The Forza Motorsport series has always excelled in areas where Gran Turismo hasn't. Forza was the first to have the driving line, damage modeling and auction house. It also got rid of those pesky license tests.(*1) Forza Motorsport's philosophy has always been to put gameplay first. It had fewer cars in its games compared to GT, but they were the cars most people cared about -- not obscure econoboxes or 10 versions of the Nissan Skyline.
You might make an argument that GT5 is a better simulation. Maybe the placement of fog lights may be missing from one car you are intimately familiar with, or perhaps the sound of the Corvette C6R might not sound right to you ("You can't even hear the straight-cut gears in this game!" said one FM4 player comparing it to GT5.). But then again, it doesn't take Turn 10 Studios five years to make a game.
It's been two years since Forza Motorsport 3, and we've just had our hands on Forza Motorsport 4. How is it?
The simulation aspect is still a big part of the game, but Forza isn't calling itself the "Real Driving Simulator." Rather than cram every style of racing into one game, Forza Motorsport 4 instead focuses on being a fun racing game that celebrates the passion of being a car enthusiast while remaining easily approachable to people of all skill levels. You can rewind time if you make a mistake, get a "quick upgrade" if you aren't into tuning and even hire a diver to help you beat a tricky race. Of course, you can still tune things yourself and ignore that rewind button when you run out of digital talent.
Dan Greenwalt, creative director for Turn 10 studios, said his goal was to bridge the gap between gamers and car enthusiasts. "My goal is to make gamers into car lovers, and car lovers into gamers," he said.
This flexibility is most evident in Forza 4's career mode, now called the "World Tour" mode. "I don't want you to try and unlock every car in the game," Greenwalt said. "I just want you to find the 10 or so cars that speak to you."
In fact, you can play the entire world tour mode in one car if you really wanted to. The game adapts to whatever car you currently have and shows you events that you are eligible for. "No two play-throughs are the same," Greenwalt added. Of course if you absolutely must finish every last race, you can still do so, via a menu that shows you a complete list of events.
You gain experience points and credits by progressing through the world tour mode and by completing online races. When you level up, you can choose from a list of cars, grouped by themes like "beginner drift cars," or play on a rivalry such as choosing between Ford or Chevy. There are no stats to compare; it has to be a gut decision. "These are decisions that get you invested in the cars," (*2) Greenwalt said.
There are a number of improvements in Forza 4. Greenwalt said Pirelli gave the Forza team tire handling data that it fed right into the game without any modifications. This is the same data that McLaren uses for its F1 racing team. The graphics have also improved, both on the cars and in the scene lighting. The lighting will behave differently for mid-day and dusk racing.
Car Clubs are another new feature. You can invite your friends to form a car club and race together online, pool money together towards the purchase of vehicles and share tuning and decal setups.
Forza 4 will support Microsoft's Kinect sensor in four ways. First you can do a virtual "walk-around" of certain cars to see them in high detail in Autovista mode. Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson narrates and provides context and color commentary for each vehicle. You will also be able to play "Kinect Racing" as a casual way to pass the time or to show off your Kinect. We saw both of these at E3 2010 (http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2010/06/e3-2010-forza-motorsports-shows-kinect-gameplay.html). Head tracking while racing is another Kinect feature that works surprisingly well. Finally there is voice hyperlinking, which uses Kinect's voice recognition to take you directly to predetermined menus. That saves you a few button presses.
But how does Forza 4 actually play? We asked two people from our office to play Forza and share their impressions in an EGM Review Crew-style discussion.
Mark's Takahashi, Automotive Editor
In my book, the Forza franchise has been the most well-rounded driving game. You can either go full geek by upgrading and tuning to your heart's content, or just jump in and race something. The latest Forza steps things up slightly with better tire physics and more believable performance, and thankfully, the original spirit is alive and well.
Forza 3 has been a staple of entertainment here at Inside Line, with editors and photographers swapping fast lap times via late-night text messages. (*3) We've had Forza 4 for a week-and-a-half, and the trash talking and one-upsmanship is already at full throttle. The obvious challenge will be driving the Kia Cee'd on the Top Gear track, but I'm sure other throwdowns will pop up.(*4)
I've already started to assemble our past and present long-term cars in the game and we'll make them available somehow. I even created our long-term project Miata and gave it the latest upgrades. There are also a lot of our personal cars (of which, you'll be seeing in our new Readers Rides blog). Oldham's screaming chicken Trans Am is there, as is my old 57 Thunderbird (wait until you see that circling the Top Gear track).
