Review: Forza Motorsport 6 defines next-generation racing

Rich Grisham

Review: Forza Motorsport 6 defines next-generation racing image

Forza Motorsport 6 does what no racing game has ever done before: craft a compelling, utterly powerful experience on a massive scale that can be enjoyed by fans of all stripes.

You don’t need to know a thing about auto racing to have an absolute blast playing Forza 6; such is its beauty, flexibility, and design. On the other hand, if you fancy yourself a dedicated gearhead, Forza 6 appeals to all of your senses. Its stunning depth of available vehicles, tracks, locations, tuning options, and visual design choices are immense and gratifying. Simply put, Forza 6 is the best racing game I’ve ever played.

It starts with the visuals, which are spectacular. Each of the hundreds of vehicles is lovingly detailed inside and out, from interior dashboards to exterior body finish. Available car models range from the most advanced modern vehicles to vintage racers, giving you an immediate, near-tangible perspective on the evolution of automobile design from pre-World War II through today.

The environments in which you race are gorgeous and varied; sun-splashed tracks in southern Florida look and feel much different than forested routes in Europe and festive, hilly Brazilian circuits. Multiple camera angles give you complete freedom to experience races from different perspectives, whether you prefer to be in the cockpit, on the hood, or above the action.

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If the driving didn’t feel terrific, though, Forza 6 could look great but still be a dud. This is definitely not the case. From the tight controls to the braking feedback and the sense of weight that your car has, the mechanics of Forza 6 are spot-on. This is most evident when you find yourself driving in inclement weather, as large puddles cause your car to lose traction as it hydroplanes. Those moments of helplessness at 100+ miles per hour serve two purposes: making you appreciate how well the driving works when you’re not spinning out, and impressing upon you the incredible danger of piloting a superpowered race car at high speeds.

Forza 6’s Career mode provides a single-player journey through a century of racing. An impressive variety of cars, track types, and challenges are presented to gradually ease you into the process. With each series, you’re able to choose the types of vehicles to race, tune them to your heart’s content (if you wish), and engage in events across the globe. Along the way, Showcase events open up, which let you get out of your customized cars and into specific pre-built behemoths to engage in specific scenarios, such as a Formula 1 car at the Brickyard in Indianapolis or a 1930’s-era roadster in Belgium. The consistent movement from one series and locale to another keeps the Career mode fresh even 20-30 hours in, which is less than half the amount of time it will take to complete it.

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If racing humans is more your style, Forza 6 has you quite well covered too. There are several types to choose from, with Leagues being my personal favorite. Enrolling in Leagues ensures you’re battling against others who are at or near the same experience level, and, even better, turns off collisions in the early races to make sure they don’t deteriorate into demolition derbies.

You can also jump into races at a variety of courses without having to follow the league path. Perhaps most interesting — especially if you’re not in the mood for a multi-lap race against a heap of other drivers — is the Rivals mode, which pits you one-versus-one against a friend's “ghost” car to beat their time on different tracks. There’s a particularly gleeful feeling I get when I beat a buddy’s score, especially since I know they’ll find out about it the next time they log on.

Another appealing aspect of Forza is that is constantly rewards you for playing. After each race — win, place, or come in last — you earn credits in multiple ways. Overall placement, the easier or more difficult the settings, and the number of times  raced with the car manufacturer all give you in-game cash to spend on future vehicles and upgrades. In addition, as you level up, “free spins” give you a roulette-wheel reward that can range from a few thousand credits to a new car to an incredibly expensive, limited-edition vehicle that your friends would die for. These are beautiful things.

With gorgeous sound and visuals, immersive and expansive modes for single players, captivating multiplayer options, a rewarding economy, and a staggering amount of cars and tracks, Forza Motorsport 6 delivers a powerful racing experience. It single-handedly makes the Xbox One console appealing, and is a no-brainer “gotta have it” title for those that have Microsoft’s gaming machine in their homes.

To hear an in-depth conversation about Forza Motorsport 6, listen to a discussion about it here on Hit The Pass Radio with the author and two racing experts.

Rich Grisham has been writing and podcasting about sports video games for over a decade. He is the host of the Press Row Podcast and co-founder of the influential sports gaming site HitThePass.com.

Rich Grisham