Let me start by saying that I’m not a fan nor am I an avid Forza player, in fact the only Forza game I’ve played was the first one of the franchise, launched 10 years ago on the original Xbox console. If I were to pick a racer, then I have always preferred the arcade driving games to the simulator ones. But, after experiencing the demo, that’s not to stop me giving my opinion on the latest Forza title.
Many of you may be thinking “why the hell is a non Forza gamer/fan giving an opinion about a game he doesn’t play?” Well that’s easy to answer; as a gamer I like to try and play all kinds of games, no matter what genre they belong to. The fact that I’m not a fan is exactly where I’ve got the idea of writing this opinion, since the majority of published thoughts, regardless the game which they are written about, come from fans of the game, or genre. This is not the case here however.
Those of you who are new to the Xbox community and have only just heard about Forza Motorspot 6 will need a bit of background. A driving simulator created by Turn 10 Studios and published by Microsoft Studios, the franchise is one of the oldest exclusives on Xbox consoles and comes with a huge but ever growing fan community.
In Forza 6, as in many other driving games, the player has the chance to drive real life cars on real life tracks; there are a few “fantasy tracks” but they have also been inspired by the real ones. Although in the demo the player only has access to six cars and tracks, in the career demo mode and on the Rivals Challenges, there are five cars and tracks available to play, in the full game there will be a total of 460 cars and 26 tracks. I don’t recall any other game with such a huge variety of cars to choose from.
So, let’s start with the easy part – the graphics. They are absolutely stunning to say the least with both cars and tracks standing head and shoulders above anything else. The only thing that has disappointed me are seeing the spectators as just flat images and not 3D characters. I know many won’t care about this but I like to pay attention to all the details and finding out that they were “card-characters” has kind of let things down. What really matters to the hardcore Forza fans though are the visuals of the tracks and cars; I can assure you that no one will be disappointed. The new weather variations (night and rain are both included) are well designed too. Particularly in the rain, where you have actual rain drops and 3D puddles of water in play. Forza 6 doesn’t deal with just any old track with 2D puddles overlayed.
Now to the gameplay. Forza 6 has gained a lot of different aspects and features, such as the ability to add mods to earn extra credits, tune up different parts of the car (although in the demo you can only play with the tyres, I believe in the full version you will have access to the whole variety of customisation options), change the opponents skill levels, limit their “aggression” and customise your own driving skill level.
Losing hours and days customising all of the different options is something that everyone must do to get a full Forza experience but for me that’s kind of boring, especially delving deep into the tuning options. Although I liked the dare mods, due to the fact of offering new challenges to complete and with that earning some extra credits, I fear they might become a bit repetitive over time.
The game also features something called Spins. Every time the player levels up they will win a Spin opportunity and get to try their luck in winning one of nine different prizes. There’s no skill involved and you’ll need a big slice of luck but whatever the prize you win, it’s always a decent addition. Although some are better then others, you won’t leave the Spin empty handed so it’s good to see it included.
I’ve also tried to play the demo using a proper race wheel controller, borrowed from a friend, instead of the regular Xbox controller. I have to admit that to have the full Forza experience I would recommend everyone who wants to get serious with the game to play with a wheel controller. It offers a much fuller, rounded experience.
Doing an overall evaluation of the Forza 6 demo, I have to admit that in some ways the demo makes me want to buy the full game – maybe it was the stunning 2017 Ford GT which dragged me in, but since I’m not a simulator nor Forza fan, I’ll have to leave Forza 6 out of my collection…for now!
But if you like a good driving sims and/or have a passion for cars, then let me assure you that this game will be for you. It’s an awesome addition to the franchise with lots of cars to choose from and a huge variety of customisations.
And you’ll have to do just that if you want to win that race with a split-second advantage!
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