Okay, so the release of the Gran Turismo movie has got you all fired up to dust off that PlayStation and get back into racing games, but you want a more immersive experience than a standard controller can offer - what can you do?
Well, I mean, it's pretty obvious really: spend more money.
In this case there are three very obvious things to spend money on that will make your in-home racing experience more visceral - a steering wheel, a race seat set up and a VR headset.
Now, we have covered off the VR headset experience previously, and it is simply the most immersive way to race on a PlayStation, but the second biggest booster of immersion is a steering wheel and pedals. Which is where the good people at Logitech come in.
You see, I had mentioned my trusty Logitech G29 steering wheel in the PS VR2 story and they reached out to me to offer the chance to try the upgraded version - the G923.
Visually, the G923 isn't all that different to the G29, and neither have there been an major upgrades to the hardware, but there have been two additions that set it apart from the older model, the first being a firming up of the brake pedal with a new progressive spring that gets firmer as you depress it.
While this isn't particularly mind-blowing in itself, the effect is more realistic. At least, until you push the pedal all the way down and hit the solid bump stop, which still shatters immersion, but is way better than before.
The second, and far more meaningful, upgrade is the addition of Logitech's new Trueforce technology, which the company says "connects directly to in-game engines, processing at up to 4000 times per second" using actual game physics and audio in real time.
Basically this translates into more vibration and noise, which sounds awful, but then racing cars do vibrate a lot and are noisy, so this does actually mean better immersion. And it really does too, particularly if you use it with a PS VR2 headset, where the heightened sensations through the wheel feel even more realistic.
There biggest catch with Trueforce, however, is it needs to be integrated into the game by the developer, so as of yet, there are only relatively few games that support it, namely Assetto Corsa Competitzione, Dirt Rally 2.0, F1 2022, Grid, Monster Truck Championship, Project Cars 3 and, of course Gran Turismo Sport and Gran Turismo 7. Logitech's website says that awesome off-road truck sim Snowrunner supports it on PS5 too, but I couldn't even get the game to recognise the wheel, so...
But while that game list is limited the G923 operates just like the G29 (or G290 if you are an Xbox gamer) when the option of Trueforce isn't present.
Is the G923 worth buying to add to the immersion of racing on a PS5? Absolutely. The Logitech G-series wheels have always been excellent entry-to-mid-level racing wheels and the G923 continues that tradition. While you can still buy a G29 or G920, they are only fractionally cheaper than a G923 and the extra immersion is well worth the difference.
Is it worth upgrading to the G923 from a G29 or G920? That's a much different question - while Trueforce is an excellent addition, the rest of the wheel is essentially the same as the older model which, lets face it, wasn't a huge step up over the older G27 to begin with.
Still, as car reviewers, we constantly lament the dumbing down of steering feel in real cars to better appeal to the tastes of the younger PlayStation generation who have only ever known numb steering. Now we have Logitech doing the opposite - let's hope it catches on and inspires carmakers to add more feel and feedback into their cars...
