Forza Motorsport, which launches on October 10th for Xbox Series X/S and PC, is a reboot of the series and revamps several aspects while adding new content. While it sticks to the series’ penchant for offering hundreds of playable cars and multiple ways to customize them, not to mention realistic tracks to race on, it has new progression systems, a brand new Career mode, and overhauled multiplayer. That’s not even touching on the vastly improved visuals.

How does the reboot fare compared to its predecessor? What areas does it excel in, and how does it falter in others (at least at launch)? Here are 15 of the biggest differences you should know about.

Number of Cars

When Forza Motorsport 7 launched, it featured over 700 cars from manufacturers like Aston Martin, Audi, Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lancia, Nissan, Noble, Mitsubishi and many more. It featured the return of Volkswagen (which skipped Forza Horizon 3, the previous release), though production cars from Toyota and Lexus were cut. You also had Forza Edition cars that offered credit bonuses under certain conditions and performance improvements. By the end of its lifespan, the racing sim had about 834 cars – an impressive number.

Forza Motorsport is launching with over 500 vehicles, though 30 more are confirmed to arrive in the Car Pass over the next several months. Manufacturers like Audi, Aston Martin, Ford, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Jaguar, Nissan, Porsche and more have been confirmed. While you can expect plenty of vehicles from the previous games, over 100 are new, like the 2023 No. 01 Cadillac V-Series. R and the 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray that grace the game’s cover art.

Number of Tracks

Forza Motorsport 7 launched with 32 locations and over 200 different track configurations on the same. By comparison, Forza Motorsport offers 20 locations. While the number of layouts is unknown, there are multiple confirmed for each location. It may not seem like a lot, but there’s more to the numbers than meets the eye.

Forza Motorsport 7 features all of the tracks from Forza Motorsport 6 and even some returning from Forza Motorsport 4. On the other hand, the reboot’s tracks have been rebuilt from the ground up, and five are brand new to the franchise, like the Grand Oak Raceway. In terms of post-launch tracks, it’s confirmed that Nürburgring Nordschleife will arrive post-launch in Spring 2024.

Visual Upgrades

One look at both titles should prove that Forza Motorsport is a massive upgrade over its predecessor. Whether it’s the fully animated 3D spectators, higher resolution materials and shaders for ray tracing, physically based lighting and volumetric fog, and procedural cloud system, the world feels more immersive to race in.

Another noteworthy change to the vehicles, which look more detailed and realistic on the outside and inside, is the use of a spectrophotometer for car paints. Turn 10 Studios revealed that by capturing “multiple data points of light behavior on a surface,” it could produce a paint mode with “much more realistic light response across colors, metal flake and gloss levels.” It’s all the more interesting considering how ray tracing works.

Ray Tracing Support

The Forza series had some brushes with ray tracing, most notably Forza Horizon 5, which launched with it in ForzaVista before adding it to races and Free Roam on PC. Forza Motorsport 7 didn’t use it, which makes sense given the hardware at the time, but the upcoming reboot is going even further beyond. It has ray tracing, which is, in creative director Chris Esaki’s words, “on track” and “real-time gameplay.”

“I really want to make that clear: when we say ‘on track’, it doesn’t mean it’s only in replays or it’s only in Photo Mode on track and we’re just being funny with words. We’re not trying to mislead you here. When you’re racing and when you are playing the game, ray tracing is on. We want to be really clear about that.” Thus far, ray traced reflections have been seen and Turn 10 confirmed ray traced global illumination on PC. How this performs in real-time in 4K/60 FPS remains to be seen, but based on gameplay thus far, it’s all working quite well.

Tire Physics Changes

Turn 10 Studios has remarked how the tire physics in Forza Motorsport are 48 times better than those in Forza Motorsport 7, but what does that mean? One example showcased a BAC Mono on the Laguna Seca track approaching a corner and how the tires reacted to the turn based on a single contact point with a 60 Hz refresh rate. Long story short, it wasn’t very smooth. The reboot uses eight contact points and runs at a 360 Hz refresh rate, and when hitting the same corner on the same track with the same car, the deformation was smoother and more natural. It may seem subtle but changes things substantially.

Damage Model Changes

The damage model in Forza Motorsport 7 is…interesting to observe, especially compared to the sixth game. While it feels more impactful due to the camera work, the actual cosmetic damage from hitting a wall at full speed doesn’t quite look the part. The deformation and chipped paint from colliding with a track’s sides also aren’t on point, though the rear windshield can suffer some cracks after enough impact.