For me, the real test of a video game is how much sleep I lose over it. With the vast quantities of Mountain Dew, Earl Grey and matching luggage under my eyes, I can say that Forza 4 is definitely worth the money. My plan is to start up a Top Gear-style hot lap board that includes our times as well as our readers, so you might as well head to the supermarket for some caffeinated drinks, as well.
Rex Tokeshi-Torres, Associate Vehicle & Content Coordinator
Do you ever feel like the last guy finding out about a well-known secret? That's how I felt after playing Forza 4 for the first time. Friends and colleagues told me that they felt Forza was more fun than Gran Turismo. I kept shrugging off their comments- dismissing them as Xbox fanboys. I was a long-time Playstation gamer -- I didn't want the Xbox. \Then came the day when I actually got to play it. I thought to myself, "Hey, I dig this game. It's really fun. Crap, they were right."
Forza caters to the aspiring photographer who wants to get the perfect photo; the racer who dreams about driving every track on earth. It also speaks to car tuners -- and this is where it got me-- who can build every project car they ever wanted. I was able to recreate my 1990 Nissan 240SX and even put a similar JDM Origin body kit on it to complete its authenticity.
Yes, it's fun to play and drive through the race tracks. Is also fun to go through the cars in your garage and check out every minute detail. But the ability to build a car and tune it exactly the way I wanted to, is what appealed the most to me.
I finally went out and bought an Xbox just for this game. It's that's good.
Forza Motorsport 4 will be available on October 11, 2011 for the Xbox 360. Ron Montoya, Consumer Advice Associate
*1: Magrath disagrees, he liked the license tests.
*2: And generate some anger with car guys and bench racers.
*3: One of us is ferociously against online gameplay.
*4: Magrath's done a 1:13.4 in the C6.R and a 1:05.6 in a Peugeot prototype.
stovt001 says:
12:52 PM, 10/ 6/11
"but they were the cars most people cared about -- not ... 10 versions of the Nissan Skyline"
Actually I think my copy of Forza 3 has just under 10 versions of Nissan skylines, and at least 10 GTRs.
By the way, I beat subytrojan in Rivals mode last night in the demo. Just want to put that out there.
stovt001 says:
12:56 PM, 10/ 6/11
Oh and we should swap gamertags, maybe make an IL reader's car club. Right now Subytrojan is my only xbox friend... :(
subytrojan says:
02:40 PM, 10/ 6/11
I only did one dirty lap in the demo in the F10 M5.
In GT5, passing license tests isn't needed to play the rest of the game.
I want to hear more about how the physics improved. It sure didn't feel like a huge leap in the demo. Let's see if I can still lap Laguna Seca Raceway in the 1:42s in a bone stock Mk VI GTI. In real-life, it should be well over 1:50. I'm guessing 1:52-1:54.
Xbox Live Gamertag: USCTrojan4JC
PSN Username: USCTrojan4JC
subytrojan says:
02:46 PM, 10/ 6/11
By the way, the 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Sedan is not product correct. -1 for Forza.
• Gold BBS wheels were no longer offered for USDM MY2011
• BBS wheels are not available on the regular WRX STI Sedan (you can tell because there aren't any fog lights) – they are only equipped on the hatch (FTW!) and WRX STI Limited Sedan
stovt001 says:
03:56 PM, 10/ 6/11
I'm impressed by the 1:42. I just can't get past 1:44 or so in the MKVI (I went back to the lap times posted in the LTRT blog about a year back) even after getting a TV where I can actually make out the apexes.
Anyway, Stacey was impressed and I'm going to call a win a win on this one.
zr1man says:
08:47 PM, 10/ 6/11
OMG! Have we gone from a forum about real cars to computer games? Someone has really lost it.
Drive real cars. Get a life.
stovt001 says:
09:45 PM, 10/ 6/11
My gamertag is Hamster510. I'm serious about setting up a Forza club for regulars around here.
subytrojan says:
11:17 PM, 10/ 6/11
zr1man, not all of us can afford a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1.
Drive real cars you say?
I think I'll take my Peugeot 908 HDi FAP out for a spin after I post this comment. Driving a Corvette C6.R earlier tonight didn't do it for me.
Oh wait. I don't have the millions of dollars a person would probably need to get behind the wheel of those cars.
foxtrot685 says:
12:53 AM, 10/ 7/11
I'm seriously having a hard time not thinking about buying an Xbox 360 here in the desert. Our wifi is fast enough that I can log in and play, console and game updates may take 5 years tho. I cant wait for AAFES to get this game, itll be a few days after launch, I've heard Oct. 15-18. I'd love to join stov001's Forza "Inside Line" club, my gamer tag is GTcruiserFTW (I miss my Pt Cruiser GT :( )
lt1boy says:
05:13 AM, 10/ 7/11
stovt001 says:
"Actually I think my copy of Forza 3 has just under 10 versions of Nissan skylines, and at least 10 GTRs."
