Review: Forza Motorsport 7

During the E3 2017, Microsoft showcased the first official trailer for Forza Motorsport 7. During the event, the Porsche GT2 RS 4K was featured in the presentation, aiming to highlight the great partnership with Porsche. The company will add the vehicle to the game, along with numerous other vehicle models, as is customary in the Motorsport and Horizon franchises. Does the game live up to what was promised? Find out in our review! 🙂

First of all, it is important to remember that Forza Motorsport 7 is Microsoft’s excellent way to showcase the power of the new Xbox One X, its new console built for the latest technologies in the market. Watching the game run is a unique experience, given the sheer amount of detail on display—this is one of those titles that makes a distracted relative ask “what movie is on TV?” while you play. Believe me—personal experience!

Thanks to the new and powerful specifications of the console, Forza Motorsport 7 runs natively in 4K resolution at 60 frames per second, without any stuttering. Another interesting feature is that weather variations are no longer just a mode, as they were in Forza Motorsport 6; now, they are dynamic. That is, you can start a race under a blazing sun and clear blue skies and, gradually, see the rain approach the circuit. By the end of the race, being able to see even a palm’s length ahead would require a great stroke of luck.

To give you an idea of the level of detail, parts that were once considered “dead” in the racing game have now come to life. For example, the side mirrors now sway due to the wind outside the cockpit or shake during a more aggressive charge on the zebra. It’s this kind of meticulous attention that Turn 10 Studios applied to deliver realism never seen before.

Even so, in Forza Motorsport 7 you benefit from 30 circuits and more than 200 racing customization options for the player. The game also features the largest collection of Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Porsches ever seen in a racing game, totaling 700 breathtaking vehicles. In other words, that’s 150 more vehicles than in Forza Motorsport 6. And, speaking of Porsche, the German manufacturer signed a six-year contract with Microsoft, putting an end to the previous partnership with Electronic Arts and the Need for Speed series.

In a sort of celebration of this new phase, the automaker transformed the stage of E3 2017 into an automotive showroom and, for the first time in history, presented a new model from its GT lineup. We’re talking about the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2RS, which is also the official cover for Forza Motorsport 7.

Forza Motorsport 7 is a charming game, just like its predecessors. Finally, the Horizon franchise—its younger sibling—has started to return the favor to the Motorsport series by, well, giving it new life, hasn’t it? This came through the excellent work done by the development team of Forza Horizon 3 in creating new textures for the game’s skies, which have now been greatly refined in Forza 7.

The “icing on the cake” is that, as a game considered a flagship title designed to extract everything the Xbox One hardware has to offer, everything runs in 1080p at 60 frames per second without any hint of performance problems. Even better, if you have a PC or even an Xbox One X, you can experience everything in 4K and 60 frames per second to the fullest. Isn’t that wonderful? 😀

It is worth noting that on PC there have been instances where the game showed optimization issues, especially with multi-threading, resulting in poor utilization of processor cores. These issues are similar to those seen at the launch of Forza Horizon 3.

Another positive aspect worth highlighting is the new dynamic weather function present during races. Unlike in Forza Motorsport 6, where you could choose to race on a wet version of the track, it is now possible to set the probability of rain at the beginning, middle, or end of an event, either in a customized or automatic manner.

Furthermore, the automatic transition effect is extremely pleasing to the eyes, appearing very natural, and the rain itself is simply very realistic. Watching the overcast sky grow darker, the first raindrops falling, puddles forming gradually, and everything transforming into a storm with lightning and thunder is truly really cool.

Ah! We must not forget to mention that on some tracks a subtle dynamic weather effect is also present natively, with the sun setting or rising at certain moments—although this isn’t customizable, it hardly breaks the expected immersion of Forza 7.

The audio design of Forza Motorsport 7 has also taken a significant leap forward in its evolution. Although already good in the game’s sixth edition, it is now even better with new additions. The roar of the vehicles, the snap during sudden braking, the whistle of Japanese car turbochargers—everything continues to sound brilliantly, providing incredible realism.

In racing cars, for example, the cockpit camera captures the interior’s reverberation without any sound insulation. Thus, you can hear the clatter of equipment rattling inside the vehicle, the tires alerting you when they’re at the limit of grip, and other effects of truly exceptional quality—an improvement that seemed hard to achieve given the excellent work done in the last two games of the franchise.

One aspect that was mentioned Forza Motorsport 6 — namely the soundtrack—has finally been substantially refined. Although it appears only in the menus and as background in specific parts of the tracks, what was once an attempt to make everything epic with grand music is now a well-curated selection of more engaging sounds (Hello Davy Jones!).

The Forza Motorsport 7 demo caused several people to raise an eyebrow at the way the Porsche 911 GT2 RS behaved, but in my view the changes in physics and gameplay can and should be considered very welcome—one of the factors that greatly helped dispel the fear that the game would be just “more of the same,” quite literally.

This change, applied in a less drastic manner than usual, has come to all the other vehicles in the game, which now convey a better sense of weight and, in turn, offer far more precise—and, guess what: realistic—handling. Some vehicles are indeed easier to drive than others, but this variety is one of the game’s biggest attractions and differentiators.

Anyone who needs it can always rely on the assists, which do a great job of keeping the car where it belongs—on the asphalt. For more experienced players, simply turn them off and go through a brief adaptation period, and you should have no trouble if you’re accustomed to previous versions of the game.

Dynamic rain also has a significant impact on gameplay, reducing traction as the surface becomes more slippery. Puddles, which were a challenge in Forza Motorsport 6, now appear procedurally and affect handling in a much less traumatic way, making driving in the rain both challenging and enjoyable at the same time.

Image: Xbox