By comparison, Forza Motorsport is much more realistic. You still won’t see parts falling off cars, but the damage model allows for scraped paint (which is now directional), scratches, deformation, and broken glass. While the step-up between generations is impressive on multiple levels, seeing just how much better the reboot is at showcasing cosmetic damage is crazy.

Dynamic Time of Day

When it launched, Forza Motorsport 7’s time of day features were lackluster, and you had no control over what time a race took place. Forza Motorsport implements a fully dynamic time of day but goes beyond changing it as you race. Depending on the time, the ambient temperature can affect the track surface and significantly impact grip and rubbering in while racing. It sounds like it could fundamentally change how one approaches a race, but again, we’ll need to wait and see how it pans out.

Career Mode

The Forza Driver’s Cup is Forza Motorsport 7’s Career mode and centers on championships. You start with the Seeker championship and earn enough SP to unlock Breakout, repeating the process until the sixth and final championship, the Forza Drivers Cup. Throughout each championship are Open Series and division-focused events, with players progressing and mastering the different divisions to succeed.

Forza Motorsport’s Career mode is the Builders Cup. It’s a spiritual successor to Forza Motorsport 3 and 4, where you choose a car to race with and build it up over time. Racing Series is focused on specific cars, as you get comfortable with sports cars like Porsche and Nissan before moving on to performance vehicles.

You also have Open Practice for trying out cars across different times of day and weather and Car Mastery, where earning XP allows for leveling up a vehicle and earning Skill Points to unlock upgrades, with 800 upgrades in total. There’s also Challenge the Grid, which grants better payouts based on changes made to race parameters – such as starting position and AI difficulty.

Multiplayer

Forza Motorsport 7 launched with a fair number of multiplayer features, from month-long competitive Leagues with different race Series (each lasting a week) to Multiplayer Hoppers, which supported up to 24 players and offered various restrictions with track voting. It’s not the worst set of options, though it was far from fully fleshed out.

By comparison, Forza Motorsport offers a “live, real-world time-based mode of pre-defined live events.” It’s consolidating Hoppers and Leagues and offers events for different divisions. Open Practice is available here, with players qualifying based on joining time, while Qualify determines your starting position in a Featured Race. There’s a new event every 30 minutes or so with different tracks, weather conditions, time of day and more. You can choose from Spec Series, focused on identical cars with similar tuning, and Open Series, which allows for any car in the same class.

Local Split-Screen

While Forza Motorsport 7 launched with local split-screen multiplayer, Forza Motorsport won’t have the same, at least at launch. This is due to the team’s “heavy investment in pushing new graphical features” and overhauling the rendering engine. It will be available at launch, but there’s no timeline for when.

Spectator Mode and AI Opponents in Multiplayer

While Forza Motorsport 7 didn’t allow for Drivatars in its multiplayer lobbies, it at least allowed for spectating races. Forza Motorsport is carrying on the tradition of the former (due to the “potential impact on your safety rating”) but doing away with the latter, meaning you can’t spectate Featured Races in the reboot. The reasoning is that players occupying slots for multiplayer events for spectating and not racing isn’t in line with its vision. Never say never on it potentially being added post-launch, but it seems highly unlikely.

System Requirements

By today’s standards, Forza Motorsport 7’s PC requirements are pretty forgiving. It requires an Intel Core i5-750 2.67GHz or AMD FX-6300, 8 GB RAM and an Nvidia GT 740, GTX 650 or AMD R7 250X with 2 GB VRAM for 720p/30 FPS gameplay. Recommended requirements include a Core i5-4460 3.2GHz or AMD FX-8350 with 8 GB RAM and either a GTX 670, GTX 1050 or AMD RX 560 with 4 GB VRAM. Ultra requirements for 4K/60 FPS required a Core i7-6700K 4GHz or Ryzen 7, 16 GB RAM and a GTX 1080 or AMD RX Vega 64 with 8 GB VRAM. You needed about 95 GB to install it on PC.

While Forza Motorsport’s requirements are definitely higher, they’re also not insane. Minimum requirements include Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 1600, 8 GB RAM and an Nvidia GTX 1060 or AMD RX 5500 XT. Recommended specs include a Core i5-11600k or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, 16 GB RAM and an RTX 2080 Ti or AMD RX 6800 XT. For those looking to run the game in Ultra, you’ll need a Core i7-11700k or Ryzen 7 5800X, an RTX 4080 or RX 7900XT, and 16 GB of RAM. A solid-state drive with 130 GB installation space is required, with an NvME SSD necessary for playing in Ultra.

