The Spirit of Competition

Why do we drive? Forza Motorsport 6 opens up with an excellent introduction about the society and lifestyle of racing. The different types of racers and why us people want to push the limits. As a car enthusiast myself, this video was quite touching in a way it speaks out to the reasoning of why we love cars and why we drive them.

It’s no surprise to see Forza Motorsport 6 kicking up a notch with this latest iteration as it does with every release. With the game being on a cycle of every 2 years, Forza Horizon filing in the year in between – Turn 10 Studios have to innovate every time.

We were treated to a introduction race with the game’s cover car – the new Ford GT. While I’m not a fan of Ford, driving this car was something unique. The game always manages to wow us with the first race because of how new the car is, Last year, we got to race the new Lamborghini Huracan in Forza Horizon which was new and made it really exciting to drive. This was the same with the Ford GT. It was new and never seen in a game before. The introduction also treats us to the upgraded visuals and did it in a spectacular with the new Rio de Janeiro track.

The game also introduces all new features including wet weather racing in the set of tutorials early in the game. You are given a set of cars to choose from at start like the Subaru WRX STI and Toyota 86 to ease you into the game’s new mechanics. The cars available at the start were decent street racer cars which made your early Forza Motorsport career decent rather than starting you off with slow cars.

The wet weather and night racing featured in the new Forza Motorsport 6 really took the challenge of racing to the next level with players having to adjust to the changes in handling and acceleration. The wet weather introduces aquaplaning and puddles that sit on certain parts of the track making it harder to tackle certain turns. Wet weather has been done in the past but Turn 10 looked at the closer details of the physics and simulation rather than just visuals. These both look great and really kicks up the immersion thanks to the silky smooth and sharp 1080p 60fps performance.

Another new feature introduced to Forza Motorsport 6 was called ‘Mods’ – no I’m not talking about actuals mods to the car, you can still tweak it somehow but more of a perk or multiplier which you can add to each race. Similar to the style of Call of Duty’s perk system, you can add different ‘mods’ to the race. Things like ‘Earn more credits in this race’ to ‘Better Grip and Handling by a certain % for this race’ can be added in. Some mods are permanent while others are once off use. Mods can be purchased using in-game credits in a form as a booster pack. Mods add a fun twist to Forza Motorsport 6 which provides quite a different flavour to the original racing.

The drivatar system from previous Forza games return in the new addition and while I don’t mind the predictability and personality it provides in Forza Motorsport 6 – it just doesn’t work. It’s possibly who I have in my friends list that can’t drive but sudden attempts at running me off the road and at times showcasing behaviours that doesn’t reflect real world driving – Forza Motorsport 6 can’t be judged as simulation racing.

Overall

I never really regarded Forza Motorsport 6 or any previous Forza titles as ‘simulation’ but it sits close to it. Forza Motorsport 6 is a really good racing game with every release presenting something new to the table and impressing us with newer sharper details. With it’s solid two year cycle, Forza still represents the best racing series in the market when it’s closest competitor not really dedicating a solid release schedule – Forza Motorsport 6 is a must have for racing.