Regardless of how you feel Polyphony did with Gran Turismo 5, you can’t argue that Turn 10 absolutely delivered with Forza 3. Sure, the Xbox exclusive might not offer every minutiae of mechanical physics modeling, but it offered up a consistent collection of cars, a wide variety of courses and some of the best online functionality ever seen in a console game. The community interaction, especially on the Marketplace where you could buy and sell designs and liveries, was superb and the multiplayer was a blast with some mates – in fact, the only thing that let the game down was the rather static career progression in single player.
[drop]So whilst Microsoft were busy being bullish about the follow up game (simply dubbed Forza Motorsport 4) in their E3 keynote last week, promising a more ‘open world’ approach to career progression, we were getting strapped in (literally) into an amazing three screen, three 360 hydraulic chair with surround sound and one hell of a wheel and pedal combo in an exclusive ‘after hours’ session at the Microsoft booth. Naturally, this isn’t a combination that’s likely to be representative of how most people will ultimately play the game – but if you’re going to show off a new racer, why not do it in style, right?Buckled up and ready to roll, the demo version we had offered a choice of three cars ranging from 1970’s American muscle to a grunty Ferrari 599, but opting for the Impreza STi seemed like a safe enough middle ground. Safe wasn’t really the right word: the unit tipped, shook and spun with the game as we wrestled with the heavy, force feedback wheel, the Japanese monster both sticky enough to throw into corners but happy enough to drift without too much fuss for a little showboating. It’s really an experience above and beyond what you’d expect from a console racer, but – again – unlikely to be repeated outside the walls of the rich and famous. Or the seriously hardcore.
Races were tight, mainly because we were (by the end of the session) running without assists and manually shifting – it’s not the ideal situation to allow detailed inspection of the game’s AI by any stretch but it did feel a little more organic, opponents making mistakes and reacting better to your presence on the track. What was immediately obvious was the bump in visual quality – the game’s still running at 60 fps but felt busier and more alive with richer scenery and some ridiculously detailed cars, especially in the menus which have had their interface and design tweaked again – Forza Motorsport 4 is a really good looking game.
[drop2]It’s this attention to detail with the cars that’ll push Forza 4 to the top of most gamers’ want lists – the selection in the full game is massive (500 cars from 80 manufacturers) but it’s more about the feeling of ‘owning’ each car that rings true here: you can – in a seperate mode to the main racing – climb into your cars, look around, listen to the engine notes and even get some voice-over for each car from Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson, a brand that also lends the game its celebrated Top Gear Test Track, which was on display for driving at another event during E3 – we took a look over someone’s shoulder, but didn’t manage to get a shot for ourselves.What else is new? The clan-like ‘Car Clubs’, where you can share your rides with friends (and everyone can tune, modify and paint them) and compete against other Clubs on the leaderboards, a Need for Speed Autolog-like ‘Rivals Mode’ that’ll constantly bring up messages letting you know who’s beaten your time or score for a given event or circuit (and let you jump straight to them to challenge them right back) and sixteen player online (with some new multiplayer modes thrown in). We didn’t get to see any of the this, mind, our playtime was strictly locked down to a small subsection of the single player, but it all sounds impressive enough.
And so Turn 10, clearly not taking anything for granted, have come up with a comprehensive racer that looks set to define the genre again for Xbox 360 owners. It seems it’s no longer about battling with Gran Turismo’s technical grunt, but about providing a catch-all title that plays on the strengths of its predecessors. Sounds like a smart move to me.
wick15
Simply cannot wait for this to be released. Huge Forza fan. All this new info about it just sounds amazing. Good choice with the Impreza STI as well.
Bilbo_bobbins
those screen shots look amazing, I dare say maybe better than GT5?
beeje13
I was thinking the same, If i had a 360, I would defo buy this game.
POLYphony, take note, it’s not all about how many polygons you can fit into a car!
Cort
But to be fair to PD, that’s why Forza 4 is looking so awesome: they’ve upped the polygon count on the cars to surpass GT5 (despite laughing off polygon counts as unimportant when PD were talking about what they had achieved last year).
GT is far superior for SP, Forza is much better for MP – GT5 was a car crash (pun intended) online, simply awful. I tried it once: never again. I don’t think the Japanese devs get online multiplayer like they do in the West. Perhaps for GT6 Kaz should hand over the MP side to Studio Liverpool or another Sony dev with a proven track record in online gaming.
beeje13
Oh i didn’t realise Forza’s extra detail came from the extra poly count, thought it was just texture quallity and other effects…
Joe
personally i think the GT mode was a car crash in GT5. it provided nothing new from pervious titles and i feel bad saying this but it was a massive let down, especially coming off the back of forza 3 which i really enjoyed. might have to dust off the 360 for forza 4 when it comes out
SilverCider
Looks damn pretty! I imagine the cars in GT5 (premiums) and Forza 4 are going to be difficult to tell apart since the level of modelling gone into it is unimaginable! The thing that is going to set the bar higher for Forza 4 is the visual quality of the surroundings and the audio quality of the cars. Can’t comment on the handling as I have never played a forza game, only the GT series, but I imagine the work Turn 10 have done with Pirelli will reward its players!
If only Turn 10 would bring their game to PC so I can have a go! :P
novamegalith
they did model the cars, they digitally 3D scanned them inside and out
the_greeze
Hugely looking forward to this!
nemesisND1derboy
This game is the only reason I would consider buying a 360 this year…and maybe Gears.
Loved Forza 3, better than Gran Turismo 5 in my opinion, and I have no doubt Forza 4 will be even better.
Nice write up Alex :)
Joe
i agree. the graphics and physics may have not been GT5 quality but the rest of the game beat GT5 hands down
KeRaSh
The main problem I had with Forza 3 was the fact that the cars felt like toys. I also didn’t like the driving line. I wish they would make a perfect mix between GT and Forza. :)
Juelz345
I’m not a huge racing fan, but after borowwing Forza 3 (and loving it, so much that i still haven’t returned it) and purchasing GT5 (and not loving it, so much that i’ve lent it out and not asked for it back) this looks like sure thing. As long as the online aspect is still as awesome as it was in 3, then I’m a happy camper. Racers and fighters area all about the community and multiplayer for me.
3shirts
It’s kind of annoying as Forza is literally the only 360 exclusive in which I have any interest but I really really like it! I can’t justify a xbox just for this though, not when GT5 is so good anyway.
novamegalith
This is a MICROSOFT/Forza Fan Based commercial if ever there was one and I for one will NOT be fooled by it
KeRaSh
Here, have a tissue. Wipe those sweet sweet tears away.
Sympozium
Heh, commercialism
Juelz345
You go girl! *snapps fingers while making waving motion with hand*
novamegalith
that’s right, Hellz to tha NO!!! Gurrl
wick15
Couldn’t help but laugh :D
Ryan1991
Jesus. It’s comments like this that make me despair for some people on the internet
bunimomike
I guess there’s a certain amount of coverage and advertising with anything that makes it to the press. Please tell me you won’t be posting the same comment (with the company name changed) on every article. :-\
Joe
get over yourself. this website posts both sony and microsoft news and GT5 had its fair share of time in the spotlight.
seanyboycampbell
Love it when hippies get annoyed!
Mathematicool
I’m really tempted to get an Xbox. I’ve been considering it for a while, but I still haven’t decided.