You thought wrong then. There's only one R35 in Forza 3. And there's only one R32, R33, and R34 as well.
Whereas in Gran Turismo 5, there's:
731
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R (R32) '89
732
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R (R32) '91
733
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R (R33) '95
734
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R (R33) '96
735
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R (R33) '97
736
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R (R34) '99
737
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R (R34) '00
738
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R M・spec (R34) '01
739
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R M・spec Nür (R34) '02
740
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R N1 (R32) '91
741
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R N1 (R33) '95
742
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R Special Color Midnight Purple II (R34) '99
743
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R Special Color Midnight Purple III (R34) '00
744
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V・spec (R32) '93
745
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V・spec (R33) '95
746
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V・spec (R33) '96
747
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V・spec (R33) '97
748
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V・spec (R34) '99
749
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V・spec II (R32) '94
750
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V・spec II (R34) '00
751
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V・spec II N1 (R34) '00
752
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V・spec II Nür (R34) '02
753
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V・spec LM Limited (R33) '96
754
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V・spec N1 (R32) '93
755
Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V・spec N1 (R34) '99
756
Nissan SKYLINE GTS25 Type S (R32) '91
757
Nissan SKYLINE GTS-R (R31) '87
758
Nissan SKYLINE GTS-t Type M (R32) '89
759
Nissan SKYLINE GTS-t Type M (R32) '91
Yep. A thousand million variations of the R32 - R35.
lt1boy says:
05:17 AM, 10/ 7/11
My mistake, in the above post I only posted the R32-R34s in Gran Turismo 5. Here's the list of R35s.
683
Nissan GT-R '07
684
Nissan GT-R Black Mask '07
685
Nissan GT-R Concept (Tokyo Motor Show 2001) '01
686
Nissan GT-R Concept LM Race Car
687
Nissan GT-R Proto '05
688
Nissan GT-R SpecV '09
689
Nissan GT-R SpecV (GT Academy Version) '09
This is why even though F4 is going to have less cars than GT5, the variation of cars in F4 is still going to be much better. Quality over quantity.
arvin_c says:
05:36 AM, 10/ 7/11
I'm "In" for an Inside Line Forza 4 Car Club. My Xbox Gamer Tag is:
Twitch 22
Been an Xbox owner since Day 1 for both consoles. Love eveything Microsoft and the game developers have done with the platform...so much more than just a gaming machine! Can't wait for this newest Forza to come out....see you guys "on the track!"
revn says:
06:47 AM, 10/ 7/11
I hate you guys for getting this early. Tuesday cannot come fast enough.
stovt001 says:
06:52 AM, 10/ 7/11
If it makes you feel any better, when I preordered my LCE from Best Buy in-store pick-up was not an option so mine has to be shipped starting the 11th.
redmenace says:
07:08 AM, 10/ 7/11
@lt1boy: This is one of the reasons I can't take GT5 seriously. My first console "simulator" was GT3 A-Spec for the PS2, which was a good game (soon after which I traded my PS2 for an Xbox); I never played much GT4, but when I heard GT5 was coming out I bought a PS3. First came the "Prologue," which was basically a tech demo they charged full game price for, then the wait for the real game. "We're going to have 1000 cars," they said. Five years we sweated, drooled, cried a little bit -- and what did we get? 700 cars that were essentially "Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V" from GT4 with horrible detail levels for the exterior and no interiors, and 300 "Premium" cars that were the ONLY ones made new, rendered with a cockpit view, and that you could "customize (lol)." While those cars looked nice, it was a damned joke. I'd rather have 500 cars that are rendered in full detail with cockpit views (give me the option, at least!) than 50 versions of the same car that look like my 7-year old took a crayon to just to pad the numbers.
Don't even get me started on the engine sounds, shadows, the lack of tuning options, lack of vehicle customization, clunky UI... that game actually made me angry at Polyphony Digital. It's like they made some tracks and a couple hundred cars, and mailed the rest in. With a 5-year development time. Crock. Of. Shit.
megatrontype_r says:
08:43 AM, 10/ 7/11
Guys nice write up except for one thing. It's Greenawalt, not Greenwalt.
