The inoffensive but bog standard music may not blow your skirt up, but the thick tapestry of sound effects should. There are new sounds for collisions, wind rush and more. The richer engine notes may weave a symphony of power and violence but Forza 4 is actually quite a fresh audio experience in other areas too. The howl of a D-Type Jag will rattle your nipples off, and if the snarl of a 351 Cleveland V8 in Forza 4 can't bring Steve McQueen back from the dead nothing can. Turn the music down and the volume up, up until you can only communicate with other people in the same room by shouting – or perhaps blinking in Morse code. Still, Forza 4 doesn't just look and feel better, it sounds better too. The frame rate is buttery smooth and they look fantastic circulating around the game's bright and crisp tracks. They look as good in motion as they do static, too. The finest aspects are reserved for the game's special Autovista models, a mode that allows you to absorb even the tiniest of details, but every car stands up to close inspection. The car models themselves are also hugely impressive. Harsh sunlight burns bright against bodywork and cabin view is a great way to observe the shadows that dance smoothly back and forth across dashboards.
It's all thanks primarily to Forza 4's new image-based lighting model, which basically means the cars look perfectly seated within the game's tracks. Forza 3 was no slouch at the time but two years on and Forza 4 is a marked improvement. With your first foray behind the wheel automatically muted by a suite of driving aids, the first thing you'll notice will be the improved visuals. The DNA of Forza 3 is strong in Forza 4, lending a certain familiarity to proceedings, but welcome tweaks and additions across the board strengthen the overall offering considerably. It fits just as comfortably as it did the last time you wore it but it comes with a pleasant bonus. And it's hard to argue the crew hasn't succeeded.īooting up Forza 4 is like slipping back into your favorite jacket and finding $50 in the pocket. Forza 4 is Turn 10's tilt to create the world's best and most comprehensive racing sim, to build an essential destination where car lovers can gather to trade, tune and take each other on. A celebration of all things four-wheeled and fun in one accessible package. With Clarkson's help Forza 4 is positioning itself as an ode to the automobile of sorts. A world where we're told to think of economy and the environment rather than excitement and enjoyment.
It's a position Clarkson expands upon in the introductory sequence of Forza Motorsport 4 that car lovers are being marginalized in a world where practicality trumps adrenaline. They can't see the personality behind the engineering, the soul beneath the surface. They're talking about Bana's first car, a 1974 Ford XB Falcon hardtop that he purchased at the age of 15 – and car he still owns, and the car around which the documentary itself is based.Ĭlarkson is making a point about car people and non-car people he believes non-car people just can't see beyond the wires, glass, metal and rubber. In Eric Bana's 2009 documentary Love the Beast, Bana and Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson are sitting at a picnic table on an overcast day talking about cars.