

The foundations of the Motorsport series is largely the same as prior entries as you are given multiplayer and single player modes that have you visiting some pretty varied locations and racing in lots of different cars comprised from the fantastic catalogue of options. With all of that out of the way, let’s take a deeper look into what Forza Motorsport 7 has to offer.

It simply is not as good, but by prefacing this review with my own preferences, it hopefully frames my mindset a bit when I say that Forza Motorsport 7 is a fantastic game in its own right, even if I don’t quite have as much fun with it as I did Forza Horizon 3. That does not mean that the Motorsport series is bad, because it is not. Now, I feel compelled to compare these two games because while they both own the Forza namesake and both are about racing, the fact of the matter is that Horizon has more soul to it, and is simply a better series. Whether it’s the sense of actually travelling and seeing new locations up close and personal, or the soundtrack that provides a thumping background to the jumps and other antics found in the game, Horizon has a sense of wonder and discovery not usually found in racing games, and that helps make the Horizon series my favourite in the racing genre. That last sentence is an important one, because while I really do enjoy both of the racing series a great deal there is a X factor about the Horizon series that sets itself apart from the Motorsport one. Related reading: The benchmark for serious racing games at the moment is Project CARS 2. Forza Motorsport 7 checks all of the boxes players are likely looking for, though it does lack a bit of the soul and fun that helps to separate the Horizon series from the Motorsport series. It will certainly appeal to those who enjoy structured racing, with its many tracks and tight gameplay. I don't remember the races where I lead every lap from pole position and won by two minutes.To its credit, Forza Motorsport 7 is an incredibly polished racing game – a technical marvel to look at and listen to, with an incredible amount of stuff in there for fans of racing games to enjoy. While frustrating, these moments were countered by some of my most memorable moments, where I'd narrowly come back from a race after being annihilated at the start. However, I was rarely completely taken out of the game from a rammer. Admittedly, rammers are a problem in Forza, and it's not uncommon to encounter one. To prevent racers from being sent into the shadow realm (ramming), T10 implemented a similar time penalty when a collision detection occurs. Beating a cheater resulted in a great sense of satisfaction which has been voided from the game. These players could never race to begin with, and relied on cheap tactics to stay competitive. In all my races, I almost never lost to a player who was using these tactics. The problem they were trying to address, cutting of the track, was a rare sight. 01m over the line taking the hope of victory, along with any sense of adventure, with it. You remember those moments but they were sadly taken away, as now you'll be given a time penalty for going. Out of the smoke you both emerge, desperately trying to out drag the other when right at the last second the third place car comes smugly rolling by, leaving the bottom podium spots as leftovers for you and your partner in crime. The car behind desperately tries to avoid the crash, sending himself into a spiral. Your fingers tense up as you carefully throw your car in at 150mph, heart pumping, past the entry, slam the stick to the left, bam, car strikes the inside of the exit barrier, sending you spinning into the wall.
#FORZA MOTORSPORT 8 E3 2021 UPDATE#
Before the update you'd be on the final lap, in the lead by little more than a hair, racing down to the final few corners knowing that you have to nail the chicane to get priority into the final corner. At Prague, the chicane just before the final corner! was entirely re-drawn such that you now have to take it incredibly wide. Unfortunately this change would result in numerous cases where the track was no longer as fun, and in the worst case even took risk out of driving. To address the cheating, T10 redrew the track limits for every track, allowing for an overlaid line to be displayed! exactly where the edge was. To the dismay of long time forza fans, these policies were ineffective and alienated the player base. If a racer is found in violation of these new rules, they are given a time penalty which scales with severity of the crime.

At the end of Forza 7's lifespan, Turn10 Studios (T10) began implementing a feature they called "Forza Race Regulations" which aimed to clean up the rampant cheating and shameful ramming found in online race lobbies.