Loot Boxes

For all of the positive things that Forza Motorsport 7 had at launch, one of its most controversial was Prize Crates. It was a loot box-style system that granted mods, cars, driver gear, and whatnot depending on the rarity. Key emphasis on “was” since the backlash prompted their eventual removal. Fortunately, Forza Motorsport isn’t flirting with the same idea, with the developer unequivocally clarifying that there are no loot boxes.

Sound

Sound design is just as important as visuals in a racing sim, and Forza Motorsport blazes some new trails. It’s the first game in the series to be “mixed natively for immersive audio formats like Windows Sonic and Dolby Atmos” and features hardware that accelerates convolution reverb which, as Turn 10 describes it, “reproduces how sounds in Forza interact within an acoustic space, dynamically adapting to its surroundings and creating a realistic and detailed soundscape.” The sound of your car also changes based on parts used while tire and suspension audio are also improved over previous titles.

Accessibility Features

For its time, Forza Motorsport 7 offered decent accessibility options and eventually received a Super Easy mode. The latter turned off friction physics for specific surfaces, automatically braked on corners and more. Forza Motorsport is making strides by implementing Blind Driving Asists, Screen Narration, colorblind modes for the UI and world, the option to disable moving backgrounds and more to go with controller remapping and other standard features.

Red Dead Redemption 2

It’s incredible to revisit Red Dead Redemption 2, especially in light of the greedy re-release of the first game. The attention to detail, visuals, presentation, pacing and characterization are still on another level after all these years. The Van der Linde gang’s agonizing fall was a compelling story, told from the perspective of Arthur Morgan, an incredible protagonist. That’s without experiencing all of the activities and stories the world offered when you weren’t skipping baths for several days or committing dishonorable acts.

Of course, that the game will present yet another visual and technical leap forward for the franchise hasn’t really been in doubt, but recently, that got highlighted quite effectively, when on a recent Forza Monthly stream, creative director Chris Esaki showed a side-by-side comparison of Forza Motorsport and Forza Motorsport 7’s gameplay footage, illustrating just how much of an improvement the former is going to be over its immediate predecessor.

During the stream, Esaki also revealed new details on Forza Motorsport’s improvements to AI, Drivatars, and tire physics. Check out the video below for more details.

Last month, Turn 10 Studios also revealed extensive details on the game’s new and overhauled career mode, called Builders Cup. It was also confirmed that Builders Cup will require a persistent online connection, in spite of being a single player experience.

Forza Motorsport is due out on October 10 for Xbox Series X/S and PC. 

Burnout Paradise Remastered

Burnout 3: Takedown was a major change in direction for the series with its speed, wrecks, and overall addictive gameplay. Criterion’s Burnout Paradise went even further with an open-world environment and the freedom to progress at one’s own pace. This is on top of fully customizable race settings, a reworked damage model, streamlined progression that rewards new cars consistently, and much more. Crash Mode could even be accessed at any time via the new Showtime Mode. With an incredibly well-designed urban playground and fun gameplay, Burnout Paradise stands the test of time.

#12. FORZA STREET

An easy pick for the lowest spot in this list. Forza Motorsport has consistently offered excellent simulation mechanics, while Horizon is an incredible arcade series, but Forza Street is really neither here nor there. It doesn’t help that it’s a mobile-only title, which means that it’s lacking in the sort of mechanical perfection, polish, and visual fidelity the series has traditionally been known for. It’s an extremely simplified experience that doesn’t do much of anything you’d expect a Forza game to do. Thankfully, it’s not technically a mainline entry, so it’s rather easy to completely overlook.

#11. FORZA MOTORSPORT 5

As the first Forza game to release for the Xbox One, Forza Motorsport 5 was well-positioned to really leverage the new console to deliver an excellent experience, but the game turned out to be a bit of a letdown, especially coming off of the excellent Forza Motorsport 4. It looked great, the audio design was typically excellent, new features like Drivatars and Forzavista were introduced, and the cars felt really good to drive, but the game was crippled by a shockingly small roster of vehicles and a disappointing lack of track variety at launch.

