Forza Motorsport 6 Reviews

"Beware! Here be... cars! Lots of cars!"

Not suprising though, as this is a racing game, but I just wanted to put that out there, so if you hate cars, the look of them, the sounds the make and the idea of turning corners with 100mph, then maybe you should turn back now. Personally I am not much of a car fanatic, I don't even have a driver's license, but still, racing games have always been high on my list of games to play.

Maybe it has something to do with the very simple and straightforward gameplay. Everyone can do it, and you certainly don't need to tax your brain whilst playing. There are no puzzles here, nor any buttons to push a million times to kill a thousand enemies. Just push down the accelerate button and be prepared to brake every now and then, oh, and pay attention to the track of course, and the other cars.

Anyways, lets dive into the the meat and bone of this game!

The Story... really?
Come on now, it's Forza 6... a racing game. We don't expect a story here. And yet, there kinda is a story here to unfold.

A racing history.

It is basically the career mode, in which you will learn how cars have developed over the years, meet the people who created them, drove them and altogether... love them. A pure platonic love, of course.

I personally loved all the intros to the various series, even though I am not a car enthusiast. It felt personally and something a bit out of the ordinary. I certainly haven't seen this sort of feature in any racing game, or other game for that matter. And the fact that they used the Top Gear guys... that's just... great thinking. Who better to promote a true and genuine love of cars and motorsport?

The only downside to this, though, and it is a very small downside: the career mode is almost infinitely long, and if you are going for all of the achievements... good luck! I am 80 hours into the game and only about 50% into the career mode. Granted, I've played most of the showcases and the porsche dlc, but still.

The Gameplay...
It's a racing game, and its probably the very best racing game out there right now, so obviously it has everything that you would expect. We are talking lots of tracks to race in career mode, multiplayer mode and free play, tracks that come in various lengths, wet or dry, night or day.

It has all the cars that you could drive in a lifetime and for some reason... they keep adding new cars that you can purchase. Clever, of course, as it means that you would constantly need to spend your hardearned cash on this game, but... they don't force you to buy them. It is all a choice. Personally, I've bought a few car packs and could probably have done without those.

Multiplayer mode is also worth mentioning because here you can race against your friends and foes. There are several ways to do this, and one of them is a league mode. Honestly, I have very little experience with the multiplayer mode of Forza 6 as the few times I've played it, it seems to me that most people are just out to ram you out of the track and get ahead that way. And you can do that easily, as it has no impact on your own car (unless you alter your settings of course).

Another thing worth mentioning is the drivatar feature. While driving, you are basically creating your alter ego that will race others when you aren't playing. This is a great feature that will allow you to earn a little it of cash even when you aren't playing yourself.

The last part of the gameplay that I feel mentioning is the paint and tuning part. This game allows you to do your own paint job, or just use some... skin... that another labored over for hours. It helps make your car unique, even if it's just switching all your red ferraries to dark blue or yellow. The tuning part of the game is not for me, but if you love the mechanics side of racing, you will surely find it interesting to adjust every littlle thing on your car to get it to perform even better. If you dont know how to do that, you could always just use someone elses tune... of course.

Again, this game is very big, so I have probably left out some very important part of the gameplay, in which case... I deeply apologize.

Graphics and sound... and motion!
Excellent and at the very top of the class. The graphics are so good that while playing, I will sometimes find myself stopping and enjoying some part of the landscape or city that I am driving through. Or even... taking a small trip into the pit lane, just to see whats going on there. The sounds are a great match for the graphics, just try racing through the rain... and you'll see what I mean.

It is also worth mentioning the motion part. You will actually feel every bump in the road through your controller and that, to me, just heightens the experience tremendously. And also, every car feels unique and needs you to change your focus and strategy.

Perfection?
Is this a perfect game, then? Is there nothing that could have been added to it to make it better or tweaked a little... to make it easier and more enjoyable to play?

No, this is not a perfect game in that regards. While playing, I have often found myself thinking about little things that would be cool and add to the gameplay, like a custom soundtrack or even a radio mode (would be nice for those endurance races), or even a sort of track overview mode, where a professional racing driver would take you along, and give you insights into how it can be defeated. Being from Denmark, how cool would it have been to have Tom Kristensen take you along for a tour of the Le Mans track?!

There are also a few things that I feel like this game is seriously missing, like a quick-buy option. At the moment, you need 5 clicks to buy a car, because it wants you to also get a colour/skin and verify if you are really sure that you want to buy this car. Seriously, just add a quick-buy option that skips this whole process and gives you the default skin/colour and you can change it later if needed. Some track statistics would have been nice as well, to see how you actually perform in those corners, and see where you need to be more efficient.

Last thoughts...
Honestly though, I will probably put another 80+ hours into this, and thats the most hours I've ever put into any game so... yeah... this is probably the closest I've come to a perfect game so far. There will always be that new car to return to, or that time... or opponent... to beat. Just take the new porsche dlc... a new track... lots of new cars and... a whole new story/career mode and showcases. Wonderful, and while it is still racing on a track... it never gets boring.

You might not agree, of course, and that's cool. The good thing about any game is that... you can just decide not to buy it. I've made my choice and... good luck making yours!