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-Note: I will add a LOT more to this review the more I play it. Stay tuned.-
First things first here's what you get with the Limited Collector's Edition if you get it at or soon after launch date:
The VIP Car Pack:
2011 Bugatti Veyron Super Sport
2011 Ferrari 458 Challenge
2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera
2010 Noble M600
2011 RUF Rt 12 R
The VIP Car Pack is available ONLY WITH the Limited Collector's Edition, and there is no guarantee that this pack will be available on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace at any time in the future. It should also be noted that "VIP Status" that comes with this gives you priority in Forza's in-game Auction House.
The limited quantity "Ship Bonus" car pack available for fans who order Forza 4 early:
1965 Ford Mustang GT Coupe
2011 Koenigsegg Agera
1997 Lexus SC300
2011 RUF RGT-8
2011 Tesla Roadster Sport
The LCE also comes in a nice steel-book case, and a full-color 96-page book full of cars, brought to you in part by the guys over at Top Gear (U.K.) If that's not enough, you also get a few stickers! :P Now, on to the review.
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It's finally here! After what seemed like decades, Forza Motorsport 4 is now available, much to the delight of video game and car enthusiasts everywhere. Given how great Forza 3 was, could Forza 4 be even better?
The answer is, well... yes.
Forza 4 is everything the third was, and more. More cars, more manufacturers, more racers online (16-players!), and, although not TOO many more, more tracks. I could make this review be 5,000 words long, but rather than do that, I'll try to make it relatively short. This game's incredible. I already said that, didn't I? Aw... but seriously. The World Tour mode is absolutely brilliant, and makes the single-player more fun to play, whereas in Forza 3 at least in my opinion the game was much better online. The only real downfall in World Tour is that, although the A.I. is SUPPOSED to get better or worse depending on your playing abilities, it doesn't work all that well, and you'll breeze through half the career or so with no trouble at all if you're a somewhat competant driver. The best thing about the World Tour, is that you unlock cars each time you level up. And now you're likely saying, "Hey. Idiot. We could do that in Forza 3." But this time? You get a selection of normally between 2 and 5 cars to pick, and let me tell you, a lot of the time you are going to rip your hair out trying to decide which car you want. Lamborghini, Ferrari, or McLaren. Hm...
Also in the single-player is the all-new Autovista mode, which allows you to take a look at a handful of the game's hottest cars, inside and out. Not only do you get some random British guy giving you information, you also get a bit of commentary from Top Gear's own Jeremy Clarkson, and lucky for us, Turn 10 didn't give him a script to read he's as Jeremy-ish as ever. I should also let you know that to get the cars available in Autovista, you have to complete single-player tasks, so you can't turn your 360 on, go to Autovista, and check out Halo's Warthog right out of the gate. As a matter of fact, it'll take you quite a long while before being able to check that thing out. Autovista isn't going to be for everyone I for one find it pretty cool, but I wouldn't check out a car more than once, but there are some people that will spend quite a bit of time drooling in it, and then another group of people that will find it completely and utterly boring.
That sums up the single-player in a nutshell, really. Given that the game hasn't been released at the time of this review, I'm unable to review the multiplayer effectively, so I'll add that in at a later date. How's the game look? How does it sound? Let me just say that this is the best looking game I've ever seen on a video game console ... it's CAR PORN at its finest, and the sound only enhances it. While Forza Motorsport 3 had some cars that sounded sort of "meh," Forza 4 is just insane that's really the only way I can think to describe it. The tire squeeling, the engines reving, the gears shifting, all of it is pretty much unbelievable. The one downfall is the soundtrack, which I believe would be more at home in an arcade racer, not a simulation game like Forza.
I've already said it probably half a dozen times, but Forza Motorsport 4 is THE GAME for fans of cars. With so many cars and more to come in the way of downloadable content over the months, there is something for anybody with a pulse. This review was quite brief, as I didn't want to explain every single little thing in the game, but I think I got the point across I have a gut feeling this game will be my Game of the Year, and I've yet to play Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Skyrim, or anything like that yet. Yeah. It's that good.
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Pros:
Several hundred cars with plenty of more coming in the months following release.
Improved everything, as you'd expect car physics are more realistic than ever.
16-player online racing.
Cons:
Only five new tracks, and developer Turn 10 isn't guaranteeing there will be more in the future as DLC.
No Porsche due to licensing issues, although a few RUFs are available. (It's rumored that Porsche may be downloadable content after EA's exclusitivity rights expire in December.)
No weather effects or night racing.
5/5
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Excellent vehicle detail, loud engines, and pleasureful music. These describe Forza Motorsports 4 in Spades.Please note, the Limited Edition listed here comes with the following additional content from the base retail package.
