Forza Motorsport 7 was front and center at an Xbox One preview event held last week in New York City. Player.One had the opportunity to take a test drive, and it’s easy to say Forza 7 continues Forza’s quest to be the greatest racing sim franchise of all time.
While Forza 7 is great, and I’ll go into detail about that soon, it should be mentioned that some credit goes to the extra horsepower the Xbox One X delivers. By tapping into the latest hardware, Microsoft and Turn 10 bring 4K graphics and textures along with high framerates. This takes what is already a great looking game and makes it positively stunning.
If you’ve played a recent Forza game, you know what to expect in terms of gameplay. It’s a racing game after all, and it’s not trying to reinvent the wheel. That said, controls are still as tight as ever, making my palms sweaty and muscles tense all the way to the checkered flag.
One great thing about my time with Forza 7 was the opening sequence. While it does force players into a series of races, each race is distinct. One is a standard race, one features semi truck cabs and one highlights the dynamic weather system that brings risk and uncertainty to the tracks.
The semi race really felt different from racing a more traditional sports car. You could feel the extra weight of the machine, and the added length made me think much more about how to approach big turns or pass someone.
The last race of the opening sequence started in a heavy downpour, but the rain slowly petered off by the last lap. This made each lap feel slightly different as rain would pool into various nooks and crannies on the race course. Thank goodness for the Rewind feature though, as getting accustomed to driving in the rain took a lap or two to figure out best practices.
If you’re looking to try Forza 7 for yourself, the demo just released for Xbox One and Windows 10. While the full game features over 700 different cars, the demo will only allow you to race with the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS, 2015 Mercedes-Benz racing truck and the 2015 Nissan GTR. The only available courses to race on are Dubai, the Mugello Circuit and the Nürburgring GP.
So what do you think? Are you excited to try out Forza 7 for yourself? Will you be playing on an Xbox One X? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
