Demo impressions:
The graphics and overall presentation are fantastic. Very Forza. Aliasing is still a little distracting but the car models and environments are superb, with the busy pit lane my personal highlight. The visual representation of wet weather is gorgeous, lending a real-life ambience to the action despite the slight disappointment of 30fps effects in races. It is a shame that the puddles aren’t progressive and dynamic (like the destructible tyre walls are) as this would have added unpredictability and variety (and you’d imagine would have been quite simple to implement), but they do add to the experience even if a lot of people will simply treat them as obstacles and avoid them. They’ll probably come alive in online racing. Unfortunately the visual ‘depth’ that wet weather introduces makes the dry and night races look quite flat by comparison, really highlighting the deficiencies in FM’s pre-baked lighting. A lot of gamers probably expect more these days. I’m really hoping for global illumination in FM7, even if concessions elsewhere – apart from framerate - have to be made to accommodate it. As others have reported I thought I noticed some micro-stuttering at congested corners but have faith in Dan’s proclamation about rock-solid 60fps every time, all the time. DF analysis of the full game will undoubtedly reveal if the stuttering was imagined or part of outdated demo code, and after Turn 10's own internal inspections and the proud boasts about framerate I'm sure DF will find no evidence of it at all.
Overall audio is stellar. Not much to add. Still some of the best in the business. The woman is annoying, and unnecessary.
On the track there definitely seems to be more traction than in FM5, which is A Very Good Thing. FM5’s grip levels were annoyingly (and, I think, unrealistically) low, and racing was a subsequnt chore at times. FM6 seems like it’s addressed that, but the Forza handling model doesn’t appeal to me as much as it used to before trying other sims. A lot of this might be down to using a joypad, but even going back to FM4 with my perfectly-good-yet-cockblocked FFB wheel (yep – still salty) feels slightly odd now, like the tyres aren’t communicating with me as eloquently as they could. I guess my tastes and expectations have probably changed in the intervening years. Races in the demo felt a little pedestrian, lacking a certain intensity somehow, but this is something FM's always struggled with. The extremities of the Drivatar behaviour and muffled collision sounds don’t really help.
The typical Forza hand-holding at the start of the demo is ridiculously patronising, but I don’t know - maybe the eight and eighty-year olds appreciate it. Being forced to race with auto braking and steering in the first race is annoying in 2015 but I guess there’s a wide demographic to accommodate here. The mods are… interesting. They don’t sit well with me, but I still struggle to accept the fact that FM is structured as a car-porn arcade game with simulation physics. I still desperately want it to be a serious motorsport sim despite knowing how unlikely that is. I need to get past that and accept it for what it is, but FM seems increasingly to have an identity crisis despite the outlet for the arcade elements that Horizon offers. Maybe one day a title will splinter off that offers full race-weekend authenticity without half-assed nods and winks, but until then I think I’ll struggle with FM’s brief to be everything to everyone and the inevitable compromises that that philosophy brings.
Overall then and based on the demo, FM6 seems to be another professional and polished iteration in the series with the usual outstanding production values. Long-held requests for weather and night racing and finally been (kind of) answered within the constraints of the hardware, game engine and the dedication to uncompromised performance, and the new features look like they’ll keep it fresh. I’m not sure I’m after another arcade game though, even one as inviting as FM6. And having to play it with a joypad would simply destroy me. I’m bloody impressed with the demo but will possibly pass on the full game. I’ll live in hope though that one day Turn 10 turn their hand to a proper simulation of motorsport, hopefully on PC and the freedom that would bring regarding graphical performance and use of legacy peripherals. There’s no doubting that Dan’s conducting a team of wizards there.
