One of the hardest parts of any racing game is making the 100th or 500th time turning the same corner fun. While Forza Motorsport 5 was an impressive first entry on Xbox One, Forza Motorsport 6 takes everything great about the previous game, brings new features and enhancements, and marries them to create one of the finest racing games ever created.
Developed by Turn 10 Studios and out now on Xbox One comes Forza Motorsport 6. The key that has kept the Forza Motorsport series fun has always been accessibility. Rather than punish you for using assists or taking damage, the game rewards you for not using the assists. It's a simple twist on how you perceive assists and difficulty. You don't feel bad if you still use the full racing line or even braking assists.
Forza Motorsport 6 offers more variety to how you play than ever before, and one of those new ways are the new mods. Mods act like Halo's skulls in that their aim is to simply spice the regular gameplay up a little. If you start to grow tired of a certain track because it's come up too often, or you're just not a fan of it, using mods can make things feel rather different and is a great way to breathe new life into the exact same track. Forza Motorsport 6 is the first in the series to bring night racing and rain. Although both of these are static meaning it'll always be raining at the exact same rate no matter how many times you choose it. Not only that but puddles will always form in the exact same parts of the track also. Don’t let that rain on your racing parade though as it is a good thing though. Due to it being static, the developers were able to craft it perfectly to offer not only excellent visuals but a meaningful change to the gameplay.
Most racing games that feature wet weather is there purely cosmetically or it just reduces the grip on the car's tyres, but it feels substantial in Forza Motorsport 6. Puddles can be positioned in awkward places meaning you need to change your racing line or risk hydroplaning and losing control. In some moments, it feels like a completely new track and overtaking opportunities can be in completely new parts of the track.
The structure of the career feels streamlined to the extent that you are actually making progress rather than choosing random sets of races like a massive bingo card. On top of that, the career introduces great variety in the cars you'll be driving and tracks you'll be racing around. It's all finely crafted to the extent that it keeps literally driving around in circles to feel a lot more fun than it should. If you love your car porn with the emphasis on car, then Forza Motorsport 6 boasts over 450 cars that have been meticulously crafted like works of art. Each vehicle have been detailed down to the stitching on the car seats. Jumping into the cockpit in particular is mesmerising so don't feel bad if you go head-on with a barrier because the rain on your windshield was "too beautiful to look away" or the detail on the dashboard to be simply dashing.
There is so much to say about Forza Motorsport 6 that I literally write all day about. From the racing itself to how different the cars feel to even creating decals with one of the deepest customisation options I’ve ever seen, you can spend a very long time with this game. I haven’t even mentioned yet that there are now racing leagues curated by the developers themselves. Online is still as fun as ever and with both casual and hardcore racing options, it caters to everyone. And that’s probably the best way I can put Forza Motorsports 6. If you love cars, hell, even if you only have a passing like for them, will make you stronger for cars. It’s the best love song for a hunk of metal going 200 mph.
Forza Motorsport 6 performs a perfect turn with 5/5 stars.
★★★★★
Jason Redmond
Forza Motorsport 6 at CeX
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