Forza for Speed
Let's start with the pros. The graphics are nice, cars and tracks look good, sound is great. Speaking of it, it's nice that they added some popular artists, like Skrillex, Foster the People, Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys and Lostprophets. I did not have to put my music during the whole game because the in-game music was bad. There are 3 radio stations, each playing a different style. However, it's sure that after a while, you get tired of it and start playing your favorite songs from your console.
As usual, online racing is very fun. You have different modes, from being able to select your cars to a race where each players have the same car. There is also a mode where you can play tag, another one in which you have to block the other team from crossing the finish line and another one in which you have to last the most time as the "King". Globally, a pretty cool variety for a racing game.
You can as always create your own vinyls, from the smallest details. You can still share online your creations and buy some from the other players.
However, where the game disappoints, it's that it lets down the Forza fans. This is by far too arcade for a Forza game. You really feel like you were playing a Need for Speed Underground game. You can quickly upgrade your cars at the start of the race to be more competitive, but your opponents will almost always have lower specs cars than yours to give you an edge of advance on them. So, upgrading your cars (even if they ask you to do) is almost useless unless you are 2 or more classes below the requirements.
The difficulty setting is either too low or too high. I personally played all the other Forza game and at Intermediate, the game is too easy, and at Difficult, the other drivers are almost unbeatable. For sure you can set ON of OFF the TCS, ABS, display the braking lines and few other settings, but the major place where Forza had an edge on Gran Turismo was that the damage was realistic. They put it only cosmetic, so you can hit the wall as hard as you can and that will put you in front of your opponents.
The quantity of cars is always decreasing, in favor of downloadable cars for which you have to pay for. You have about 3 cars max per company, which is by far lower than what we were used to in the past.
The quantity of races has dramatically decreased. That will take you probably 15-20 hours to complete them. You can look for hidden cars in old barns, that are mostly collection cars, but which you will never use in races. There are also upgrades signs that you have to hit to get upgrades reduction cost. They worth 1% each up to 100%, so you can upgrade all your cars for free. So, you will only use your money to buy cars, which makes totally non-sense in a game where each upgrades is supposed to be planned carefully in order to get the most competitive car.
You have to ride to each event, which I find totally useless in this game. They should have give us the option to quick travel or not all depending on the type of players. In my opinion, if I bought Forza, I just want to race, not cruising around the state.
They also tried to insert a story which is boring at max and feels borrowed from a NFS game. You start as the "underdog" and you have to become the most popular racer in Colorado. Instead or creating this poor story, they should have added more cars to the game.
If you still read me, you can certainly read the deception on my face after having played this Forza. Continue to play Forza 4 and let's hope for a Forza 5 closer to the fans of the franchise.