Forza Motorsport Review

thesixthaxis.com:

Through the first three generations of Xbox, Forza Motorsport cemented itself as a racing game institution with its biennial releases. It’s been a much, much longer wait for the eighth game, though, with Turn 10 Studios reinventing the wheel of what Forza is as a racing game. The result is a game that fits in better with the current pantheon of ‘simcade’ racers with more serious-feeling multiplayer, but which has lost some of its US-centric racing personality.

One of the first jobs for any Forza game is to be a technical showcase of Xbox consoles, and Forza Motorsport delivers in that regard. There’s a choice of graphics modes, with Performance targeting full 4K and 60fps, while Performance RT blends in ray-traced reflection and ambient occlusion for a subtly more realistic image at the sacrifice of resolution to retain that 60fps. Finally, the Quality mode improves RT quality, but drops to 30fps, which is distinctly unpleasant after racing at 60fps. Personally, I settled on Performance so the scenery could more consistently resolve at a higher resolution.

Whatever graphics mode, the newly created tracks are wonderful, whether it’s a real-world Laguna Seca, Spa-Francorchamps and Watkins Glen, or a reworked Maple Valley. There’s a bunch of US circuits that stand out from the video game usuals, and South Africa’s Kyalami is also a great inclusion. There’s a lot more trackside detail compared to Forza Motorsport 7, and dynamic weather and time of day are applicable for all circuits, from foggy mornings to racing in thunderstorms. It’s a great-looking game, though there is some pop-in for car LOD, most noticeable in low light and under headlights.

Forza Motorsport is really built on two new pillars of progression that run