Forza Motorsport 7 Review

"Dynamically Larger"

Campaign

The Forza series continues to push the boundaries of performance and quality as it races towards its seventh core entry in the Motorsport line. Whereas Horizon offers the open world, Motorsport focuses on providing intense competitive track based racing. This is not only the best iteration of the series yet, but the most expanded upon with over seven hundred cars, thirty famous tracks and multiple improvements across the entire experience.

The first notable change to core gameplay is that the Forza Driver's Cup is the main focus of the game and basically where the majority of car unlocks come from. With this entry you'll have to work through various car tiers in order to unlock better class models. It isn't just all readily available and while I like it to be open, it's nice to have a sense of progression for those that desire something of the like. I never found it difficult to move up tiers and it really isn't that bad a system.

Being a cup type focused campaign you'll try to win various championships by completing mini cups. These often appear with various vehicle types being a focus and a couple showcase events as well thrown in. Free play is also back for those that like to just occasionally race like myself. It's a bit more difficult to understand however in the way its setup though once you get the layout going it makes sense. Races here are broken down by track and then track variations of which there are many.

Multiplayer/Gameplay

The multiplayer aspects of Forza Motorsport 7 range from traditional races against others in competitive matches to more fun modes like Tag which is somewhat like car zombies. There are a number of hoppers present for those that want a quick race option to matchmake with others whereas private match options are also available. You can take part in leagues if that's something you enjoy and these are more setup type multiplayer matches.

The game looks absolutely phenomenal, they've really brought next level performance here from the environments to the cars and it's all just a treat to look at. This doesn't matter whether you're racing on the console which has had perfect optimization or on the PC with gorgeous 4k graphics. I played primarily on console though I did the massive download just so I could see how great the game could look at 4k. There are options present on PC for altering the graphics from tweaking various setting to just even letting the game render itself properly using the dynamic options. I tried both of these and the game ran smooth, but going back to the console aspect it really does just shine on there.

Everything is fantastic from the smooth pavement you mark up to the many things going on the in background. I did however have some issues with the trees, particularly on the lovely Maple course where they clearly come across as 2D which looks bad. This is honestly a knit pick though as just two tracks have areas where it sticks out with the other track only having patches like this. Other than that the visuals are just unmatched by other racing games and Forza clearly sticks out on top.



Looking at the dynamic weather I was stunned by the quality and realism it presented. To see a map go from this regular race under the sunny sky to a full on storm and then back again felt real. The clouds would fly over with speed creating puddles, pouring over the cars and then settling. It was crazy and the start of this system really does push racing games to have natural weather. I would have however liked to see more options like in Project Cars 2 as that game allows complete choice for any weather to happen as you want it across the track. That being said, it handles beautifully here with pure natural presentation and other than that for weather those clouds are truly stunning. I'm yet again just blown away by the realistic and dynamic clouds they have grace the sky.

Prize crates are also present in the game, these grant mods and other cosmetic items within the game. The mods give bonuses such as credits or XP for doing certain tasks during a race, these are selectable. Another thing you can get from these packs is driver gear to customize your driver, silly though cool as I'm rocking a Canadian suit. These presently appear to just be collected by using in-game credits and have timings so expect different packs to occasionally show up.

The Conclusion

It's hard to really cover everything within Forza Motorsport 7 as the game really is just that massive. Whether you want to play a single player campaign with real progression or fiercely compete with others online the options are there. It's incredibly accessible if you want to play at any skill level with tuning to make the game perform how you'd like it to. The tracks are stunning, with Prague shining featuring such lovely architecture and that one really stood out for me.

The campaign provides a nice sense of progression as you work through various cups and the free play allows you to just race across the many tracks. Compete against Drivatars which take the place of your friends and adjust their difficulty or compete against others online. There should be a car or even a few cars for anyone present in the roster from regular vehicles to wild luxury ones you can race in all sorts of ways. Forza Motorsport 7 is really what the series has been racing towards this generation as it all comes together for one gorgeous and massive game.

Forza Motorsport 7 Review on Xbox One & Windows 10
Review Code Provided by Microsoft

Rating Overall: 9.0