#10. FORZA MOTORSPORT

The one that started it all. The first Forza Motorsport’s legacy is impossible to oversell, and for fans of racing sims, this was a landmark release. At a time when Gran Turismo ruled the roost, Forza Motorsport came along and defied all expectations by not only delivering an excellent racing sim, but one that was genuinely great enough to be able to go up against Gran Turismo and provide some meaningful competition. Being 16 years old and having been improved upon by numerous sequels, it’s a little hard to go back to now, but the game deserves massive props for setting down solid foundations for the franchise.

#9. FORZA MOTORSPORT 6

After the backlash that Forza Motorsport 5 received at launch for its issues, Turn 10 Studios knew they needed to come back strong with a proper statement- Forza Motorsport 6 wasn’t exactly a strong statement that could make people sit up and take notice, but it was an improvement. The selection of vehicles and tracks was much better, the visuals were beautiful, and the career mode and online were a blast. Mechanically, Forza Motorsport 6 wasn’t as polished in terms of its sim aspects as some other games in the series, which made it a bit of an inconsistent experience, but by and large, this was a really good game.

#8. FORZA HORIZON

Forza Horizon was an interesting and risky experiment for Microsoft’s racing series. After having made a name for itself with four excellent racing sims, with Forza Horizon, the series decided to do something different, delivering a more arcade style of racing in an open world environment. It’s fair to say that the experiment worked out, thanks to excellent driving mechanics and a world that was an absolute joy to simply drive around in. The first Forza Horizon has been improved upon by all of its successors, so by default it feels a little aged, but even so, it’s still a blast to play even today.

#7. FORZA MOTORSPORT 2

Forza Motorsport 2 had a lot of expectations to live up to, not only because it had to build on the success of its groundbreaking predecessor, but also because it was the series’ debut on the Xbox 360, and it succeeded very nearly in everything that it set out to do. It looked and sounded gorgeous, its tracks and cars were brimming with details, the roster of vehicles was vast and varied, and the mechanical polish and sheer range of customization options in the game were staggering, especially for its time.

#6. FORZA HORIZON 2

Forza Horizon 2 didn’t have the novelty factor of the first Horizon game, which meant it didn’t make nearly as big of a splash as its predecessor did, but it was more than a worthy successor, and an excellent evolution of the series’ open world arcade racing branch. The freedom and arcade-style racing that Horizon 1 established were taken to even greater heights in the sequel, while the open world featured here was also absolutely gorgeous and just a pleasure to drive around in. Sadly, the Xbox 360 version of the game as a bit of a mess, to the extent that it almost felt like a completely different game.

#5. FORZA MOTORSPORT 3

As great as the first two Forza games were, it was with Forza Motorsport 3 that the series really came into its own. Turn 10 established the formula that the series would continue to be built on for years to come, and it was with Forza Motorsport 3 that the franchise really solidified its identity and emerged as a true and proper contender to the racing sim throne. Excellent cars, tracks, driving mechanics, career mode, and more came together to deliver what was and still remains one of the best racing sims of its time.

#4. FORZA MOTORSPORT 7

Forza Motorsport hit a relative slump in its Xbox One era, but at least it ended strong. Forza Motorsport 7 wasn’t perfect, no – the microtransactions at launch, for instance, were a bit of nuisance – but in most ways that matter, this might just be one of the best renditions of the Forza formula. Visually spectacular, absolutely overflowing with a ridiculously large selection of vehicles, packed full of content that could keep you busy for dozens upon dozens of hours, Forza Motorsport 7 was a great return to form for the series. Driving mechanics were more polished and refined than ever before, the career mode was excellent, the progression system was genuinely engaging, and the introduction of dynamic weather was an exciting new addition.

#3. FORZA HORIZON 3

Like Forza Motorsport, Forza Horizon really hit its stride with its third instalment. The first two Horizon games are spectacular open world racers though, so that should tell you something about how good the third one was. Australia was an excellent open world setting, not just in terms of size, but also in terms of variety, while the driving mechanics were also better and smoother than ever. It was with Forza Horizon 3 that many started wondering whether the spinoff Forza series had surpassed the mainline games, and it’s easy to see why- this is easily one of the best racing games ever made.

#2. FORZA MOTORSPORT 4

The absolute pinnacle of the Forza Motorsport line of games. Turn 10 kept on consistently improving on the formula with each progressive game in the series’ earlier years, and with Forza Motorsport 4, ended up crafting a veritable masterpiece. Excellent variety in tracks and cars, a ridiculous level of detail that exhibited a true love for the craft, the most polished driving mechanics the series had ever had up until that point- for all of these reasons and more, Forza Motorsport 4 is not only the best Motorsport game, it might even arguably be the best racing sim ever made. It’s that good.