-Steelbook DVD Case
-96 page colored booklet (fits within the case)
-VIP in the Auction House (places your cars higher on the list)
-2012 BMW M5
-The VIP Car Pack:
2011 Bugatti Veyron Super Sport
2011 Ferrari 458 Challenge
2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera
2010 Noble M600
2011 RUF Rt 12 R
-The limited quantity "Ship Bonus":
1965 Ford Mustang GT Coupe
2011 Koenigsegg Agera
1997 Lexus SC300
2011 RUF RGT-8
2011 Tesla Roadster Sport
-The American Muscle Car Pack:
1965 Pontiac GTO
1968 Pontiac Firebird
1970 Buick GSX
1970 Dodge Cornet Super Bee
1966 Chevrolet Nova SS
1969 Shelby GT500 428CJ
1971 Plymouth GTX 426 Hemi
1967 Dodge Cornet W023
1968 Dodge Dart HEMI Super Stock
1964 Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt
That about wraps it up.
Personally I'm enjoying the game, and I feel like all its good qualities have been hit over and over again with the nearby 5 star reviews. The physics, vehicle detail, sounds, replays, and options available (down to even multi screen usage [on a 360 title! Nice!]) in this game make it worth the price of purchase alone.
With that said, since the highs would seem rather obvious on this point, I do have some minor issues.
Weather effects: The lighting effects in this game are a step above Forza 3 from the small bit I've played (of Forza 3). Consequently that creates a more immersive atmosphere by taking one step closer to photo realism in vehicle visuals. I applaud them for this, but simultaneously I would have really appreciated a step larger.
By that, I wish they could incorporate a a server based weather system. Where time continually changes, with weather effects. I'd like to be racing a long endurance race that starts at 11AM, starting with partly cloudy skies just above but a storm nearby coming in from the east. By the time I ran my 50th lap, maybe I see some lightning, maybe it's a light rain changing my racing strategy, maybe it's more. Unfortunately you won't experience this, the planet doesn't turn, so the sun doesn't shift regardless of how long your race takes. In the end it makes the beautiful lighting I spoke about before feel static, not dynamic. I'm glad they improved the visuals of the vehicles overall but a weather altering feature would have been phenominal.
Also note that you will not have any wet races or the option to choose it in free ride mode. From what I've seen so far the sun always shines.
Interior view: I think the interior view actually works this game overall. Many games in the past I drove exclusively in the 3rd person perspective; there was always something wrong I couldn't put my finger on with other titles. Forza 4 got it right and I haven't driven in 3rd person perspective yet. My only issue is with the inability to customize this view in minor ways. Give me the option to adjust my mirrors in the very least and I have no issues. However, here you can't do so, and inevitably that means you'll often find that looking to the side mirror on the opposite end of your driving position, is pointless. I can't see out of it at all to any useable fashion. This is just a bit bothersome to me when someone is to my opposite side, but behind me enough so that I can't see them from looking directly out the window, but can't see them from my rear view mirror position either.
A.I.: This is my largest complaint with the product (and it isn't a huge negative overall), not because I'm not any good as I've won all of my races so far. Here's the deal, overall it's great when you're mid pack on a track and it's hard to get around your opponents. That's how I feel it should be, as in real life I don't believe it's a cake walk to pass your enemies. But, there is a problem with civilian drivers during some "events". The A.I seems to follow a brake line completely for the most part, ALL the artificial intelligence. For example, you will have rival races where you have to beat them to the finish point and traffic is enabled. The travelers however don't drive like normal people just commuting along a street. They take corners like they're competing for the best times (while driving at a slow speed), and on straights they don't tend to drive straight. The result is little A.I. civilians who appear to be driving against you and it makes these races tedious, I don't like having to scratch my car because [1]I can't honk a horn to let them know I'm coming, [2]they don't use blinkers, [3]they just change lanes randomly for absolutely no reason, and [4]they aren't aware of anything. You will literally have your rival fly by a car on it's right side, and you'll take the same route less than a second behind just to have the car change lanes out of nowhere, and if you squeeze by on it's side with a strong drift, the car doesn't take notice and swirve back, they just keep on going, running into you if slow down too much. It's like they're a train on train tracks refusing to stop, all set on a warped set path and deviating for nothing less than a heavy slam from your car into their rear end. The problem lies on straights and turns, they are worse than actual racers, and the fact that they drive so slow but turn like with a racing line makes them no more than unrealistic nuances stuck in the middle of a superb game. The easiest way to win these modes without hitting anyone on the first try? Turn your break lines on, and when you drive, never follow the line if a car is around, because it'll take the exact same line you're "hinted" to, which will result in a car accident 50% of the time. This is one area where Test Drive outclassed Forza in realism, and that's in it's civilian A.I. drivers.
As for the RACERS, I think overall the developers did fantastic. However, I have factually experienced a rubberbanding effect which I call "Mario Kartism". Where if you're in the lead, the game does what it can to handicap the others UP to bring you DOWN in the placing (and thus it's usually the best strategy in Mario Kart games to remain in close second until you're nearing the end).
