, Gran Turismo Sport is rendered at 1080p on a regular PS4. However, the frame rate is dropped from 60 to 30 during replays to compensate for the improvement in car details. The PS4 Pro version on the other hand offers two modes. The ‘Frame Rate” mode prioritizes better frame rate. This immediately impacts the game with better and stable frame rates. Replays, too, run at 60 frames per second. However, that is not all. This mode also offers better anti-aliasing and depth of field. The other mode is the ‘Quality Mode’ which renders the game at 3200 X 1800 resolution. Polyphony Digital’s latest entry in the racing simulation franchise looks incredible as it is, but on a 4K screen the game has the capability to make your jaws drop through the floor. For those who do not have access to a 4K screen, the game provides a super-sampled image on 1080p TV sets.
Gran Turismo Sport is thus one of the few games so far that takes proper advantage of the PS4 Pro hardware. Given Polyphony Digital’s past record with maximizing the potential of all Sony hardware they lay their hands on, and how series has been going from strength to strength in the technical department with each new entry, that really isn’t much of a surprise. And while the PS4 Pro version of the game is definitely the better looking one, it has to be said that this is just a very, very good looking game no matter what kind of PS4 you play it on.
There’s incredible attention to detail here, and everything from the inside and outside of a car and the superbly detailed tracks to the lighting and the weather effects is top notch here. It looks excellent on the PS4, and thanks to some amazing work by Polyphony Digital, it manages to look even better on the PS4 Pro.
