There are two series that have been scrapping it out for the right to be considered the gold standard of console sim racing for two decades now. Sony introduced the genre to console with their Gran Turismo series in 1998 and Microsoft has tried to match it with their Forza series ever since. And now, Turn 10 Studios fire back at PS5′ Gran Turismo 7 with the simply titled Forza Motorsport.
Forza Motorsport is also the first full-fat 9th gen. ground-up build of the series. It’s been six years since their last instalment – Forza Motorsport 7 . A game which is no longer available to buy on Xbox stores but set a high bar nonetheless. Fans will be asking what has really changed this time around beyond the obvious upgrade to the visuals.
Forza Motorsport for Everyone
Forza Motorsport biggest change is to its accessibility and skill-level targeting. The game presents you with a tonne of aids and assists that attempt to open up the series, and the genre, to players of all skills and abilities. To the point it if you stick everything on at once, the car will all but drive itself with you having only to do a minimum number of inputs.
The exact sweet spot to make the game fun and challenging at the right ratio exists. Finding the right level of opponent versus how much control you have can be tricky, mind.
Forza Motorsport lets players finely tune their experience to a point that it opens the genre up to the masses newly invested in car culture as well as elder fans.
Forza Motrosport also tries not only you teach you the key points in race craft, but also tries to push you to better yourself. Be it driving with fewer assists, or moving to new styles of racing. The game also steers you to new beasts and lets you feel like you’re mastering it.
Born in the USA, Will Travel
The game’s opening is a very American affair, as you start your career driving a 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray and 2023 No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R around the series staple track, Maple Valley. We are also introduced to the fictional Hakone Circuit, set in Japan, early on.
It’s a powerful opening as it shows the series is moving with the times. Gone are the monstrous and unrefined machines of the past, replaced with electric powered/assisted drivetrains and an array of advanced designs.
Schooled
Don’t get too attached to these dream rides though. As is the Forza way, just as you get to grips with them, you’re thrown back to more standard ‘school run’ fare. It’s quite the contrast to open the Forza Motorsport career mode.
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Additionally, if you’ve set the assists right you should be struggling to handle the high-performance stuff of the intro.
Coming back to the more sensible Honda shows you the massive difference as well as offering an opportunity to get to grips with the basics.
Career Mode Path
You’ll likely spend most of your time in the career mode which delivers you a well curated selection of events across the history of racing. The career gives you a real taste of everything. However, it does take a bit to get you into the more interesting and juicy events.
Though there’s is a free play mode if you just want to jump into a race, while the rivals mode lets you throw down the challenges to your mates, to see just who can be the fastest over the line and is similar to past takes on the classic head to head against the clock.
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You can create custom online lobbies if you’re looking for a bit more of a meaty challenge with your mates, as the core online mode has had a few tweaks and is a much more structured and refined offering this time around.
Forza Motorsport Car List
Turn 10 say that an eye-watering 500 vehicles available is the target over time. What you get out the box on Day One is a solid selection of cars from across different eras and racing disciplines.
If you’re a fan of the more arcade-style Forza Horizon series, you’ll notice more than a few staples. You’ll also notice the bedrock of American vehicles on the which the hundreds stand.
Some non-US classics available are worth mentioning. The McLaren-Honda MP 4/4 is a Formula 1 legend, sat in by no less than Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.
There’s a selection of Ferrari classics from the 70s, 80 and 90s as well as the 1990 F1 as driven by Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell. Suburu Impreza and its brethren sate the rally and JDM street racing crowd.
Personally, I am gutted to see my own car not make the cut this time as it’s the first time in a long time the Ford Fiesta ST isn’t available, even in its US-focused 5-door model.
This is extra surprising as the car actually stopped being manufactured by Ford just this year. To see it in the game would have been a nice send off, though this may be another sign of the EV times.
Forever Tuning and Customising
As is also the way with Forza you can spend hours tweaking under the hood, adding new parts or tuning them to get a few extra horsepower out of them, as you can really dive into the nuts and bolts of each part to dial them in.
Although the way you unlock these new parts has changed a little as you earn and ‘buy’ them by spending time actually driving the car. Which means you’ll be clocking up the hours in the same car to get the best and most shiny parts.
This isn’t an issue for gear heads as they love clocking up the laps, but it’s a new gamification that may put off the more casual drivers, as there is a new focus overall on car progression over the car collection of the past games.
Motorsport Track Selection
There are 20 tracks available from the get go including five brand new ones. Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit is Forza‘s track set in motorsport-mad South Africa. There is also a new oval circuit called Eaglerock Speedway.
Classics like Laguna Seca, Silverstone and Spa Francorchamps return once again to make a diverse selection. One that will, no doubt, be added to in time.
Forza Online Multiplayer
Featured Multiplayer as it is called, dishes up a number of playlists with rotating events – where you’ll race in set cars on set tracks leaving everyone on a level playing field.
So you get about 15 minutes free practice to learn the track, then you can fire in a qualifying time in a best of three laps shoot-out to get your grid position and then it’s race time.
It’s very clean and streamlined. Most importantly, it delivers the thrills of multiplayer racing, but through a very open ended system as well as feeling like something fresh to the series.
Photo Realists
Forza Motorsport carries on the series tradition of offering plenty on the blueprint, livery designs and photography side.
While a sizeable Forza community is all about clocking the fastest lap times and taking the most podiums, there is a substantial fanbase who’ll be once again happy to once again to share their custom creations online for the whole community to enjoy.
Forza Motorsport is stunning to behold and looks the part as a 9th gen. showcase. It’s worth nothing that there are three different performance modes to run the game in. But in general, the way the light bounces off your car, or sunlight catching your eyes as you crest a hill at Laguna Seca deliver plenty of ‘wow’ moments.
9th Generation Presentation
There are some truly jaw dropping effects on the visual side to go with some impressive modelling. Litte touches also enhance the spectacle. Stuff like seeing your racing gloves reflected in the windshield as the track lights up your car in the dead of night are just lovely.
The audio of Forza Motorsport hits the notes what you expect. From the meaty roar of a V12 or the urgent hum of an EV; everything sounds great on the track. Oddly, there is no music while racing. A decision which shows how hard Forza Motorsport leans into the sim trends du jour.
Forza Motorsport has a lot of voice work on show. It’s mainly between races from a narrator spouting lines around the thrill and nobility of why we race. The narrator/announced sounds like a Wish.com Jeremy Clarkson. You know that stupid-serious voice like he did during reviews on Top Gear. That.
A friendlier female voice teaches you the ropes of the game as well as building your race craft knowledge. It’s pleasant and subtly encouraging but, more importantly, offers some relief from the narrator/announcer.
Finish Line
Forza Motorsport is a step up from the past instalments beyond a marvelous visual upgrade. There are a number of tweaks and improvements that enrich the whole game regardless of your skill level.
It’s a huge plus that everyone can have fun here in a time when motor racing is drawing a huge public interest in real life. That the game can so particularly mould itself to your growing skill is an even bigger plus.
Forza Motorsport delivers a new standard of console sim racing and showcases 9th gen. power. The reverence and the central sim goals of the game may still be too serious for arcade thrillseekers. Forza Horizon and The Crew Motorsport exist to serve those gamers. Forza Motorsport is a true celebration of car culture, motor racing heritage, appreciation and community.