Forza Motorsport is back with a vengeance after a six-year hiatus for the franchise, and the wait was definitely worth it, with the series reboot having the potential to completely revitalize the driving sim genre.
In the six years since Forza Motorsport 7, racing games have gone down the arcade route and away from simulation, opting for a more accessible approach to driving. On-track racing has been replaced by offroad and drifting, with realism often left behind.
Forza played a big part in this, launching the Forza Horizon series with a formula that many others have followed. Forza Motorsport sees the franchise return to its roots, however, and could act as a defibrillator to the racing simulator genre.
The reality is that fewer and fewer gamers want an authentic driving experience and, instead, want a more casual approach that hasn’t always been offered in previous Forza series entries—but Forza Motorsport has flipped the script entirely with a game that will appeal to casuals and veterans alike.
Creating a “CarPG”
The core part of Forza Motorsport’s makeover is the adoption of new mechanics that increase player progression and give every car a level between 1 and 50. Each level increase unlocks new parts you can add to your vehicle to improve its performance in different areas, providing another level of customization.
Developer Turn 10 Studios has dubbed this a “CarPG,” taking the best parts of the Forza series and mixing it with progression usually seen in an RPG. There’s a wide array of parts available, meaning your Ford Mustang may end up being completely different to my Ford Mustang.
Such customization fits perfectly with the Forza Motorsport family, which has become renowned for eye-catching designs created by the community and expertly tuned builds that can boost your car’s performance even further, all of which can be shared and downloaded by other players.
Progression feels meaningful, and success feels valued. Testament to this is the new Segment Score system, which sees you rated for your performance at various stages of a track for the speed you have navigated it, compared to your car, its upgrades, and the time you should be hitting.
Nothing feels better than expertly mastering a corner and seeing a little icon appear in the top-right, showing you’ve achieved a perfect 10. And there’s no better motivation than seeing a lower score that shows exactly where you need to improve.
This results in a superb entry to the series for new players, particularly for those making the jump over from Forza Horizon, but crucially does not lessen the experience for veterans. You can ignore the Segment Scores or turn them and the XP bar off entirely, instead approaching the game as you would have done previously.
Another welcome change to the game is that winning is not everything. You’re now rewarded for a podium finish, and there are no achievements for winning a series. Instead, you can progress regardless of whether you have come first or last, and not locking you out means that I’ve found myself regularly tweaking the settings to be more challenging, as I know there will be no punishment if I suffer. Instead, I can become a better driver.
Forza Motorsport’s controls help with that quest to be the best, as the physics overhaul is certainly noticeable. While steering can feel heavy at times, the grip feels more realistic, and cars are easier to control later in the race when the track has “rubbered in.” The opposite happens when your tires have started to wane—which immediately puts you on the defensive against any rivals in close proximity behind you.
An evolving game
What makes Forza Motorsport different from previous series entries is that this edition is here to stay. Until Forza Motorsport 7, a new entry in the series was released every other year, so any post-launch additions to the game were small, and attention quickly diverted towards its successor.
That approach has been squelched, with Forza Motorsport now focused on the long-term and the developer promising to add new cars, tracks, and more on a regular basis. This means you should never run out of things to do and continue the live-service attention from the Forza Horizon series.
Because of this, there’s plenty of hope for the future of Forza Motorsport, and the game’s biggest problem, a lack of tracks at launch, should be solved in the near future. Turn 10 has explained this reduced number of tracks at launch is due to improved physics in the game requiring every track to be rebuilt from scratch, and has promised the Yas Marina Circuit will arrive in November.
Hopefully, the addition of new features and content regularly will mean the biggest issues I have with Forza Motorsport will be solved, as there are a few things I have found perplexing.
From what I’ve experienced so far, the new tire compound system and the ability to change your fuel load for a race is massively underused, as I’ve yet to come into a situation where I’ve even needed to pit in a race, let alone think about taking new tires.
Frustratingly, while Forza Motorsport’s boasts a range of brilliant customization options, there are a few notable absences. Race length in the Builder’s Cup career mode cannot be adjusted, leaving races often feeling too short, and there’s no way to have damage fully simulated and still retain the ability to use the rewind feature.
Issues of race length and underuse of the pit system are bizarre as Forza Horizon, the game’s sister series, has a great feature that allows you to create a race series so you can use whatever car you want or see what other members of the community have created. The absence of this feature in Forza Motorsport is telling.
In truth, any issues I have with Forza Motorsport are minor, but other players may feel differently, as some may prefer shorter races and don’t care for a more simulated racing experience. It’s all down to personal preference, and Forza Motorsport caters to pretty much whatever you want it to.
All in all, Forza Motorsport is the most definitive racing experience I’ve ever laid my hands on, and it could result in a much-needed revival for the racing simulator series. The RPG elements provide a new angle to the game without taking over completely, and the enhancements to physics and graphics are telling.
I may never be Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton, but Forza Motorsport makes me feel like them.