#1. FORZA HORIZON 4

When Forza Horizon spun off from the mainline series, no one could have expected that it would go on to surpass the Motorsport line of games. By the time Horizon 3 came out, the subseries did start hinting at that level of quality- and with Horizon 4, it just blew everyone out of the water. Open world Britain is beautiful, massive, full of varied sights and sounds, and densely packed with a vast variety of consistently enjoyable activities, from excellent racing events to buying houses to competing against Drivatars to just aimlessly driving around the open world. Add to that the ingenious seasons mechanic, which completely changes the world in fundamental ways, and you also get an insane amount of dynamism in the experience. Forza Horizon 4 is easily one of the best racing games ever made, if not the best, and we’d be lucky to see Horizon 5 coming anywhere close to that level.

Anyone who has the game will obviously still be able to keep playing it, while Turn 10 confirms that online and multiplayer services will also remain active. If you didn’t purchase the game and got it via Game Pass but purchased a DLC anyway, you’ll be getting a token some time after August 2 so you can keep playing the game even after it’s gone off sale. Meanwhile, from now until September 15, the game’s also being sold at a discounter price, so you can jump in now while you have the chance, if you want to.

Given how many licenses each Forza game goes hand-in-hand with, keeping them active and on sale for long periods of time can be a complicated process, so this doesn’t come as a surprise. It’s also far from the first time something like this has happened for a Forza game.

Of course, the next Forza Motorsport game – titled simply Forza Motorsport – is also in the works for Xbox Series X/S and PC, and is being billed as a reboot. Forza Horizon 5, meanwhile, is out this November. Series fans have plenty to look forward to.

Sunset Overdrive

Sunset Overdrive’s vivid art-style would look absolutely phenomenal in 4K and 60 FPS. Currently, the game runs at 900p and 30 FPS and while the Xbox Series X’s Auto HDR makes it pop, a proper optimization patch would go a long way. Given that Sony owns the rights to the IP, this may seem like a pipe-dream – at least on Xbox consoles – but we can still hope.

]]> https://gamingbolt.com/top-xbox-one-games-that-need-xbox-series-x-patches/feed 0 470052 https://gamingbolt.com/doom-eternal-and-forza-motorsport-7-headline-xbox-game-pass-additions-for-october https://gamingbolt.com/doom-eternal-and-forza-motorsport-7-headline-xbox-game-pass-additions-for-october#respond Tue, 29 Sep 2020 13:47:41 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=457203

Microsoft have revealed the full lineup of games they will be adding to Xbox Game Pass over the coming couple of weeks on all devices- Xbox One, PC, and now that the service is fully available on it, Android. It’s a solid lineup of new additions all around, with the console and Android folks in particular getting two great new games.

On October 1, as revealed earlier, DOOM Eternal will be added to the Game Pass catalog on console and Andoid. October 1 will also see the launch of indie title Drake Hollow, and the game will be available on Game Pass for PC at launch.

October 8 will see three new additions, with Double Fine’s bizarre action-adventure title Brutal Legend coming to Game Pass for console, and Forza Motorsport 7 coming to the service on both console and Android. Meanwhile, indie turn-based tactical RPG Ikenfall releases on October 8, and will also be available on Game Pass day and date for console and PC.

Meanwhile, Microsoft also recently confirmed that EA Play will be added to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on November 10. Read more on that through here.

Gran Turismo Sport

Whether this is a “true” franchise sequel or not, Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo Sport is superb. It’s razor sharp in its focus on photo-realism, which is aided by lightning, material quality, global illumination and real-time shadows for everything. Vehicles look highly detailed, whether it’s reflecting the outside world or when admiring from the driver’s set. With numerous cars and tracks added over the years, Gran Turismo Sport is the way to go before Gran Turismo 7’s release.

METAL GEAR SOLID 5: THE PHANTOM PAIN

Metal Gear Solid 5’s emergent sandbox has a ridiculous amount of depth, with multiple systems constantly interacting with each other to deliver some of the mot dynamic stealth gameplay we’ve ever seen. Weather effects are one of many layers in that complex web. Rainfall and storms can dampen the noise you make, making it easier to sneak around enemy bases, while sandstorms do the same, in addition to also impacting visibly, which impacts the enemies as well as you. Having to adapt strategies on the basis of the weather feels truly rewarding in The Phantom Pain.