The Forza racing series for Xbox consoles is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this year with the release of Forza Motorsport 6 exclusively on Xbox One. A diamond anniversary demands a giant rock from the most faithful spouses, and developer Turn 10 Studios has accepted and successfully completed the challenge of crafting the most complete, beautiful, exhilarating, and addictive Forza Motorsport game for their devote fans.
Even the main menu with countless options is intuitive and easy to use, adapting and rearranging on the fly based on the most recent areas explored. The Xbox One dashboard team should take a cue from it.
Forza Motorsport 6 is only the second Motorsport simulation title on Xbox One so it stands to reason that quite a few franchise first timers will be taking the game for a spin. This possibility is addressed quite effectively as the game begins and handholds players through the basics and directly into the Career Mode before introducing any of the more technical racing sim aspects.
At first glance Career Mode looks like a short stroll through five car class circuits that can be knocked out in a few hours. What’s initially underwhelming unravels into a complex series of Circuit races and embedded Showcase events with a dizzying number of races requiring a third place or higher finish to advance. The deeper you dig into the campaign, the more races are uncovered as part of the estimated 70+ hours needed for completion.
The Showcase events amplify immersion through a host of professional racers and industries names including critics that preface each event with a short history lesson. Turn 10 Studios didn’t need to expend the effort to include this information in audio form, yet we’ve come to expect this level of polish and professional presentation through the years.
Top Gear is back with cast commentary and the Test Track. In a small step back from Forza Motorsport 5, journalist Jeremy Clarkson is no longer featured as a presenter in the game.
There are a couple small nagging issues lingering about the pre-race environment. Each Showcase event and Race Driver Experience race within those events must be downloaded off the Microsoft cloud before you can continue. With no Back button on those screens you’re stuck waiting upward of 10 minutes — twice — when entering a new Showcase Event followed by a new race inside it.
Downloads also come up when attempting to purchase the majority of cars. This is more acceptable as each of the 460 cars include Forzavista that allows you to peruse their exterior and interiors in essentially photorealistic detail.
I also noticed after only a few races that some of the pre-race animations in the setup screens were shared from one venue to the next. This is a minor gripe but not something I expected to see so early on in the Campaign mode.
On the asphalt is where Forza Motorsport 6 takes a substantial leap forward for the franchise. Even aside from the franchise-high 25 tracks — nine of which are new to the franchise such as Watkins Glen — the inclusion of night and rainstorm racing adds not only a visceral treat but multiple layers of complexion that affect everything from car and tire selection to whether the path guide is really the fastest route around the track.
Turn 10 Studios doesn’t want anyone to worry if the technicalities of tuning up a car for racing through the sunshine or rain are way over someone’s head. Forza Motorsport 6 offers an auto-tuning option for a price so drivers can make sure their cars are operating at their maximum efficiency. In addition, helpful hints about conditions such as the effects of the pavement cooling down at night and how that effects handling are regularly delivered during the loading screens for newbies who need the extra tutelage.
Racing in the pounding rain for the first time in Forza Motorsport 6 is a harrowing experience. Other car franchises have presented rain before, but Forza Motorsport 6 takes it to another level of realism with the introduction of real-time puddling of water on the tracks and hydroplaning as a result of hitting said puddles at a high rate of speed. Having hydroplaned in real life before, the in-game version of this scary event was spot-on accurate and sent me careening into a wall as a result.
Gear heads will rejoice over how impacting on handling the rain is on the 148 different physically modeled surface types, while performance fiends will be blown away by how smoothly the game runs at 1080p 60 frames-per-second. It doesn’t matter that there are 24 cars on the course at once and 23 of them are Drivatars, the rain is pouring with spray hitting the windshield wipers from the car in front, or whether the piercing sun glares through the glass. The game looks incredible to the point that I found myself peeking away from the track several times to admire its beauty.
Online modes expand in Forza Motorsport 6 with the introduction of 24-racer Leagues and the ability to spectate any of the races and broadcast them online. The Leagues are formed much in the same way that Drivatars are assigned to Career Mode races; by skill level and temperament. This should help level the field when forced to race against similarly skilled opponents.
Community features in Forza Motorsport 6 are off-the-charts extensive and support importing Forza Horizon 2 and Forza Motorsport 5 photos, car designs and Drivatars. Video capture, snapshots, and an app in the Forza Hub to keep up with the community are all staples of what’s makes the Forza franchise’s lasting appeal so great.
Forza Motorsport 6 is a simulation racer first, and best of its class at that. With a variety of assist options, auto-tuning and ability to ratchet down the difficulty, Turn 10 Studios is embracing the casual racer rather than shoo them off to the Horizon franchise.
I’ve been pretty much in awe of how smooth Forza Motorsport 6 runs on Xbox One and how incredibly deep the gameplay options are for casual car collectors and simulation drivers alike. A new bar has been set pretty high for the competition’s next lap around the speedway.
