This is my first review, so I'll go over my review scale:
Its a 100-point scale. 80+ and 90+ are significant thresholds when it comes to these reviews.
100: masterpiece 90-99: amazing/excellent 80-89: great 70-79:good 60-69:okay 50-59: mediocre 0-49: bad/terrible/awful
I was about to review something else first, but since racing games are the hot topic right now, I decided to do Forza 7 first. Keep an eye out for reviews for Horizon Zero Dawn, and Splatoon 2, coming soon.
So, lets get started.
The good:
Forza Motorsport 7 is exactly what I thought it was going to be. A safe progression on Forza 6, but not too safe so that they are baby steps. There is a whole lot of good to talk about here. The graphics are great, and even a bit of improvement from forza 6 has gine into them. The cars, while not at the level of GT, still look absolutely stunning, and the quality stands up upon close inspection. Basically its what you would expect from any forza game. The forzavista feature has expanded so you can you can access it before the start of any race, at any track. The tracks weather conditions actually effects how the car looks in forzavista, which is a nice touch. And it goes without saying, you still have the uncompromised 1080p 60fps, as you have with every fm title. Bugs and glitches appeared to be minimal as well, at least on Xbox One (dunno about PC).
Speaking of tracks, the selection of tracks is not overly impressive, (only one track brand new to the forza series) but still great. You have all your classic staples (laguna seca, spa, brands hatch, etc), along with your breathtaking fictional tracks like the Alps, Prague, Rio, and Dubai. Special shout-out to the return of maple valley, one of my favourite tracks in the series.
The new dynamic weather system is also well implemented. Not every track gets the treatment, but the ones that do benefit greatly, adding more variety to the track even if the track still has the exact same route. Adds another layer of variety to the game. Its not as deep as project cars 2, but deep enough I would say.
The 700-car roster is the best ever in any racing game, period. You''ve got a record number of lambos, ferraris, and porsches, but dont be fooled; there are plently of those trademark GT japanese econoboxes, or those utes from horizon 3, or those racing trucks from the last motorsport game. There is something for everyone here. They got the balance of the roster right, so you wont find 40 skylines and only 5 ferraris here :P
Sound design is also great like it usually is, nothing much else to say about sound really.
The campaign is altered to take more advantage of that car roster. This time around progessing through the campaign feels more satisfying. With a good change being that better car classes are fully locked until you buy enough in your current class. This makes you know and get comfortable with cars you otherwise were unfond of and never wouldve touched if it werent like this. Its better and more satisfying to having to work hard to get to the supercars and all, rather than them being just handed to you like in previous fm games. This campaign is more reminicient of Gran Turismo 5 rather than older Forza games, which I really prefer. This is car-collectathon done right. The menu system and UI feel improved too.
The physics and driving model might not be as realistic as its competitors, but the fun factor is there, perhaps even more than those same competitiors. The tire physics and collison physics are just fine and perfectly servicable. For better or for worse, its trademark forza handling, which I think is great (which is why it is n the good section), but other people might dislike it, cause its up to your personal tastes on this matter.
There are plenty of little improvements that add up. There is a new dash cam, which has quickly become my favourite view. There is a bit of camera shake, which adds a sense of speed that was previously absent from forza games. And yeah, the water droplets actually move on the windshield this time around. Thank god for that.
The bad:
However, the game falls just short of excellence. There are two gripes (one major, one minor) that I have with the game. First off, the elephant in the room: the lootboxes. It comes off as a bit fustrating that with the two steps forza 7 takes forward, it takes one step back too. What was looking to be an easy home run is now just an RBI double. First of all, let me get one thing straight: The loot-boxes or what forza calls "prize crates" are not anywhere near game-breaking, nor do make for unreasonably long grinds. There is one problem I have here, and its that turning off assists doesnt give you a boost in currency earned like it does in the previous games. That boost is now only acquired from the prize crates. There is no longer an incemtive for people who might be less into racing to improve and turn assists off eventually. Also, some cars are now only acquirable from prize crates. Scummy if you ask me. For this reason I refuse to give the game 9 or above, which it would otherwise have gotten. (btw the vip problem has been fixed and now its exactly like how it was in Forza 6)
The second thing is sorta minor but I would still like to point it out. I sometimes felt the notion that the game was getting stale. It was only seldomly, but still. This is just forza 6 but bigger and better, which isnt neccessarily a bad thing, but after last year's phenomenal Forza Horizon 3, the Horizon series has surpassed Motorsport imo. Much more variety and things to do in that game. The motosport series should take some of those ideas for itself. Forza 7 is better overall than Project cars 2, but I feel like Forza should take a page out of there as well to keep the game fresh. You could add kart racing and tracks. Or perhaps add rally cars and tracks. Or maybe add ice tracks, plus snowy weather. For the most part I was fine with Forza 7, but if Forza 8 just carries on like this, the series will easily be surpassed by others.
And yeah, the music in the game just sucks in general. Also, the color palette and saturation is worse in this game than past entries. It doesnt have the same pop as Forza 6.
Verdict: 89% (great). Forza Motorsport 7 is a good improvement on Motorsport 6, and the best sim racer on any console thus far this gen (excluding GT sport, since it hasnt come out yet, I'm not judging which one is better). It is bogged down by lootbxes a bit, and it moght not be as good as horizon 3, thats for sure. But even then, its a great effort by turn 10 and the best forza motorsport since the days of forza 3 and 4.
This is only my opinion of course, feel free to debate. Just dont make the thread another forza vs gt shitshow, please. Both are great in their own right.
Bet with Intrinsic:
The Switch will outsell 3DS (based on VGchartz numbers), according to me, while Intrinsic thinks the opposite will hold true. One month avatar control for the loser's avatar.
