Forza Motorsport 6 Is Far Better Than 5, But It's Not Perfect

The Forza Motorsport series has been incredible. Introduced as Xbox’s answer to Gran Turismo, it’s kept gaming petrolheads hooked since the first game was released in 2005. The series reached its pinnacle with Forza 4, which had the perfect blend of simulation and arcade vehicle dynamics mixed up with a huge selection of cars, tracks and racing series.

Unfortunately, Forza 5 didn’t quite live up to expectations. The game felt half-finished, like it was rushed into release so Xbox One could have a killer game early in its life. The question is, can Forza Motorsport 6 pick up where the fourth instalment left off? Let’s find out.

The handling dynamics are great; it's like exaggerated realism

Games like Forza like to shout about realism. We’ve seen it with Project Cars and Assetto Corsa in recent memory, each with varying levels of success, but while racing ‘simulations’ might give you a realistic experience, it doesn’t necessarily make for a fun game.

Where Forza excels is by implementing a complex physics model into the game, but implementing it in a way that’s fun to play. The easiest way to explain it would be to say it’s ‘exaggerated realism.’ Understeer is particularly well simulated, with feedback through the wheel making it clear when you’ve pushed past the front wheels’ limit of grip. Cars still have realistic levels of grip on turn in, but understanding the car’s behaviour, and more importantly, reigning it in, is made easier to notice and counteract. It almost makes it more realistic as a result.

Shifting of weight goes way too far, though

This ‘exaggerated realism’ is mostly great. Unfortunately the way the game handles shifting weight is way, way too extreme. Lift-off oversteer is everywhere, and off-camber corners can be impossibly frustrating to negotiate. It needs to be dialled back drastically before launch, in my opinion, because I find the game almost unplayable without the stability management assist on - I’ve never played a Forza instalment with that box ticked.

Unfortunately, once STM is switched on, the game takes over to reign your slides in, which takes a lot of the enjoyment out of the game; steering into a powerslide after nailing an apex is one of the most enjoyable aspects of racing for me, but STM robs you of that. The rear end on these cars is all or nothing at the moment.

The graphics are gorgeous

There’s no denying this game looks absolutely fantastic. The cars are all incredibly detailed (though weirdly some of the custom liveries are low-res, which is noticeable during close racing), and the circuits are pretty much photo realistic. Night races are a joy thanks to the way your headlights light the road and cast shadows as other cars pass in front of them, and at circuits without floodlights, racing by headlights alone is truly unique.

During sunny races, the graphics are almost cartoon-like, but when the heavens open the whole atmosphere changes. The dreary colour palette is perfectly judged, and the puddles look great. The only setback is in the spray, which loses resolution as it exits the car, so hopefully this’ll be addressed at some point. Still, it’s the one stray brushstroke on an otherwise impeccable painting.

If it rains, it pours

So the wet weather looks great, but then you start racing during a downpour and things start to unravel. It’s really cool that Turn 10 Studios studied race tracks during wet weather to see where puddles formed, but the tracks are borderline flooded. There are very few events this side of Powerboat racing that would see a race go ahead in such conditions.

The problem is that the puddles drag the cars in - as they would in real life - but if you’re racing close to an opponent you can suddenly find yourself spinning out at 150mph without warning. And the puddles are often treacherously placed at the apex - at one particular turn at Road America, the puddle crosses the whole road in the middle of a high speed kink. You have to turn, straighten up, lift off the power, go through the puddle, then turn again and accelerate. If not, you’ll spin, and the AI regularly finds this out at that particular point. No race has ever been held with a minor river crossing a corner that’s negotiated at triple figure speeds. It’s a bit silly.

Your only weather options are dry or flooded - there needs to be something in between, or at least dynamic weather.

The AI's pretty good, but could be better

The Drivatar technology was introduced in Forza Motorsport 5 as a way of making the AI more realistic. Essentially, it learns the way you drive, and creates a virtual version of yourself, which helps to give the Xbox-controlled racers individual traits, rather than having them all stick dutifully to the racing line.

In Forza 6, what that seems to mean is that drivers will still dutifully stick to the racing line, but will occasionally out-brake themselves and end up in the barrier. Sounds like every racing game ever, to be honest. You also still end up with the pack splitting into a leading car that’s miles ahead, then second and third battling it out behind, with the rest of the pack evenly spread out. It means that if you set the difficulty high enough that you’re not always winning, you have to settle for being near the back of the standings in order to have a battling race. Considering you need to place in the top three to progress from most races, this isn’t feasible.

You can still tune cars like you did in the old game, and you can have some great fun building the car of your dreams. Also, if you pick a car that has a Performance Index well below the race’s limit, you can still do a ‘quick upgrade.’ What’s new is that before you start a race, you have the option to add ‘Mods’ to your car. These aren’t vehicle parts, but game modifiers that do everything from increase the amount of grip you have, to giving extra rewards if you achieve a specified target. There are three slots that you can place mods into.

Mods are unlocked by buying packs using in-game credits, but after the first few races I stopped using them. They feel a bit pointless and, to be honest, they feel a bit like cheating. Now I’ve removed all the cards and just race using whatever car and upgrades I’ve applied to it.

Career mode is much smoother, but could do with more races

I don’t know the exact number, but in Forza Motorsport 4 it felt like there were literally hundreds of races available. If you went to the event list screen, you could see every possible race and enter them one by one. While at university, I set myself the challenge of completing every single race, however I barely made a dent.

Forza 6’s career mode progression is thought out much better, however it doesn’t feel like there’s quite the crazy depth as before. I like working through everything at the lower end before moving up, but I feel like I’ve breezed through so far. I’ve not driven a huge variety of cars, but I’m already onto the third career section, which gives me access to the likes of the Ford GT and Ferrari 458 - I’ve only had the game a week, I feel like I should still be tooling around in hot hatches.

I’d also like it to be easier to switch cars between each race in a series; currently you have to exit to the main menu and switch cars there before continuing. To end on a positive note - if you’re not too fussed about driving lots of different machinery, career mode is the best it’s ever been in a Forza game.

Conclusion

Importantly, Forza Motorsport 6 is a massive improvement over 5. The actual racing is more fun and challenging than it was before, and the career mode feels like it’s been well thought out. There are so many cars across every scene that there really is something for everyone.

There are quite a few aspects of the game that could be improved, and the novelty of the extreme wet weather wore off pretty quickly. Still, it’s a fantastic return to form for the series, and a massive game that’ll keep you occupied for hours.