Here one example I experienced:
A class race in my Bently. First place for most of the race with not a lot of problems, except one. There is a Ferrari who's close on my tail from the start, everyone else is a fair distance behind. Last lap and I'm growing a tad tired of the Ferrari, I make one 2-bar turn and it gets a jump on me. In my frustration (and I rarely do this) I pit the Ferrari, and it ends up backwards and off the track. I'm moving along just fine but now out of nowhere there is a single yellow Corvette behind me, in the same position as the Ferrari. Maybe it was having an EXTREMELY good lap, I don't know, so even though he was pretty darn far behind and I was having a surpurb final lap before and after pitting that Ferrari (minus the one less than optimal turn that caused the Ferrari to almost squeeze past) I accepted it fine and moved on. But wouldn't you know, before the lap was even finished the Ferrari was back. How on Earth did that car all of a sudden recover from that and regain all that ground ahead of everyone else to finish in close 3rd? All of a sudden his breaks become unbelievable and his acceleration more exceptional than it was to begin with? My Bently was tuned and modified by me and before this I was running the A.I. like Lance Armstrong. It absolutely made no sense, the computer was keeping up with me that race for the sake of being able to. Races like this are extremely rare, and I love close races, BUT not when it's close because the game alters its scripts to make it close (like Madden's 3rd quarter comeback alterations back in Madden 01-02)
-Minor: Some wheels can fit on cars they wouldn't ever fit on, for instance, 6 lug cars running 5 lug wheels. Anti-Aliasing doesn't seem to exist in races (I think it's set to 2X however 4X is an optimal goal to remove "jaggies" at 720P in my opinion), however that is more to blame on the console's aging hardware. No ability that I've seen to import music so that I can have both the music in game (that I like) and other songs that I have in mp3 format, the abilty to change your "station" by clicking down a thumb stick or something in endurance races would have been a nice feature to me.
Other than that the game is phenominal and well worth the money I spent. It is however unfortunate that I cannot be like my fellow mates here by giving this a full 5/5 stars, which is as close to perfection as it gets. If you're on the fence about this game, try the demo because it's currently free on the Marketplace. I'm sure you will enjoy it. Feel free to express any thoughts by leaving a comment, liking, or disliking this review.
Cheers, and good racing.
PS I haven't dove strongly into online races yet, but I am apart of a club and have been to the auction house. So far it's looking great, but I won't be able to further dive into it until a later date (responsibilities restrict play time). Lastly, if you owned Forza 3 you will proportionally receive credits and cars depending on your level in that game which is pretty neat.
Best Deals for Forza Motorsport 4 Limited Edition -Xbox 360
Upon receiving this game in the early evening, I decided to install disc 2 and 1 (My xbox is elderly), and download all the included DLC. While doing so I got my kid in bed and got myself a shower. I begin playing the game around 9pm... ...Next thing I know the sun is peaking in through my window. That's right I played this game for somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 hours on my first go, and didn't even realize it! I was just simply focused on racing, and winning, and having the time of my video gaming life! The game really is that awesome!Now I haven't played GT5 because I don't have a PS3 yet this gen, but I had played every GT game before PS3 and I just have to say, this game is leaps and bounds more fun than any of those games! The sense of speed is spot on! I even noticed myself clenching my butt, and death gripping my controller, as I reached some of the greater speeds in some of the super-cars. That being said this game begs for a driving wheel, my legs would not sit still as I played because the game play has such a degree of realism that it just felt natural for them to be controlling the gas and break. Unfortunately xbox has a very poor selection of race wheels within my budget. This means that I will have to save my money for one of the expensive premium wheels from Fanatec. I have no doubt I will be the most happy with one of their quality wheels in the long run anyway, instead of a cheap MadCatz wheel or used 360 wheel.
The game is huge. Did I mention I played for 10 hours the first night? Well I'm only 1.1% through the World Tour, which is the main career option. I have no doubt that I will still be working on 100% by the time the next generation of consoles hits the shelves. I am also surprised to say that this game WILL be competing for game time with Skyrim (RPGs are my genre of choice and Skyrim is THE RPG), and I have no doubt it will win a lot of the time, the game is that fun!
I also went through and unlocked all of the current Autovista cars which unlocks the Halo Warthog in Autovista, but unfortunately you can't drive it... Yet. Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear gives you his usually humorous overview of each car in the Autovista, and some other British guy gives more detail on areas of the car you explore. Autovista is nice but not really something you will be using all the time, but it is awesome for showing off the amazing visuals to friends.
So to sum this up, if you are thinking of getting this gem of a racer, stop thinking and 'race' to the store and scoop it up! It will NOT disappoint! Plus the first wave of Forza 4 comes with a code to get more DLC cars, and if you can find a Limited Collector's Edition, it comes with even more bonus DLC cars.
Honest reviews on Forza Motorsport 4 Limited Edition -Xbox 360
This game is really just better in pretty much every area than the already great Forza Mostorsport 3. If you like cars, racing games and Top Gear, you should get your hands on one of these. It is worth it.Also, Rival mode is incredibly addictive. Beware!
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Forza Motorsport 4 Limited Edition -Xbox 360
WOW!!! what a great game,so realistic than ever before. CPU are much better now. Online play has more variety. I think they should have put more new cars instead of the old ones we don't drive much. Same goes to the tracks..Autovista is cool, but only certain cars, wish it was all cars and we can start our own engine up. Overall great game, the limited edition gives me more cars. I LOVE IT!
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