“Forza Motorsport 6” Demo Impressions

Header

The full release of Forza Motorsport 6 is only two weeks away. In the meantime, Turn 10 has released a pretty sizable demo of the game to get players in the mood. I thought I’d take a look at the demo and share my impressions of the game so far.

The first thing that will strike you about Forza 6 is just how spectacular it looks. Racing games have always been a great way of showcasing what a hardware platform can do, and this continues to hold true. The amount of detail in the cars is remarkable. We have certainly reached the level of fidelity that rivals photorealism.

2017 Ford GTThe visuals are only part of the picture though. Forza 6 looks to be the most complete game in the series. You are introduced to several elements that have been in past games, like the challenge series, showcase events, and driver level/affinity level systems. New for this game is a Mods system where you will be able to collect various Mods and equip them before each race. These Mods can make the game easier or harder. You might want to sacrifice a bit of grip to be able to drift more, or maybe you want to move one spot up on the starting grid. There are numerous mods to unlock and collect, so this may be an intriguing system. I’m not sure that I’m entirely sold on it yet, but we’ll see. I’m certainly not opposed to it.

With each driver level, you’ll earn a prize wheel spin. You’ll be able to earn new cars for your garage, or credits, or bonus experience, or some of those aforementioned Mods. It’s not too obtrusive and I do like the element of chance involved in what your level reward will be.

Impreza at Night

One thing that I’m not too thrilled about is the way the demo tries to push you towards purchasing the game. Yeah, I know it’s an ad for the game, but come on guys, these pushy tactics aren’t necessary. Not when the game itself is solid.

With the basic system stuff out of the way, I should talk a bit about the driving itself. Forza has always managed to straddle the line between realism and approachability. Forza 6 continues this by making some changes to the AI model. One of the biggest criticisms about Forza 5 was the way the AI was overly aggressive. The Drivatar system draws from player data, but that didn’t quite yield the best results. Now you have the ability to rein in the AI’s aggressiveness. That one change is going to make the game immeasurably more playable for a lot of people, including me.

Sebring is already a formidable course. Add heavy rain to it and you may need a change of underwear by the end of the race.

Sebring is already a formidable course. Add heavy rain to it and you may need a change of underwear by the end of the race.

Two of the most touted features of the game are the night and wet weather driving. These changes aren’t strictly cosmetic. Driving at night not only gives your tires less grip due to the cooler temperature, but it feels a lot more imposing as well. Driving in the wet in Forza 6 is just plain scary. There’s no other way of describing it. In heavy rain you won’t be able to see very far ahead of you, and you’ll also have to deal with standing water. There’s nothing quite like that feeling of dread you get when you go through a puddle and feel your steering go light and the rear end start to let go. It changes how you look at driving a particular course, both in approach and car setup.

The demo only offers up four races, but it is a good taste of what to expect in the full release. If you’re interested, you can download the demo to your Xbox One now and take it for a spin.

Title:
Forza Motorsport 6
Platform:
Xbox One
Publisher:
Microsoft Studios
Developer:
Turn 10 Studios
Genre:
Driving
Release Date:
September 15, 2015
ESRB Rating:
E

The full release of Forza Motorsport 6 is only two weeks away. In the meantime, Turn 10 has released a pretty sizable demo of the game to get players in the mood. I thought I’d take a look at the…

Header

The full release of Forza Motorsport 6 is only two weeks away. In the meantime, Turn 10 has released a pretty sizable demo of the game to get players in the mood. I thought I’d take a look at the demo and share my impressions of the game so far.

The first thing that will strike you about Forza 6 is just how spectacular it looks. Racing games have always been a great way of showcasing what a hardware platform can do, and this continues to hold true. The amount of detail in the cars is remarkable. We have certainly reached the level of fidelity that rivals photorealism.

2017 Ford GTThe visuals are only part of the picture though. Forza 6 looks to be the most complete game in the series. You are introduced to several elements that have been in past games, like the challenge series, showcase events, and driver level/affinity level systems. New for this game is a Mods system where you will be able to collect various Mods and equip them before each race. These Mods can make the game easier or harder. You might want to sacrifice a bit of grip to be able to drift more, or maybe you want to move one spot up on the starting grid. There are numerous mods to unlock and collect, so this may be an intriguing system. I’m not sure that I’m entirely sold on it yet, but we’ll see. I’m certainly not opposed to it.

With each driver level, you’ll earn a prize wheel spin. You’ll be able to earn new cars for your garage, or credits, or bonus experience, or some of those aforementioned Mods. It’s not too obtrusive and I do like the element of chance involved in what your level reward will be.

Impreza at Night

One thing that I’m not too thrilled about is the way the demo tries to push you towards purchasing the game. Yeah, I know it’s an ad for the game, but come on guys, these pushy tactics aren’t necessary. Not when the game itself is solid.

With the basic system stuff out of the way, I should talk a bit about the driving itself. Forza has always managed to straddle the line between realism and approachability. Forza 6 continues this by making some changes to the AI model. One of the biggest criticisms about Forza 5 was the way the AI was overly aggressive. The Drivatar system draws from player data, but that didn’t quite yield the best results. Now you have the ability to rein in the AI’s aggressiveness. That one change is going to make the game immeasurably more playable for a lot of people, including me.

Sebring is already a formidable course. Add heavy rain to it and you may need a change of underwear by the end of the race.

Sebring is already a formidable course. Add heavy rain to it and you may need a change of underwear by the end of the race.

Two of the most touted features of the game are the night and wet weather driving. These changes aren’t strictly cosmetic. Driving at night not only gives your tires less grip due to the cooler temperature, but it feels a lot more imposing as well. Driving in the wet in Forza 6 is just plain scary. There’s no other way of describing it. In heavy rain you won’t be able to see very far ahead of you, and you’ll also have to deal with standing water. There’s nothing quite like that feeling of dread you get when you go through a puddle and feel your steering go light and the rear end start to let go. It changes how you look at driving a particular course, both in approach and car setup.

The demo only offers up four races, but it is a good taste of what to expect in the full release. If you’re interested, you can download the demo to your Xbox One now and take it for a spin.

Date published: 09/01/2015
/ 5 stars