OXCGN’s Forza 4 Review

Worth the on-road cost?

by: Shadow Wave

©2011 Ben Cadwallader

Forza Motorspot 4 has roared onto the Xbox 360 and into the hands of many eager motor-heads out there, ready and waiting to burn some rubber out on the virtual tarmac of the plentiful courses Forza 4 has to offer.

But is the new model worth the on-road cost?

Rev Heads Rejoice

Ask any motoring enthusiast and most will say they love the sound of a big motor. [ED Though their neighbours, woken way too early to that sound, may not! (Yes I speak from experience.)]

Sadly, racing games of the past have struggled to truly capture the true sound of each specific engine only to replace it with an ‘it’s close enough’ mildly boring engine noise to make it seem real enough to satisfy the majority.

Forza 4 kicks this in the ass, and blesses the racing game genre with the most realistic and violently loud engine audio effects I’ve ever heard in the digital world. And you know what? It completely changes the game; just make sure to turn off the lousy electronica soundtrack in the options menu.

Every single car has its own unique and real noise– if you drive a vehicle that is featured in the game, please give the car a rev in the game and then compare it to your actual car. Surprisingly the same isn’t it?

But wait– just when you thought the first sports car you purchase in the game sounded good during its maiden race, just wait until you fit the car with some performance modifications like a big turbo, cam or external wastegate upgrade. Then crank your surround sound up and enjoy automotive heaven.

Sadly not every modification you do changes the sound or look of the car. For example if you add a front mounted intercooler on a Subaru WRX STI (factory fits a top mount intercooler) you won’t see the shiny new intercooler behind the front bumper, nor do you hear the extra turbo flutter that the longer intercooler piping should provide.

The same goes for Forza’s extensive tuning ability which lets every player that knows what they are doing tweak almost every setting on their car, from ride height to gear ratios. However some of the adjustments which should make slight changes on the appearance of the car such as ride height or wheel camber are not visible.

Gotta Keep the Casuals Happy

Upgrading your vehicle in Forza is unbelievably easy and will definitely appeal to those casual gamers looking for a quick bit of fun.

As you progress through the game’s lengthy World Tour you earn experience points which raises your driver level giving you access to a free car at every level. However the car you are driving also receives experience points and earns you reputation with the brand of car, where after about 30 minutes of driving the same car you suddenly will have access to the majority of modifications for FREE.

By the time you are level 20 it feels like the game is just throwing countless cars at you, and you have nothing to spend your hard earned money on.

I personally found the FREE upgrades to be a bit of a downer. By the time you’ve done just a few basic upgrades on the car you will suddenly be given it all on a silver platter where you can take your F grade car to super car status.

This will surely keep the casual gamers playing, but it really takes away your sense of achievement.

Expansion Pack?

Forza 4 is definitely a huge upgrade from Forza 3 just for its audio and gameplay tweaks that somehow make vehicle handing feel more realistic. (Unless you choose to play in an easy difficulty).

However, most of the vehicles from Forza 3 have been brought to Forza 4, along with many of the race courses. So sometimes playing Forza 4 can feel mildly nostalgic. But it never really bothered me.

The AI

Racing against your AI competitors during your World Tour campaign is a relatively easy experience. I found I never had a great issue beating my opponents during each race and if I ever did, eventually the lead car would make a mistake and slide off the road (it’s great how they do that) letting me claim that golden first prize.

I was racing in a customised version of hard mode, with no ABS, traction and stability control; difficulties above Hard switch to a manual driving mode which personally doesn’t fit well on a 360 controller.

“Ask any racer. Any real racer.”

Multiplayer, unless carefully set up correctly, can leave many drivers completely disadvantaged.

Beware in split screen games as your guest player is automatically set to the easiest difficulty, which tends to end with you cheering because you left your mate for dead at the starting line.

This is because you might be racing in Hard or Expert difficulty with no assists at all–letting you take every corner however you want. However those playing on a casual difficulty will have brake-assist enabled which automatically keeps their speed monitored and slows them down automatically for each corner.

It’s So Pretty…

An amazing new feature is called ‘Autovista’ which is essentially a virtual car showroom which lets you explore every nook and cranny of the world’s most prestige cars whilst getting a view at their spec sheets.

For many of us, this could be the closest we have ever gotten to a Ferrari or Lamborghini . While it’s not a feature that will be used for very long, it makes a great impression and gives Forza 4 this extra sense of quality.

Rice It Up

When you’re done drooling over Autovista, you can always jump in and make some custom paint and vinyl jobs on your car whatever that may be.

If you are a patient creative genius you can create the most amazing airbrush quality paintjobs, however if you lack the time and skill to create such masterpieces you can always purchase paint jobs/painted cars from Forza 4’s auction house.

The creative potential here is limitless, you can simply paint your car, add some simply vinyl shapes, or just go insane.

The World of Forza

This review has barely touched the surface of Forza 4; it is a huge game that will take hundreds of hours to truly complete.

Forza’s extensive single and multiplayer will provide endless racing entertainment and whenever you need a break from the driver’s seat, simply explore Forza’s other features such as working on your next paintwork masterpiece.

If you love your cars and don’t have a Forza game it is a must, and for those who have played other Forza titles, the new model is even better.

“9/10

©2011 Ben Cadwallader

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