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Just over 12 months ago, Gran Turismo Sport broke cover for the first time, and it didn't look too great. The series' long-awaited debut on PlayStation 4 was undercooked and underwhelming upon its reveal, offering what felt like only the most incremental of steps forward from the PlayStation 3's Gran Turismo 6. Now, as the beta that was promised early in 2016 has finally rolled out, things are looking much more promising for Polyphony Digital's racer. So what exactly has changed? The release date, for one. Gran Turismo Sport was at one point slated for last November, but now it carries on without a firm date - which is probably for the best, given Polyphony's well-proven ability to shoot past deadlines just like a Vauxhall Vectra floating gracelessly past its braking point - and the time seems to have been spent wisely. This is a much more impressive game to behold, and having spent over a week with the closed beta I'd go as far to say it's positively handsome; lacking the high-end dazzle and glitz of the likes of Project Cars and Forza, perhaps, but grounded with its own sense of reality and full of remarkable detail.
It sounds better, too, even if once again it lacks a certain punch and drama and falls well short of standard-bearers such as RaceRoom. Sector 3's racer sounds more raucous than a piss-up in hell, while Gran Turismo Sport boasts an altogether politer din, but there's plenty more character to be found here than in Polyphony's previous games. Transmissions whine, exhausts pop and wheeze and while the engine note perhaps isn't as full-blooded as it could have been it's still a significant forward step.
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