Forza Motorsport 4 (Kinect) (Xbox 360) > Reviews (7)

Forza Motorsport 4

Tested and reviewed based on the Xbox 360 version.
Review by Ben Nacca
(Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BenNacca )
XBL GT: Darkeyes1991 PSN ID: Darkeyes2k11

What started off as a venture into the racing simulation genre has now become a phenomenon amongst gamers on the Xbox 360. As Microsoft’s answer to Gran Turismo, the Forza franchise has grown to become glorified car porn as car enthusiasts get to race, modify and buy their favourite cars that most will never likely be able to afford or at least drive at those speeds in real life.

One of the main criticisms with Forza Motorsport 3 was the repetition in the career mode, having to do race after race after race with little in the way of variety. Cast those doubts aside for Forza Motorsport 4 however where it throws in Top Gear bowling (more on Top Gear later), Track days, obstacle courses, multi-class races and your average race days slotted neatly onto a 10 year season where you get your hands on cars from the F class all the way to the R1 class.

The main thing to praise here is the depth and length of Forza 4, with a tonnes of events to complete, with a wide variety of tracks, which have different courses on them along with two discs worth of cars to choose from, you are never forced into anything and neither does the game just fall short with limited options.

Turn 10 have really focused on gamers playing Forza 4 how they want it to be played, with numerous assists, rewinds and other options that can be turned on for you or for the purists, have them all switched off and play Forza 4 how it is meant to be played. The same applies to upgrades, with a quick option available for those who just want to drive the cars and not worry about tuning them.

Despite the premise of Autovista and having Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear talk about some of the cars on show, it acts as more of a distraction than an actual mode itself. The attention to detail in the cars is unparalleled but rivals mode and car clubs mode help to bring the community together with Forza 4. Car clubs essentially is where you can join a “clan” and race each other, swap decals and tuning set ups and so on. Rivals mode is where it gets competitive and racing each other’s track times for boasting rights becomes an essential part of the mode.

Although the Kinect functionality is still just a novelty to the game, whether it is using the sensor in Autovista or to actually drive in freeplay, one feature is particularly impressive and demonstrates why Kinect could potentially become more popular with the core gaming community. The voice controls for navigating the menus is just impressive and slick to say the least and it actually a joy to use rather than navigating through Forza 4’s maze of menus to get around with a controller.

In terms of graphics, there is no question that Forza 4 is simply beautiful. There is much more focus on the setting and backdrop this time around with the cars looking as stunning as ever anyway. Now the landscapes with the races are alive and visually a joy to behold as you take a corner against a cliff edge.

Autovista lets you explore the cars in greater detailed as mentioned earlier and along with the countless tracks already on offer, the Top Gear test track is actually available to drive along with setting your best time on there as well, recreated in all of its tarmacked beauty.

Cars within Forza 4 sound very impressive and although I cannot comment if they are accurate to each car, and I am not about to go through the list of cars and compare them either, the game sounds as it should with the exception of Forza’s bad habit of having some weird drum n’ bass soundtrack on the menus that is just too painful at times and needs to reinvigorated with a bit more variety. Jeremy Clarkson is fantastic though and is a nice addition to the series.

Visuals 10/10

No doubt about it, console games can’t get much better than this graphically and it is potentially the best there is on offer without a keyboard and mouse. Everything is perfect…too perfect.

Audio 9/10

Apart from the music that can just drag painfully like nails across your back, Forza 4 sounds impeccable and with Jeremy Clarkson to top it off within Autovista, hats off to Turn 10.

Gameplay 9/10

What do you do when something is practically perfect anyway? Forza 3 was very, very good, but Forza 4 is definitely better and although it is just through minor changes, they are definitely for the better.

Delivery 10/10

Tonnes to do, whether online or offline and guaranteed not to run out of things to do at all. Kinect features round off an already impressive performance and add the icing to the cake but it is the career additions and voice navigation that are a particular highlight.

Summary 9.4/10

It’s hard to say anything negative about Forza Motorsport 4 apart from the lack of real development from the third iteration. Sure, there are new modes and Top Gear is now integrated into it but there is nothing ground breaking or innovative. That said, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it as the saying goes and Forza 4 is the best looking game on consoles and by far the best racing simulator available too. Fact.

This guide is the property of Ben Nacca and is for the sole use of www.lanraiders.co.uk, www.dooyoo.co.uk and www.ciao.co.uk. No copying to other websites or other mediums without written permission first.