Forza Motorsport has been around for eighteen years now; the first game came out in 2005, and it has been six years since the latest Forza Motorsport game was out. Microsoft seems to have a pattern of publishing games like this, and Horizon has developed from a side series to become the primary series in the studio. While Sony's Gran Turismo franchise has dominated the market for years, it might seem that developer Turn 10 Studios has eventually responded to the call.

After hearing conflicting opinions on GT7, Forza has an excellent chance to take the reins. The latest edition to the Forza Motorsport Series has been remade from the bottom up to signify the series' comeback. All of the core mechanisms that were used have been overhauled. An innovative Car Building platform encourages users to form emotional connections with their garage full of vehicles. A new introduction means a new name, and to prove its daring, the title is named Forza Motorsport rather than Forza Motorsport 8.

The bar has been set very high for this new game. The racing game industry has significantly advanced since Forza Motorsport 7 was released. Because of the increased intensity of the rivalry and the widespread availability of steering wheels and racing simulators, it was necessary to develop something new. The opening sequence is reminiscent of Horizon's, a professionally crafted explosion meant to impress with the game's best features.

From a 2010 Sky Richie film comes the Cadillac GTP race car, a hybrid Corvette, a brand-new made-up course, and nighttime racing complete with a narrator. The radical departure from previous Forza Motorsport games is currently incomprehensible. The development team at Turn 10 has succeeded in creating a revitalizing masterpiece. Almost immediately after that, you'll start accruing DST in car points for experience and victories, an area in which the game has always shone.

Forza Motorsport has different modes of play. There's a single-player option called Car Building, which features more than 800 improvements for your vehicle's stats. The full Builders Cup is unlocked after completing the introductory mode, and it features a wide variety of tours and events, as well as highlighted events, which are only available for a limited time. An Online Multiplayer puts you against other players worldwide in a race for the checkered flag.

Your results in these activities will be used to calculate your first competence and safety ratings, which are then factored into the pairing process. Free Play mode gets you racing right away and allows you to combine any vehicle with any circuit in any way you see fit. In Rivals, you can choose your event class and race against the ghost car of the next greatest driver. Lastly, the Private Multiplayer mode allows you to play online with friends while setting rules and limits for the race, such as limiting the types of cars that can be used.

You can test out any possible combination of vehicle, terrain, and climate with the custom racing choices accessible during free play. To achieve this, head to the game's Advanced Event menu, choose a vehicle from the game's list of 500 and then pick a game mode. Therefore, we have a timed multiclass race and a test drive around our circuit. There are 20 tracks to pick from, each with its unique layout and just as many different times of day and types of weather to run your race.

There are a variety of climates from which to choose. And you can't alter the playing field mid-race if you've already started it. Then there's dynamic track rubber, which, when used, causes a gradual accumulation of tire rubber on the track surface, which improves traction while the track is dry but decreases it when it's wet. Likewise, you can adjust the initial height of a dynamic track rubber before an event begins by adjusting the starting track rubber level.

The Builders Cup is a major single-player career in Forza Motorsport, and it features a nice, straightforward framework broken down into several series of events with a common theme. At first, it seems as though event sets are unlocked linearly. This is a pleasingly directed course; on the other, it's uninspiring because you'll soon realize that you can skip around a bit by following the first two or three finished bricks. With only 25 series to finish, there's not much to it, either. As you drive, each vehicle in your garage gains experience and gains a level. You can earn this by taking the fastest possible laps around the racetrack or practicing before each race; the counter is always shown in the top right corner of the screen.

Choosing to begin the race from the back of the pack, turning off driving aids, and ramping up the difficulty of your opponents all increase the credits or in-game currency you earn based on your race outcome. Earned credits are not used for maintenance or enhancements like she used to but rather go toward purchasing brand-new cars. Instead, you can increase your whip's performance using automobile points that are exclusive to a given vehicle.

There is no cumulative total like there is with credits; you gain 300 car points to use in the shop whenever you buy a new vehicle and additional rewards at the end of each race. A coveted rear wing, for example, is unavailable until car level 12, and its corresponding skirts are unavailable until car level 15, so even if you have enough CP to buy both, you still can't. Both engine and transmission changes need the player to be at Level 40. Therefore, to significantly tune a car, it is necessary to race in it repeatedly.

On the other hand, you won't be able to spend car points while you're behind the wheel of an Audi if you're trying to drive a BMW. This wouldn't be a problem if you could use the same car for all the Builder Cup competitions. Each season features a specially selected fleet of cars, trucks, or motorcycles based on criteria including manufacturer, model, and category. To unlock engine swaps, you will need to level up by completing the same cup multiple times with the same vehicle.

It's also odd that you can't check a series's performance index event prerequisites before joining it. However, this system provides a great opportunity to have fun while progressing a car through several categories and competing in the Builder's Cup. The campaign is set out so that you don't have to worry if you don't want to; unlocking pieces is pleasant, and seeing performance grow is enticing. After a while, it can be tempting to just keep pressing the auto-upgrade option.

Forza Motorsport's driving mechanics and presentation have been designed from the ground up to highlight the capabilities of the Xbox One X and Xbox One S consoles. They can't hope to match the precision of a game like iRacing regarding things like car control and fidelity to real-world physics. Still, I think they've done a wonderful job of entertaining the racing experience by properly compensating for understeer and oversteer, especially from behind the wheel. Damage modeling is where accidents and scrapes affect the vehicle's functioning.