DLu says:
10:07 AM, 10/ 7/11
So ... does the physics improvement blur the line between Forza and GT? I threw away my XBox because it kept on having reliability issues. Forza3 was definitely too much geared towards casual players for MY tastes. This just may revive my interest.
zr1man needs to go take a couple of Dulcolax tabs, maybe a Fleet's as well.
mtakahashi says:
11:31 AM, 10/ 7/11
Everybody: I have already created an official Inside Line car club on Forza 4. As soon as you get your game up and running, feel free to join. I have already started to assemble past and present long-term cars and throwing down the best lap times I could manage. I'll be posting times and creating a hot lap board on the Long-Term blog for the corresponding cars. Perhaps some editor and reader races are in order?
See you online!
subytrojan says:
12:46 PM, 10/ 7/11
So Best Buy e-mails me this morning notifying me they oversold the Limited Collector's Edition. :rolleyes: On Amazon, you can't add it to your cart (No, I wouldn't pay for what some are trying to sell it for––well over MSRP). I'm tempted to switch to GameStop, but I don't want the Alfa.
Best Buy says if I purchase the Standard Edition from them, they'll give me a $20 gift card and 1600 Xbox Live points. But I gotta call them by 10/13 to get it.
I guess that's the smart choice. I was pretty keen on getting the LCE content, though.
Pop quiz, hotshots. What do you do?
revn says:
01:11 PM, 10/ 7/11
Wow. They're offering a lot of money there to live with the standard edition. I reserved the CE at Gamestop even though I woulda rather had the 1M. Just haven't seen much good luck at reserving games at BB.
Really, I guess it boils down to how much the CE's worth it to you. Personally if I were in your shoes I'd go hit Gamestop, but only cause I really am looking forward to the CE. If it's not that important, I'd downgrade to the standard, since they're basically giving you $40, plus you're saving $20 on CE vs Standard.
lolxd says:
03:34 AM, 10/ 8/11
The only racing/driving game/simulator I've played is Gran Turismo 3 A spec and Need for speed carbon (-_-;)/
For the record, after playing GT3, I became an avid fan of the GT series but I have to say, Forza seem to be living up to its promises better than Gran Turismo 5. GT5 was somewhat of a disappointment although graphic-wise, it was nice.
Also, Jeremy Clarkson lent his voice in narrating a trailer for Forza 4. Try looking up "Jeremy Clarkson endangered species" on YouTube :)
greenpony says:
08:22 AM, 10/ 8/11
I'm not sure what help a diver would be with beating a tricky race. Is said race underwater?
stovt001 says:
02:54 PM, 10/ 9/11
I managed to snag an LCE preorder through Dell after BB screwed us over. I still intend to take BB up on their offer. Given their business practices I'm not actually expecting that gift card to come with any value actually on it. The MS points and 1M will be nice to have, and I'll find some way to pass on the standard edition.
saunupe1911 says:
06:18 AM, 10/11/11
@InsideLine,
What edition of the game did you buy? I want that notebook as well. I ordered the limited edition but it just has the F10 M5 on the cover.
Guys,
All I can say is just play the demo. The physics surrounding these cars is so realistic. You can tell that Physics and graphics was big part of their improvement strategy and its the main thing Forza has always lacked. They are really pushing the limits on the 360. Their partnership with Pirelli has paid off. I just love the way the big F10 M5 drifts around corners.
There's 2 things I currently absolutely HATE about the game. The 2011 Mustang 5.0, Camaro ZL1, Boss 302, and 392 SRT8 Charger/Challenger are not in the game. These are some of the most discussed, compared, best peforming, and even legendary cars of this generation and they didn't make the game. I'm hoping for DLC content but it should be in the game from day one. Next, the absence of Porsche hurts as well. I used to love racing against the big 3 exotics. I understand EA has the Porsche license, but all of the cars mentioned will be in the next Need for Speed game.
And the need the Aventador too. OK I'm done venting. Still an awesome game though.
subytrojan says:
03:12 PM, 10/13/11
saunupe1911, that's the "press edition." Autoblog is giving one away on their web site.
Remember, physics in FM4 and GT5 way < iracing.com, folks.
lucien4 says:
09:33 AM, 10/18/11
Just received Forza finally and I also tried Kia Cee on Top gear track. Just like the numbers above I can't get anywhere close to 1:42.2 that Rowan Atkinson achieved (I assume standing start lap).
So not sure reason for that unless we all need more practice.
lucien4 says:
12:30 PM, 10/18/11
Actually just found issues with my fanatec pedals. Increasing acc. deadzone I was able to get 1:42.9. Guess should pay more for clubsport pedals...
hrast says:
09:44 AM, 11/ 3/11
I can't find the Inside Line Car Club in FM4, what's the name?