Xbox 360; £49.99; cert 3+; Turn 10/Microsoft
Microsoft always wanted its Forza Motorsport franchise to be its answer to Sony's revered Gran Turismo but, while its technological prowess has always been conspicuous, it always seemed a bit, well, corporate in comparison. It had the cars, the tracks and the graphics, but somehow lacked the indefinable spark required to generate a fanatical following. Such thoughts were clearly uppermost in the mind of developer Turn 10 Studios when it set out to make Forza Motorsport 4 because, this time around, it goes to great lengths to connect with one's inner petrol-head.
In that regard, it begins promisingly: the first voice you hear is that of Jeremy Clarkson, and a tie-up with Top Gear – whose Dunsfold track features prominently – is in evidence throughout the game, even though it was developed in America. Structurally, its single-player mode has undergone a clever shift in emphasis which rewards any loyalty you show to particular car manufacturers. As you complete races, you earn Experience points (XP), as expected, but also Affinity points, which bump up your relationship with the manufacturer of whatever car you're driving. As you level that up, you get all manner of bonuses, most notably free parts, encouraging you to upgrade your machinery.
This mechanic, along with being able to pick a new car every time your XP levels up (which happens frequently) makes great sense, bringing you a vast stable of desirable cars in double-quick time. The game also sends you on tours of the world's finest racetracks, often letting you pick the type of race (you can go drifting, participate in autocross, which involves driving cleanly through gates, or even indulge in novelties like knocking down bowling pins on the Top Gear track). It all adds up to a seriously meaty single-player experience, and feels much more seat-of-the-pants than Forza Motorsport 4's over-clinical predecessors.
Graphics-wise, it's absolutely stunning, thanks to a clever new lighting model, and the cars' handling is also impossible to fault, feeling much more involving and less like you were floating above the tarmac than it did in previous iterations. There are a couple of annoyances, though. It starts you off with all the driver aids turned, without giving you the option to get rid of them – and they include the perfidious stability control, which brakes individual wheels mid-corner and is kryptonite for any true racer. At least the game's traction control is much less obtrusive than that of Gran Turismo.
It also lets you rewind time, which will offend the purists but please the tyros, and annoyingly suggests you might want to do so every time you put a wheel on the grass. Its roster of cars, though, is huge, ranging from gutless tin commuter boxes to full-on endurance racers, via a stunningly comprehensive lineup of late-60s to mid-70s American muscle cars. Up to 16 people can race online, and the ability to set up car clubs with your mates should go down really well, as it offers a means of avoiding those semi-pro online racers who delight in making everyone else's online driving experience as miserable as possible.
Microsoft, as is its wont, has made much of Forza Motorsport 4's support for Kinect, in an attempt to convince us that Kinect can bring something to a proper hardcore game. It doesn't, of course – it feels tacked on and gimmicky. You can get it to track your head so you can look round corners, which is a recipe for motion sickness and downright annoying if, say, someone talks to you when you're playing. Then there's Autovista, which lets you walk around your cars by waving your hands at Kinect (or, with much less fuss, using the joypad). Despite the incredible level of detail on offer, this is a feature for which the word "meh" could well have been invented.
You could spend half your life in the game's virtual car auctions or customisation sections if you were so inclined, but in the end, Forza Motorsport 4 is about the racing, and it certainly delivers that in a much more realistic, convincing and enjoyable manner than any of its predecessors. And – crucially for Xbox 360 owners engaged in battles over bragging rights with PS3-owning mates – there is no single respect in which it is demonstrably inferior to Gran Turismo 5. Despite the superfluous elements (which, to be fair, are also plentiful in GT5), it's a deeply impressive tour de force.
Forza Motorsport 4 was reviewed on Xbox 360
source
