It feels like an eternity since I was eagerly unwrapping my brand-new Xbox One X, in anticipation of trying out my first ever 4K, 60FPS gaming experience in the form of Forza Motorsport 7. Turn 10's most recent racer launched more than five years ago at this point, making this the longest gap in series history so far. Forza 7 is still an impressive title to this day, especially in the graphics department, although some of what's under the hood had already started to feel a bit stale in 2017, never mind in 2022.
However, the team's upcoming reboot is looking to rectify any gameplay shortcomings the series was starting to steer into, and for that reason, I'm incredibly excited to go hands on with Turn 10's current-gen debut. The reboot's resolution and FPS will end up being reminiscent of 2017's outing — which doesn't feel quite as exciting in 2022 — but huge upgrades are coming where they really matter - in the gameplay department.
Turn 10 says that it has "completely overhauled the core driving experience" in order to take full advantage of Xbox Series X and S. While it's hard to quantify these changes without actually going hands on with the game itself, "a 48 times improvement" in the game's physics simulation sounds like a pretty good place to start, especially when FM felt largely similar to drive throughout the entire Xbox One generation.
It's not just the actual car characteristics that are set to alter gameplay either. The development team is bringing a proper dynamic time of day & weather system to Forza Motorsport, which includes the introduction of literal track temperature changes! These variables will affect how vehicles perform out on the circuit, adding even more depth to the racing experience this time around. Turn 10 ain't messing about here!
I am still excited for the visual enhancements though - it will be our first proper 'next-gen' Forza after all! Even though 4K, 60FPS sounds like a reasonable target in the numbers department — just like FM7 on One X — the actual graphical makeup will likely end up being rather different.
First of all, Turn 10 is promising full on-track ray tracing in Forza Motorsport, which should completely transform the overall look of the game. We've not really seen this technique fully implemented in a current-gen racer yet, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. One of the most visually impressive next-gen titles I've laid eyes on is Metro Exodus, and that game's fully ray traced lighting model is incredible to behold. It'd be great to see a similar technique here!
At the time of writing, Turn 10 is still aiming for Spring 2023 with Forza Motorsport's launch, and we're really hoping the team can hit that release window. Nothing screams 'next-gen' like a gorgeous closed-circuit exclusive racing game, and we're certainly keeping our fingers crossed that this Xbox studio can deliver that in the coming months.