Forza Motorsport 4 Preview

Turn 10 Studios has a difficult task ahead, after showing the world they are adept racing simulator developers in the three previous games, they now have to expand and improve in the fourth instalment. ButtonCombo has an inside look in what will make or break the biggest racing game on Xbox 360.


Before focusing in on the additions that Turn 10 have included in Forza 4 let’s talk about the most important part of a racing simulator- the driving mechanics rooted deep within the very core of the game. To start with Turn 10 teamed up with Pirelli Tires to gather data and statistics from real world tire tests so that they could further iterate on Forza’s already impressive physics model. “The idea of simulating physics is like the idea of simulating the weather,” said Creative Director Dan Greenawalt. “We’ve got global warming models. Are they accurate? They’re more accurate than in the 1800s where they held a finger to the wind. Our medicine is more accurate than snake oil salesmen. They’re not as accurate as they will be.”

Dan Greenwalt also says Turn 10 is “breaking out of the arms race of numbers” with Forza 4, even though the game still has around 500 cars available, with Turn 10 saying there will be an extra 10 as DLC every month.

Showroom Mode
One of the new things that Turn 10 have added is the Showroom Mode. It utilises Kinect to allow players to ‘walk’ around the car and interact with points of interest, this will begin a detailed run down of a car’s technical specifications narrated by Forza 3’s Peter Egan. Also included is Jeremy Clarkson- who describes humorous facts due to Forza 4’s Top Gear partnership. These can range from retellings of manufacturer’s embarrassment to anecdotes about a car’s design choices. I’m hoping that Turn 10 include some of his funnier quotes, my personal favourite being: ‘Tonight, the new Viper, which is the American equivalent of a sportscar… in the same way, I guess, that George Bush is the equivalent of a President.’

The developer has really fleshed out the Showroom, so much so that the Career and Showroom are independent of one another. The Showroom experience has about 10 hours of unique content, challenges and cars to view and isn’t tied to the vehicles you’ve purchased through your racing career.

Racing No Longer Important?
Turn 10 have really expanded the game in a whole host of ways, and this shows in the way that Forza is played and the way that the developers are treating the title: ‘In many ways,” Greenwalt says, “racing is the smallest part of the game.’ It would appear that Turn 10 wanted to deliver on their aim of ‘turning gamers into car lovers and turning car lovers into gamers.’ This for me is a great way to approach developing the fourth instalment of the series and really should show when the game lauches.

Kinect
Turn 10 have clearly looked extensively into ways to ensure that Forza isn’t too complicated for non-gamers to pick up and give a test run, I’m guessing this is why the Kinect support is included. I’m not too sure I like the sound of the Kinect integration as I’m fairly rooted on the anti-Kinect side of any argument and hope that all this malarkey about motion sensing controls being the future ends up in tears so we gamers can get back to playing games with our thumbs. Because they work. Either way it’s in the game so gets a mention: Players can ‘mimic’ steering with theirs hands whilst the accelerations and braking is handled for them, for a simulator (something which aims to simulate real life) this is a poor attempt to get inexperienced gamers to play the game. I don’t think it will do the title any favours, as arcade racers exist for these people who are incapable of braking in a racing game.

Multiplayer
The final piece of the Forza 4 puzzle is the multiplayer and community features, the closest ties to the main game and a player’s possessions. So far Turn 10 have said fairly with about multiplayer with respect to the other aspects of Forza 4, however what we do know is that races award experience to the player’s driving level and elements such as racing clubs and liveries return.

Final Thoughts
Forza looks to be coming along nicely; Turn 10 looks to have applied the same level of painstakingly high detail that it put into the physics engine to all the other aspects of the game. Where this game could falter is the way Turn 10 brings all the individually great features together to create a collectively superb racing simulator that can pose a challenge to a diverse range of gamers with differing experience levels