Therefore, the depicted damage from a severe head-on collision appears unrealistic. In this example, the knocks and scrapes are visible but have no functional impact on the vehicle. Rain's impact and the tires' grip on a dynamic track rubber, where the rubber from used tires gradually builds up on the track surface, complement each other well during dynamic weather driving in varying situations. You can see the tire tread transferring onto the track as you apply the brakes, and this effect remains intact as you make your way around the track.

Forza Motorsport's AI often mimics our actions and makes for a tense and exciting race. Overall, it did well, offering a demanding racing experience with a slider to control the difficulty. However, the AI would occasionally ram into you, causing you to lose track of control, or if you were in their way, they would not slow down to avoid colliding with you, instead choosing to slam right into you. But

I'd say they're competitive to race against and occasionally quite stupid out there. Adjusting parameters such as tire pressure, gear ratios, suspension stiffness, etc., the driving experience can be fine-tuned to the driver's preferences. This functioned accurately via the Fine Tune menu, which offered access to more than 800 enhancements and alterations. The driving experience might be customized in several ways, allowing you to adjust various parameters to your liking.

The tracks feel more immersive with realistically reproduced elevation shifts, chamber viewpoints, and other elements. One of the best examples of such a course is Maple Valley, which features several different chamber angles and elevation changes. It's fun to race on; you can feel the changes as you travel. The rumble of the motors when they are completely engaged in the controller's force feedback feels great, whether you're breaking, turning, or veering off the track. When racing, you get a satisfying sense of immersion thanks to the fine-tuning of the feedback you receive from the track surface and the gravel and grass on the side. Everything about it works well.

During races, pit stops can be used to adjust your vehicle; doing so requires temporarily relinquishing control of your vehicle, but once you've chosen the adjustments you'd like made, you'll regain command as you near the pit exit. While it shares some similarities with Grand Turismo, Forza Motorsport can be described as a simulation racing game like iRacing and Assetto Corsa Competizione. You can buy race vehicles and modify them to your liking. Inaccurate damage modeling reduces the level of realism in that department.

The game's gorgeous visuals are the first thing that will catch your attention. Forza Motorsport is an absolute visual treat on the Xbox One X thanks to its use of real-time rate tracing and beautifully crafted surroundings. The graphics are some of the most authentic in a racing game, with full day and night cycles, dynamic weather, and ever-changing track conditions on every track. Early races in Maple Valley Grand Oak Raceway and Lagoona Sea give you a small taste of what's to come, as the game immediately hits you with its magnificent visuals. When cars veer off the course, the dirt clouds around the tree break up, letting in light and casting realistic shadows on the racing surface. It consistently achieves a high quality of visual immersion.

The visuals pop during night races in heavy rain. You may choose between three modes: performance, which prioritizes a smooth 60 frames per second; visuals, which boosts the graphics but slows the frame rate down to 30; and performance RT, which adds ray tracing reflections but remarkably maintains a smooth 60 frames per second. Compared to Forza Motorsport 7, at least, the game's visuals live up to the anticipation, and its trademark violent engine noises remain, making it a staple of the Turn 10 series. The audio in the racing simulation is top-notch. It was awesome to hear all the automobiles' unique engine noises. The sound adapted to the several camera angles, and the rain and thunder effects were very realistic.

However, it's not all roses; I occasionally noticed the texture, even though some looked extremely flat, especially when I was behind a car with my headlights. A much more subdued color scheme of Forza Motorsport may not appeal to you if you prefer the bright hues of Gran Turismo 7. Some circuits and weather conditions might make the game look dull and dreary—unsuitable for a fast-paced racing game. Some dark locations, particularly in fully rendered Interiors, can appear murky due to relying on ray tracing for much of the visual flair. At first glance, the game's visuals are pleasing to the eye; however, a few flaws become apparent upon closer inspection.

The game's trump card is an online multiplayer mode, perfect for Forza Motorsport fans. There are timed competitions in four primary categories that begin every few minutes. They feature close, clean racing with some element of tire and fuel strategy, penalties for too-aggressive maneuvers to keep a lid on antisocial behavior, and an overall rating depending on your race results.

Finally, the experience point carrying over between single-player and multiplayer makes the Car Building advancement system more intuitive. The lack of an on-screen radar, which would prevent accidental U-turns upon arrival, is unfortunate. So far, the racing has been far more intense than in previous Forza Motorsport games, even compared to competitive leagues.

Forza Motorsport is a fantastic racing game that delivers a satisfying experience. While that may be the case, the driving experience is nothing like a simulator. If you have an Xbox One X or S, you'll get a satisfying sense of weight and stability when navigating racing cars. You'll be startled by the disparate visual standards; newer cars have sharper detailing than older ones. However, rear-wheel drive street cars have certain odd quirks.

Although a steering wheel add-on is supported, we recommend using a gamepad for the optimal experience. If you like competitions, you'll love the format of practicing and then qualifying for the event. You can choose the fastest three laps to use in a given race with the latter. It's unclear if this will get enough interest to support a healthy multiplayer scene. Forza Motorsport is a must-have for any Xbox owner when it comes to improving your online driving skills.
 

Azfar Rayan (@AzfarRayan)
Senior Editor, NoobFeed