izigame.me

So, Forza Motorsport gets all the bad reviews and complaints for a lot of reasons, and i initially wasnt going to even bother with it. I figured i'd give it a good old fashioned, open minded try. Heres what i feel as someone whos been playing forza titles since the original forza motorsport way way back on the classic xbox.
The physics are excellent and the racing is great. You can really feel the difference between cars and the upgrades. Cars feel immersive, and in a racing game i feel thats important. The cars just feel good to drive, and the track points system (however forgiving it might be) actually encourages you to do better, and helps you see where your laptimes are suffering. The adjustable AI "Speed" is pretty on point. Maxed out requires you to be perfect. A few notches down from that and you really just have to give it your all. Turn off the assists and try your hardest.
Thats the wonderful thing Forza Motorsport got right. It encourages you to try and enables you to push your skills while giving you an immersive feel and the feedback to do better at each turn.
Unfortunately thats the only real positive thing i have to say about the game. It is an excellent game if you are just playing by yourself, intent on learning each car and trying to push yourself. The rest... where to begin.
Its not the prettiest game in the series for a start. A lot of effort was put into most of the car models (some of them are old models from previous games from what i understand) and the environments, but its pretty hard to balance a realistic look and an over the top pretty look. It falls flat here. Compare it to Horizon 5 or FM7 (yes i know Horizon isnt the same developer, but thats not the point), where you had either extreme and you can see how its just a greyish brown muddling of the two styles. There are other racing games in the same league as Forza motorsport that look FANTASTIC, with the best combination of both worlds as far as looks go. Its disappointing.
The variety as a solo player is awful. Yes, you do have quite a few cars to choose from. Yes, there are quite a few tracks to choose from, but more content =/= more variety. All of the tracks sans the classic nurburgring and de la sarthe are just kind of... plain. They're all pretty similar in length and complexity, a pretty bland course selection. Unless you're a hardcore F1 fan the track selection isnt going to stand out. The previous motorsport games did pretty well to add completely left field fictional tracks to break up the monotony. None such here.
The car selection feels as if its been hit with the "no fun allowed" rule. Lots of popular street machines, lots of historic race machines, but nothing to really break it up. You have 'racing cars' this time around and little else. Sure, the whole premise of Forza Motorsport during its development was to make it a game centered around racing, make you feel immersed with the selection, but this ultimately limits you to doing just that and little else. I say again, more content =/= more variety.
On top of this, there are 'seasonal' events. Content that can be missed, cars that you might not get another chance to get for months depending on what the devs decide to do. Games like Forza Horizon make it feel fun, you can earn your limited time things in one sitting. Gran Turismo is the same deal. Short, quick events with a nice prize at the end. Forza Motorsport has somehow made it feel a chore, with the bland variety of cars the developers have chosen to stick to as your reward.
Furthermore, and i hate to agree with the general public on this, the game really does feel unpolished. Its not the most smooth or fluid game to play, the UI feels a little clunky at times, the load times and performance even on top dollar machines can be a bit sporadic, and for all the attention to detail the game promises you can still catch glimpses here and there where they cut corners to get the game out.
I wouldnt go as far as saying that it plays like its "Unfinished" or its a "Prototype build", but you can tell where their priorities were when developing the game, and those parts are, fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you feel), fantastic.
Lastly, and probably the thing i dislike most about this game, is the way it comes off to me. From the first minute you start playing you run through the introduction, the opening bout where you chooch along on maple valley raceway just to get a feel, on to an LMP car and then your first series. Theres no... sparkle. Theres nothing to entice you. It doesnt make you feel special. Theres no Stinger. No draw. Nothing that makes you sit back in your seat in awe or anything that hypes you up. It feels like you're supposed to come in knowing what it is and what to expect. Its a Forza Motorsport game for players who played the previous games, people who followed the development of the game and stayed excited for it, riding the name of the franchise and all its history. It just comes across as cold and unwelcoming to new players to the franchise, and lackluster and disheartening to longtime fans.
Would i recommend this game? Sadly not. I want to love it, and im going to play it here and there because of how awesome they got the physics portion down. So unless you're like me where all you want to do is systematically tackle the Nurburgring with every car on the hardest settings with no assists for fun, you are probably not going to enjoy this game.
Its not a bad game. Its just not a good game. And as im sure everyone knows, that means its forgettable.
My recommendation? Pick up Forza Motorsport 7. The physics are still great, it is much more polished and still looks pretty good for its age. The car variety is excellent, the track variety is excellent, the feel and immersion is excellent. Its an enticing game to play. It feels special. It welcomes anyone and everyone to the world of Forza Motorsport and all it has to offer. Its Forza Motorsport but better, and that says a lot.