Game Review: Forza Motorsport 4

Platform: Xbox 360
Developer: Turn 10
Publisher: Microsoft Studios

The pinnacle of simulation racing on the Xbox 360 is the Forza Motorsport series, and the latest release in the franchise adds new bells and whistles. For fans of the series however, the commitment to upgrade from Forza 3 to 4 might need to be a considered one.

For the devotees, there are a few tweaks to be explored with this latest release, though it is only a subtle increment upon Forza Motorsport 3. New graphic techniques make both track and cars look even more realistic, while the updated physics engine does add further ‘weight’ to the driving experience.

It is good to see that the game comes with extra car content and a larger stable and variety of tracks and different modes including a fun ‘chase’ race one-on-one through traffic. This is a thrilling escape from the cycle of mostly short races presented during the single-player World Tour.

Certainly, Forza doesn’t throw up any barriers to fun; it is all about picking a dream car, from over 80 manufacturers presented, then heading to the track to lay some virtual rubber. The AI, while sedated somewhat from Forza 3, still provides a challenge that is both robust and yet hilariously fallible at times to increase immersion in a particular event.

Racing online has been boosted to provide support for 16 players, and there is a new Rivals Mode. In this mode, you can challenge your friends in a diverse group of events, even when your friends are offline. Beat a rival and you’ll earn a bounty of credits.

If your rival is also a friend, they’ll receive a message in their Forza 4 message centre challenging them to top your time. You can also share your garage of cars with friends or take part in shared race events in a new feature known as Car Clubs.

Kinect integrated in Autovista allows us to lean into, get inside and walk around a variety of super cars and fiddle with some of the switches and features, it’s a nice gimmick, but one just as easily handled by having a controller in hand. The Kinect can also track the movements of your head, or enabled to use an ‘air steering wheel’ to control your car.

Forza Motorsport 4 continues a franchise tradition that is very inclusive and approachable yet maintains a level of hard-core driving to thrill even the staunchest of anorak-wearing video-game driving fan. For these people however, the tick boxes for picking up the latest game may not be enough to warrant making the jump from Forza 3.