It's shiny... but is that enough?
It’s hard to believe that Forza Motorsport first debuted on the original Xbox back in 2005. It’s more difficult to recall that its spawned six direct sequels since that time, culminating in Forza Motorsport 7 on Xbox One way back in 2017.
Forza Motorsport 5 was a launch title meant to showcase the Xbox One back at launch, and Motorsport 7 did the same for the Xbox One X. They both, of course, succeeded.
That all said, Motorsport’s cousin, the arcade-like affair that is the Forza Horizon series, was introduced in 2012 and almost immediately took centre stage, allowing for a casual minded, accessible way to race hyped-up supercars around the world. I’m far more of a fan of It than the hardcore simulator that Motorsport strives to be, and I’d wager I’m not the only one.
Turn 10’s Dan Greenawalt is okay with that.
“I was part of this team when there was just four of us back in 2000 pitching the original Forza Motorsport… but our vision has remained largely the same,” he began, speaking to press as part of this preview opportunity.
“Our goal is to help people fall in love with cars. We want to build that passion for cars. We want to create a community that loves cars and loves games. So this has been at the heart of the Forza franchise for a long time,” he continued.
“In Horizon, that’s done through freedom and exploration; in Motorsport, that’s done through skill and competition, and so that means there are two expressions of the same vision.”
Years into the lifecycle of the Xbox Series S & X – and in the midst of developer Larian paring down its powerhouse title Baldur’s Gate 3 to be able to offer it on the less powerful Series S – and Forza Motorsport (no number) is an entirely different beast than in the past.
It’s not meant to show off the console; really, it’s just meant to offer up another Xbox console exclusive in a time where Microsoft doesn’t have much else. In fact, the lack of a number in Motorsport could also slightly betray it; is this another Halo Infinite, meant to become Microsoft next big long-running, live service game, or will it too falter off the starting line and quickly fade into a distant memory?
Greenawalt said no.
“It’s not called Forza Motorsport 8, and that’s because we took a step back and we reevaluated,” he said. “We thought of these new concepts like built, not bought… new ideas like blind driving assist and how that would push us with accessibility options.
“And of course, all the amazing graphics. I think the unsung hero of all this is the physics… and the AI, which are the very core of racing, empowered us as a platform to just build all sorts of new features.”
Car games are, arguably, the easiest to get right on a console. Forza Motorsport 7 still looks great (on Xbox Series S, the only console I had available whilst in Canada during the preview window), and Forza Motorsport (again, no number), does as well. Playing hands-on via Series S, framerates were mostly stable; the only time things chugged were during a couple short cutscenes and not inside actual gameplay itself. Light effects are the most noticeable thing on offer, really helping to sell the realism that this sim is after. This is, of course, paired with sound design that makes you believe you’re sitting in a cockpit.
Cars look like real cars (and they have for a while), and from my completely amateur stance feel like they’d handle in real life as well. In terms of gameplay, Motorsport isn’t breaking the mold – you accelerate, you break, you steer, and you do so using as many or as little driving assists as you’d like.
If you spectacularly stuff up – or even just think you can take a corner better and edge out an AI opponent – you can reverse time and try again. On harder difficulties, rewinds detract from rewards; worse yet, collisions can result in penalties that impact your final timings and the like. Horizon, this is not.
That’s where I sort of bounce off; it’s very realistic, and that’s not necessarily for me. It looks better than Forza Motorsport 7, but not in ways I can properly articulate (I think they’re both just fine). They have hundreds of cars, and almost as many tracks, and you follow a (hopefully) blue line around every single track you come across. I found the most enjoyment inside practice laps, where track segments are denoted by physical lines on the ground and timings are ever-present on your screen. I’ve never been more dedicated when it came to shaving seconds off my time; this, I know, is where the diehards will be devoting most of their energies (but, you know, without the markers and inside actual races).
I can’t pinpoint why Motorsport is needed over Motorsport 7, really, and that’s where I have potential issue with this release. Like yearly sports game, is this just a release for release’s sake? Will this last for the remainder of the Series’ lifecycle, or will Motorsport 8 pop up if racers deem it run of the mill?
If you’re into tuning, pit stops, acryonyms dealing with tyre temperatures and the like — and, most importantly, don’t just hold down the gas pedal regardless of what you’re doing — I’m sure you’ll disagree with my assessment thus far. That’s okay, too.
I’m not above admitting after saying all this that I did enjoy myself with assists on, penalties at low and not a care in the world; I flew around the race track, trading paint with enemies and taking corners at speeds no one in the real world would even consider with a big smile on my face… that is, until the assists slammed on the brakes for me and ensured I wouldn’t veer off course. My own skills — or lack thereof — meant the assists produced my best lap times and not my own brain and careful braking and acceleration.
Regardless, the fact that I could potentially enjoy this without additional cost as part of my Xbox Game Pass subscription sweetens the pot as well, though that’s without seeing what types of in-game microtransactions could rear their ugly heads. We were limited to a tutorial and one cup as part of this hands-on preview, so there wasn’t much room to explore. Multiplayer was entirely off the table too.
Thankfully, there’s not long to find out what the full package looks and plays like; Forza Motorsport speeds to Windows PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X and Xbox Cloud Gaming from 10 October.
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Forza Motorsport10 October 2023PC Xbox Series S & X |
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