Forza Motorsport Review

"Racing to the Current Gen"

Campaign

October 12, 2023 at 5:57pm
By Jason Stettner

It’s been quite awhile since the most recent entry in the Forza Motorsport, actually the longest gap in the franchise between releases. What we’re greeted with is a technically impressive track based racing game for the current generation, but alas one that could have used more content. That’s particularly felt since it’s been so long since the previous release.

Despite that, the franchise does return with high levels of racing confidence and quality. It may have lost some of its charm as the Forza Horizon series continues to impress and it should be interesting to see the long term scope of this since it’s supposed to be multi-year focused project. That’s right, gone are the times where we’d see multiple iterative releases for this franchise.

With that note, let’s dive into what this revamped and revitalized Forza Motorsport has to offer. As per usual we have quickplay which has been streamlined for faster driving. That’s supported with somewhat of a career mode and then the multiplayer.

The career mode is sort of light, featuring some various cups that you can compete within. The idea is that you’re customizing or well tuning the cars with parts and that aspect honestly didn’t interest me all that much. I just like driving in these games, so I spend my time in quickplay instead of grinding out parts.

With that, I would have liked some deeper look at the history or cars or something further as they just seem like miscellaneous events that you can do. The multiplayer here has an interesting setup with qualifying and rotating competition options.

I’m not sure how this will evolve over time, but the focus here was on a selection of ways to compete with others including qualifying and more intensive laps to post up the best times with new options being included constantly throughout the day. There are of course other smaller modes here such as Rivals for more intimate ghostly competition and of course private type patches to have more fun scenarios.

Gameplay

As with the history of the Forza Motorsport franchise, the series is often known for its technical prowess. That’s once again the case here where we get some really console pushing technical elements. This would have been actually truly impressive closer to the launch of the Xbox Series X, but nonetheless the game impresses. There’s a punchier element to the sound, the way the cars receive damage is crunchier and deformation of the tracks as a race progresses makes it lively.

Match that with various elements of dynamic visuals for weathering and light to make no race the same. Sure, the layout of the track doesn’t change but the way you interact with the race does every single time. There are almost too many options for the type of environments you’ll see from day to night, to rain to fog it’s all beautifully presented here across three visual options.

The first is the game’s suggested performance mode which is a dynamic 4k at 60fps. This is followed up by my favorite mode, the performance RT which is where ray tracing is applied to help with the reflective elements upon these vehicles still providing a dynamic 4k resolution at 60fps though obviously being more demanding and finally there’s visual which is all about the graphical setup. This is a 4k 30fps mode that provides more in-depth levels of ray tracing and with some other perk ups.

There’s of course HDR behind all of these options and many sound options. The game performs smoothly no matter which option and while I did have crashing present pre-launch the day one update seems to have removed any crashes. As per usual you have many ways to see your vehicle from typical third person to right up there first person and so many choices in-between. There are many levels of accessibility allowing you to make this as difficult or easy going as you would like.

From assists to make driving easier to more complex elements to make it rather hands-off. The choice is up to you, and the credits you earn for vehicles will vary based on the setup. Speaking of vehicles there are over five hundred cars at launch. These are well detailed, customizable offerings from a range of manufacturers. While they do a great job with a varied selection, I couldn’t help but feel that some favorites from past entries were missing.

That was the same case with the track list which while solid and very motorsport focused, did come across as limited considering how long it’s been between releases. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that so many of my favorite tracks were not present here. They’ll likely be added over time, but considering the wait the offering did feel lackluster. With that, the options are beautifully detailed and realistic from the dimensional trees to fans making up crowds and the smaller little effects jammed between them.

The Conclusion

Forza Motorsport is a technically impressive offering that is at the forefront of current generation racing. It does however feel limited by its content, particularly as it’s been so long since the previous release. That really does seem like the case for many games in this era as we see less content than previous games.

It’s very gorgeous in presentation with varied weathering and lighting elements. The cars and audio have a nice punch to them and it’s got the expected selection of modes from local to multiplayer. Those wanting a detailed career mode will find this light.

Those wanted a well detailed, excellent racing game will be delighted. I’m sure by the end of this run we’ll see the best Forza Motorsport they’ve ever released, but at launch I see there’s still some room for them to reach towards before that happens. Still, it’s a lovely time and it’s a place where dreams are driven. At least, from a car driving perspective.

Read our Forza Horizon 5 Review
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Forza Motorsport Review on Xbox Series X
Review Code Provided by Microsoft

Rating Overall: 8.7