GAMES REVIEW: Forza Motorsport 4

I don’t play many driving simulators these days, not since the glory days of Burnout, that is until I got my sticky fingers on this game and, to be honest, it quickly became addictive.

This game is so realistic the cars actually handle like the real thing and the choice is endless right back to retro cars of the 1960s and 1970s.

You can set the Abs and traction control, mind you its best to keep them on until you get used to the game as spinning around endlessly doesn’t look cool.

Appropriately, the introduction is by Jeremy Clarkson and its true when he says that there is a place for petrol heads and its Forza 4 where else can you hammer about in gas guzzling super cars and not have to worry about the environment or your no-claims bonus .

The graphics are incredible, especially in driver view and the upgrades make the game fascinating to play – you can turn the music off and the volume up and revel in the sound of big v8s as you bomb around corners recklessly in pursuit of motoring glory (just don’t try this stuff on the roads).

The developer Turn 10 have come up with some amazing vehicles with over 500 cars from 80 manufacturers (except Porsche for some reason).

Forza 4 is the place to indulge your motoring desires, from a bog standard Ford Ka to v12 Vantage it’s all here for the taking.

World tour

Speaks for itself, you travel the world racing at different tracks earning credits and either buying or winning new cars or obtaining upgrades.

The Patrick Stewart sound-alike (not sure if it’s him or not) tends to get a bit annoying after a while but that is just a minor point.

I would have liked to have seen some night driving and perhaps creating some better damage to the cars when they collide (not over the top like Burnout) to add even more realism (see Dirt 3 or Driver: San Francisco).

The car tokens is a new addition where you can earn tokens as you go along to buy cars or, if you don’t want to wait, then buy them off Xbox live with real money.

I used a controller to play this game and it did the job although, when I did get too into it, I kept catching the rear view stick at the wrong time which became somewhat distracting.

Online multi-play

It is basically the same as the world tour where you get to take on other players on Xbox live.

Conclusion

As race simulation games go this is the best I have personally played, it keeps your interest up there’s no jumping through hoops to get new cars, it’s all there, especially in free roam where you can drive any car you want.

All-in-all a classic game that has raised the bar in driving simulation and is well worth the money.

I give it 9.5 out of 10, not the full score as I would have liked more damage and some night driving but I am sure that will come in the future.

For more information go to www.forzamotorsport.net

Review by Dayvid Ryan

Racing simulator

Age rating: 3+

Microsoft Games

Release date: 14/10/2011