A rewarding driving experience, but there are glaring issues | Review - Forza Motorsport

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Forza Motorsport is the thirteenth installment in the renowned Forza racing video game series. It is a soft reboot of sorts with high expectations and a storied history to uphold, this racing simulation game has faced the challenge of redefining the series for a new generation. 🟩Pros

+Realistic handling and an immersive driving experience +Extensive car roster with over 500 vehicles. +Great gamepad support with the best use of Xbox controller’s haptics that I’ve seen +A middle ground between arcade and realism, fine tune it to your liking +Accessibility options for various difficulty settings

🟥Cons

-The car upgrade system tends to feel grindy -Suboptimal optimization and performance on PC -Microtransactions/DLCs/Extra Content at launch, on top of a full priced AAA game -Feels like an Early Access game

⭐️Score: 6/10

✨Overview

Forza Motorsport, developed by Turn 10 Studios and published by Xbox Game Studios, was released on October 10, 2023. Unlike its predecessors, it ditches the numerical sequencing, opting for a fresh approach to the series. The game was launched recently on PC and Xbox. It doesn't focus on an open-world arcade gameplay like its sibling Forza Horizon; instead, it immerses players in the world of motorsport, where the cars, tracks, and competition are the stars. It emphasizes the thrill of racing and the journey to become a top-tier racer. 📺 Graphics and Presentation

The visual quality of Forza Motorsport is a decent leap forward in terms of graphics compared to previous titles. It’s not exactly groundbreaking as compared with other jumps, but I still find the game's visual quality particularly striking, especially the stunning ray tracing and particle effects. The reflections and lighting, especially when experienced with a high-end setup, contribute to an overall visually captivating racing experience.

Moreover, the diverse selection of tracks, which includes classic favorites and exciting new additions, creates an engaging racing environment. The roster of over 500 cars are insanely detailed, and this is easily on par with the best looking racing sims out there like Gran Turismo 7 or Project Cars 2. Although I confidently wouldn’t say it is THE best looking race sim. 🏎Gameplay

Forza Motorsport is basically a racing sim that tries to find a middle ground between arcade and realism, and you can even fine tune the gameplay to your liking. Making it more arcadey can be immediately satisfying and entertaining, but learning how to face the difficulties in properly handling the more realistic settings can be a more rewarding experience. The game's handling and driving physics are simply amazing, which I find significantly more nuanced and satisfying compared to its predecessors. For someone who enjoys racing, it provides a solid and enjoyable driving experience. In addition to the tuning of the gameplay, the game's accessibility is another highlight. It caters to both newcomers and veterans, offering a wide range of difficulty settings and assist modes. This ensures that everyone from the casual player to the hardcore racing enthusiast can find a suitable challenge. I'm personally right in the middle, so I preferred the moderate settings. I haven’t really invested much into the online multiplayer experience since I'm more of a singleplayer / career type, but the multiplayer mode offers both a regular mode where you race with other players at events scheduled in real-world times, and a more asynchronous Rivals mode, featuring the time trial leaderboards, where players can attempt to match the performance of top drivers. ⏫Progression

Forza Motorsport's progression system is where the game's weaknesses seem most evident. It shines in the context of the career mode, providing an engaging sense of progression that handholds the player into a guided journey. Starting with a basic vehicle and evolving it through a series of races can be immensely satisfying. However, not all is smooth on the racetrack. The car leveling system has come under fire for its grindy nature. Progressing through this system can feel like a laborious and unrewarding task. I would even like it to the grind often seen in free-to-play mobile games — and rightfully so, as it already comes with many micro-transactions baked in — which is simply downright a disrespect to those who have purchased the game just to find out many of the content is locked and can be accessed either by grinding or spending more money. I find it slow and cumbersome, requiring hours of investment to unlock meaningful upgrades for my cars, which can be a turn-off for players seeking a more rewarding experience. Some have also noted that the order of unlocks can result in early levels offering little more than raw power for muscle cars, neglecting handling upgrades, which may leave some players with underutilized vehicles. 📊Technical Performance

I've experienced issues with optimization on PC on my i7-8700k 32GB RTX 3080 PC, I had to turn down many settings that I usually leave on in other games to achieve an enjoyable fluid performance. Even then, I’ve had many frame rate drops especially when the game changes scenes or camera angles. However for the entirety of the race, it’s at least stable, even though the FPS performance is underwhelming. It's disheartening for those with mid-range hardware, as it seems the full benefits of ray tracing are primarily reserved for top-tier PC configurations. Performance wise, it seems that the best-in-class smooth and stable performance is currently the Xbox Series X version. Even then, the visuals are inconsistent and have their fair share of issues. Players may encounter stuttering, broken LODs, and occasional weirdness in car models. Despite its visual improvements, it doesn't consistently offer the jump in fidelity one might expect. Overall, it feels like a game released too early and would have benefited from more time in the oven, or perhaps from an Early Access release. Gamepad support is good though. Finally, the haptics in my Xbox controller are being used properly once again. ⚖️Conclusion

Forza Motorsport offers a genuinely immersive driving experience that’s probably the best-in-class right now mechanically, but it isn't without its very rough edges. The car leveling system, progression, and subpar optimization on PC leave some players wanting more. If you're willing to power through the grind and ignore the technical hiccups, it’s still a rewarding driving experience. However, if you seek a polished, flawless racing game made to be enjoyed from day one, it might be advisable to wait for patches and overhauls to address the current issues.

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