The last few weeks have been extremely fertile for all Game Pass subscribers. We got a lot of great productions to check out – including several hot premieres that you can spend a lot of time watching. In fact, it’s hard to get bored when we are flooded with such a huge wave of decent video games that offer dozens (or even hundreds!) of hours of great fun!
Of course, Starfield and Forza Motorsport come to the fore. Two of the hottest and most anticipated autumn releases by Xbox owners. And although we are talking about completely different productions and targeted at completely different audiences, both enjoyed great interest. They were discussed, written about and commented on in droves.
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However, the topic of this first title has already faded a bit – after all, several weeks have passed since the loud, space premiere. Currently, the most famous one is Forza Motorsport and considering how much there is talk about the game on the Internet, it seems that absolutely everyone plays it. And I must admit that after several intense hours of fun on the tracks, I would like to share my perspective.
Forza Motorsport
A word of introduction – the eighth installment of the popular racing series from the Turn 10 Studios team debuted on October 10 this year, so over a week has passed since its premiere. During this time you could play a lot. And although I’m not the biggest fan of racing, I spent a lot of time on beautiful-looking tracks.
And at first I was surprised myself. While the last two installments of Forza Horizon attracted me and made me spend long hours there due to the wonderful, open world, this was not the case here! We have closed routes on which we can run – without the sense of freedom that we got in the above-mentioned works from Playground Games.
The advantage here was undoubtedly the huge variety of routes. We run along various tracks. Starting from Maple Valley, well known to fans of the series (where we actually start our adventure with the game), through African Kyalami, to the Japanese Circuit Hakone (by the way, at this stage, definitely my favorite). Each race is visually different, which has a huge impact on preventing fatigue.
And that’s not all! Visual issues are one thing, but there is also another – and of course we are talking about weather conditions. Wow, just – WOW! But it does the job! Of course, such a move could be expected from Turn 10, because Playground Games impressed in Forza Horizon 5, so it was appropriate here as well, but… On full-fledged racing tracks, it does extra work!
This is how it’s done!
In fact, it’s hard to write something here that hasn’t already been written before. Although I admit that I’m surprised that there were people saying that this was the weakest installment of the series. Of course, I can understand that some people expected more emphasis on simulation than on the arcade formula, but… I also understand what it was about. It seems to me that the developers from the very beginning aimed for something that would appeal to a wider audience.
There were also opinions here and there that it was Forza Motorsport 7, but on steroids and… Maybe there is some truth in it? On the other hand, the thing about long-term series is that after some time they simply start improving the formula of their predecessors. The change here is big. And although I haven’t spent dozens of hours in FM7 (which may in some way influence my perspective), I simply cannot agree with it.
Personally, I find it difficult to fault the driving physics (and when you combine it with changing weather conditions, we have something great), great multiplayer, graphics and sound. All this is at the absolute highest level. I would like to write – this is how it’s done, Turn 10! And a lot of development teams could learn from this in terms of how to go about racing on closed tracks.
However, I don’t want to throw in a laurels that will paint the game without any flaws. This year’s Forza Motorsport made a great impression on me, that’s a fact. However, it can be a bit crazy in terms of driving smoothness, and the number of routes and activities in the single-player mode could be increased. However, it turns out that even a skeptic like me can be fascinated by a racing game on tracks.
To sum up
To sum up, Forza Motorsport is a great title tailored for the casual player. Will the most demanding racing fans find their way here? Well, I have some doubts… I think that for them the fun may be too simplistic and the content too condensed. However, if they are looking for something to relax and have pure, undisturbed fun, then… They should not be disappointed.
I had a lot of fun and I intend to continue having fun. I am convinced that I will spend many more hours in the game – especially if we can count on expanding the current content. I’m looking forward to it and I believe that everything will go in the best direction. However, if you are put off by comments about the “worst installment of the series”, I recommend that you check it out on your own as part of Game Pass. This is one of those titles that can resonate very strongly with your taste.
