Forza Motorsport 6 Review

Confidently Uncocky

The countdown. Three. Two. One. The reverberations of horsepower exploding inside engines and out of exhausts. The SCREEAACCH of the tires. The grip and torque as you’re drilled back into the driver’s seat. Then, positioning. Scanning for unpredictable driver maneuvers and challenging turns. Manipulating each section of the track with precision and being rewarded with “Good Turn” or “Perfect Pass.”

I’ve never been a diehard fan of racing games, especially those with the scary “simulation” descriptor. Luckily, Forza Motorsport 6 is as inclusive as it is beautiful and a strong addition to the Xbox One’s growing catalogue of exclusive games.

“Choose the car that speaks to you.” This is one of the first instructions you’ll hear when you begin a career in Forza Motorsport 6. It reflects how developer Turn 10 Studios understands the emotional connection we develop to these machines of beautiful elegance and monstrous power.

Forza Motorsport 6 is an achievement, pardon the pun. There is so much class, prestige, and confidence in its presentation that I have finally come to realize “escapism” in video games.

Regardless of how unique your preferences, Forza Motorsport 6 will feel like a personalized and custom experience. Through series hallmarks like Affinity levels, you’ll be rewarded for driving the cars you already love to further your appreciation of their brand.

Stay Calm. Forza On.

There is a lot to unpack here and simulation comes with a certain overwhelming connotation. Yet, Forza Motorsport 6 never set me into a panic thanks to the smart and patient method of unlocking various modes and options. Not only does this delivery mechanism prevent newcomers from being overwhelmed but it also keeps the game from becoming stale. Just as I finished my first race in the rain – which I will admit, was appropriately hyped -, I was taken to the Showcase Series and driving the Indy cars. It was completely different and felt remarkable.

Every single aspect exists to make Forza Motorsport 6 the perfect experience for you. Mods, Drivatars, Assists, Showcase Series, Spin Prizes, Rivals. I played for nearly six hours before finally jumping into a the Garage to upgrade my cars. Even the Garage, understandably perceived as the most daunting section of any Racing Simulator, is presented on a curve. If you want to get your hands dirty and customize everything from the exhaust to the flywheel, go for it.

I’m coming for you, friend. Also, don’t judge too hard, I turned the Racing Line off eventually.

On the other hand, if you’d rather spend more time on the race track, you can have your car upgraded to its maximum level allowed for whichever race you’re preparing. I found myself doing a bit of both – depending on how attached to the car I was. The instant I realized that the way I play varies depending on my connections to the cars was a milestone moment.

Mods are like the Burn Cards from Titanfall and give either one-time or reusable perks like enhanced grip or increased XP or Credits rewards. Tweaking Assists empowers you to feel like the game is custom built for your ability and, as always, is an ingenious way to make it accessible without alienating newcomers or veterans. With all Assists on, you’ll earn the baseline number of Credits after each race but as you turn them off, bonus credits are awarded and I felt like a champion as my skill advanced and I could become independent of the Racing Line assist.

Forza Hub brings it all together and is available via free download (and is the easiest 20 Achievement Points you’ll ever earn) to deliver a community-based collection of news, events, and personal progress within the series. The simple, yet powerfully engaging, system recognizes your prior involvement with the series if you have Achievements from previous titles. It also encourages newcomers to go back in the catalogue for greater rewards. This is a fairly understated feature but speaks to Turn 10 Studios’ commitment to Forza as a significant piece in the Xbox lineup.

The Drivatar system from Forza Motorsport 5 is back and I had a blast passing my friends, even though they haven’t played Forza 6 yet. So there appears to be a seamless transition to the new game. With every race, you are “training” your own Drivatar to race on your behalf while you’re away, earning credits and pulling you back in to maximize your return. Microsoft like’s marketing speak but make no mistake, Drivatars add (yet another) layer of personalization and are much more than just a bullet point on the back of the box.

The visuals are predictably beautiful. Where you should draw your attention to is the sound editing. You absolutely must play Forza Motorsport 6 with a good set of headphones, at least twice. Rounding a corner and edging a friend’s Drivatar while just riding the rumble strips – with the perfect combination of sound and force feedback in the Xbox One controller – will make your entire body tense. When a game can physically alter you, something very powerful is happening.

Taking Forza Motorsport 6 online is even more intense with up to 24 players. There were only a few instances of an opponent’s car jumping around the track as things synced up across the servers but for the most part, playing online is insanely fun. The best way to dive in is through Leagues where you’ll be pitted against similarly skilled players in a giant tournament across various modes. Not only is it worth 20 Achievement points to jump in, it is definitely worthwhile to see two dozen cars fly into the first corner only to have half of them crash and flip over each other. Indeed, playing with that many maniacs requires a new skill set.

Let’s face it, racing games are innately repetitive. Even with a wide variety of tracks, at the end of the day you’re going in for an on-the-rails type of experience. Yet, Forza Motorsport 6 feels uniquely designed for me. Dropping Assists and increasing Drivatar difficulties provide a level of depth that goes beyond Achievement Hunting that you would typically experience by playing another game on “Insane.” While playing Forza Motorsport 6, I feel like a capable-yet-challenged participant in the most elite gameplay and presentation delivery available on Xbox One.

Pobody’s Nerfect.

By now, you know that I adore Forza Motorsport 6. It really caught me by surprise but there are a couple things that you will surely find aggravating. The load times are really long. For the most part, this deep and layered package is executed quite effortlessly. The systems in place – particularly Drivatar, introduced in Forza Motorsport 5 – understandably require a substantial volume of computing power and though you will generally never see a graphical slowdown, the trade-off is a lengthy break before each race. I suppose you could take the time to mentally prepare – you know, visualize the hairpin turn on corner nine. If you’re like me, you’ll just end up on your phone though.

Online, things can get a little petty. Retaliation for incidental contact is something you’ll need to watch out for though I can only hope this gets better as the skill increases. In fact, in some cases your enjoyment of the online portion may depend entirely on your sensitivity to four-letter expletives.

Final Verdict

If you’re hesitant to jump into a racing simulator, think of Forza Motorsport 6 more like a Western Role Playing Game that has replaced its combat mechanics with driving. Level grinding, loot farming, and even party management – to an extent – are all well-represented in Forza. How successful you are on the track is a direct result of your careful customization. If you need a little help, you won’t feel like you’re getting dinged. Forza Motorsport 6 only rewards excellent, it does not condemn mediocrity – at least where skill is concerned.

The personalization aspects are done so masterfully, you nearly forget how well Turn 10 Studios executed the basic elements. The key mechanic, driving, feels perfect. There is never, ever, a missed turn that I’ll blame on the game. The music is epic and far from trendy. The sound effects are pitch perfect. The presentation is a balance of being fully aware of its greatness while avoiding being elitist. These have all become standard for the Forza series but I felt this review would be incomplete without mentioning them.

Effortless execution of the primary racing game mechanics coupled with uncompromising personalization elements make Forza Motorsport 6 an undeniable invitation to newcomers and a compelling and rewarding callback for veterans.