Turn 10’s upcoming Forza Motorsport 6 doesn’t launch until September 15th, but in typical Turn 10 fashion they’ve released a demo for you to try out, and of course entice you to buy into the latest game in the franchise. I can save you some reading now, just go buy the damn thing!
Graphics
The graphics in Forza Motorsport 5 and Forza Horizon 2 on the Xbox One were great. The graphics in Forza Motorsport 6 blow them away. Upon selecting my first car to race in, I noticed a (new?) paint option – chrome. I’m not a big fan of chrome but given it’s a highly reflective surface I couldn’t help myself and had to “paint” my car in it just to see how the game would handle it. And handle it it did. I normally race in cockpit view but I found myself constantly switching to hood and outside views just to watch the reflection of the other cars, lights, road, trees, and other scenery in the chrome finish.
The night time racing is great, the lights on the vehicles and the building surround the track is pretty bang on. Another thing that I noticed as I was racing around the corner was a slight wave in the trees and as a result leaves falling off the trees and drifting across the track.
The interface has received a bit of an overhaul as well, lighter fonts are used and it makes the HUD and in between race screens look a bit cleaner.
Gameplay
The demo lets you choose one of 5 cars to start out with: 2013 Toyota GT86, 2014 Volkswagen Golf R, 2009 Honda S2000 CR, 1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi, or the 1997 Mazda RX-7. It looks like the story mode of the game will be called “Stories of Motorsport” and guide you through 5 volumes of car types – Super Street, Sport Icons, Grand Touring, Professional Racing, and Ultimate Motorsport.
The cars handle as you would expect if you’ve played Forza Motorsport 5, and as before you can tune them to your liking. Tuning categories include Tires, Gearing, Alignment, Anti-Roll Bars, Springs, Damping, Aero, Brake, and Differential. This time around Turn 10 has added a few new features as well, the biggest being Mods. Mods can be used to dare yourself for a chance at bigger rewards, enhance your car’s performance, or increase your earnings. You can use your credits that you earn from racing to purchase Mod Packs which contain a variety of rare Mods. Some Mods are single use, others unlimited use, and some will give you bonuses for specific tracks.
Spins are something that were first introduced in Forza Horizon 2 and have made their way into Forza Motorsport 6. Each time you level up, you’ll get a free spin in which you can win credits, cars, and even Mod packs.
And if you’re tired of your friends Drivatar(d)s crashing into you constantly, you can reduce the level of aggressiveness of Drivatars in the race options menu.
Sound
Sound, as always, is fantastic and you really feel like you are racing with the surround sound experience. My favourite thing about the sound in the Forza series has always been the attention to detail – when you’re in cockpit view, things sound different than when you are in hood view, or third-person view. Like every other aspect of the game, the attention to detail by Turn 10 in the sound department is outstanding.
Wrap-up
If you’re a fan of racing games, you are definitely going to want to pick up Forza Motorsport 6. Improved graphics, new features, night racing, the addition of rain, and more will definitely put this game at the top of the racing simulation heap. You won’t be disappointed.
We’ll leave you with this question posed in the Forza Motorsport 6 intro: “Why do we race?”
[button type=”link” link=”https://store.xbox.com/en-CA/Xbox-One/Games/Forza-Motorsport-6-Demo/797f4c79-ec31-4981-807b-c5f398611aba” variation=”btn-danger” target=”blank”]Download Forza Motorsport 6 Demo[/button][button type=”link” link=”http://www.xbox.com/en-ca/Search?q=forza+motorsport+6″ variation=”btn-danger” target=”blank”]Pre-order Forza Motorsport 6[/button]Last Updated on November 27, 2018.