PREVIEW: Forza Motorsport 7 is the Biggest, Best, and Most Badass Forza Game Yet

Forza Motorsport 7 is less than two weeks away, and around 19 days ago – on September 1st, I was in London for the Xbox One X Showcase Event where I got hands-on with the full version of Turn 10’s latest racing game. I had nearly an hour of hands-on time with Forza Motorsport 7, and I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted. I could explore the six championships that make up the Forza Driver’s Cup, try out a variety of car and track combos in Free Play, and customize my driver with more than 300 Racing Suits available to unlock.

The next segment of gameplay featured the Lamborghini Huracan LP 620-2 Super Trofeo racing down Sebring with dark clouds overhead, suggesting a storm is brewing. However, as the race progresses, the sky does begin to get ever so slightly brighter, which signifies that the clouds will soon be clearing up. We’re then greeted with the 2017 Audi R8 on Yas Marina circuit racing with British Touring Championship Cars and Supercars, and I must say, the sky in this one look jawdropping. This is an evening race and just look at those cloud formations and how they form above you. Absolutely stunning.

Then we have pre-war cars on Suzuka Circuit in the thundering rain with the sky almost in pure darkness. It’s an absolute storm and the track is soaked. Finally, we have Trophy Trucks racing on the Nordschleife in the utter darkness of night, before transitioning to the Nürburgring GP circuit where we see them racing in a beautiful evening sunset. As well as Maple Valley, Suzuka, and the other circuits mentioned, I also had the opportunity to revisit some of my favourites in Forza Motorsport 7 – including Prague and Circuit de-Spa Francorchamps, as well Circuit of the Americas, which I had the chance to race on at Night for the first time ever in Forza.

That’s a lot of content, and naturally I didn’t have enough time to dive into everything I wanted, so I had pick and choose carefully. In the footage I’ve shared on my YouTube channel, you’ll see a glimpse of some of the new Forza Motorsport 7 experiences we had the opportunity to go hands-on with. At the beginning of the video is the remastered Maple Valley track, which is returning from Forza Motorsport 4, and it looks glorious. This track is beautiful, and there’s so many little details to appreciate. From the wind turbines to the hay bales in the fields and of course those lush maple trees. The colour on this track is astounding, and the blue sky ahead is stunning.

I raced Maple Valley in the rain in Forza Horizon 3’s cover car – the Lamborghini Centenario, which is something that hasn’t been doable before in Forza, and it takes Maple Valley to a whole other level. Now it wasn’t bucketing down rain from the beginning of the event. Instead, it started towards Lap 2 and was done by the time the race was completed. This is all controlled by Forza Motorsport 7’s wonderful use of dynamic weather conditions throughout race events.

It’s great that we finally have night available on COTA in Forza Motorsport 7, however I was disappointed by many of the track locations still only offering ‘Day’ configuration options. Imagine racing down the beautiful city-streets of Prague at Night or taking on returning fan-favourite Mugello in the thundering Rain. Whilst not all tracks support these conditions, the ones that do are incredible. I loved Maple Valley and Suzuka in the Rain, whilst the dynamic skies on each track promise to make each race look and feel different.

I raced with GT3 cars, Supercars, and Hypercars, and it reminded me as to why Forza Motorsport is my favourite track racer out there. The quality of the Forzavista cars and laser-scanned tracks is out of this world, and especially in 4K resolution on Xbox One X with High Dynamic Range enabled, they look incredible. Not only does it look incredible, but Forza Motorsport 7 is by far the best sounding Forza game ever. The engine notes are perfected, and the sound of tires on tarmac couldn’t be better.

The audio in Forza Motorsport 7 has taken a step-up, and it’s a much more immersive experience overall. In terms of music, we now have a rock-themed soundtrack composed instead of the more orchestral-style music, and you can set music to always play whilst racing, or only when trackside or in the main menus. You can also load in music from your OneDrive or Groove Music, which is an exciting feature returning from Forza Horizon 3. This combined with the competitive nature of Forza Motorsport 7 and the new Driver Gear makes this the most personalized Forza game ever.

Of course, one of the big highlights of Forza Motorsport 7 is the newly-revamped Career Mode – the Forza Driver’s Cup, and those of us at the event got hands on with it for the first time. Naturally, there’s the intro cinematic we come to expect from each game in the series, as well as the introductory races. You’ll start in the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS in Dubai before moving through each of the six-championship series that make up the Forza Driver’s Cup.

These include Seeker, Breakout, Evolution, Domination, Masters, and the Forza Driver’s Cup, which acts as the finale of the campaign. Each of these championships include different events and prizes, and it’s being built as “a motorsport package that feels very authentic to the real world and motorsport in general.”

Divisions within the Forza Driver’s Cup offer SP Points, which allow you to work towards your goal of championship prizes, which include unique Forza Edition cars, many of which are rare in the game and include widebodies and bonus modifiers for extra credits and XP. Of course, car collecting is extremely important in Forza Motorsport 7, as the bigger your garage becomes, the better the rewards will be at the end of an event. In addition, points will carry throughout each series – even if you change cars, allowing you to work towards one goal in many different ways.

The Forza Driver’s Cup includes tons of different events and series, and we got a glimpse of those found in the Seeker Championship. These include Exotic GT, Historic Road Racing, Audi Models, Hot Hatches, and more. There’s also Showcase Events, such as Top Gear Limo Bowling, as well as Gymkhana Focus – which is a one-on-one against professional Hoonigan driver Ken Block. Each of these events offer a certain number of SP, whilst the voice talent in this year’s roster includes Magnus Walker and Ken Block, who narrate the Showcase Events, as well as Forza Racing Championship Presenter Shannon McIntosh and Road & Track Editor-in-Chief Kim Wolfkill – who used to work at Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios, so that’s a nice story there.

These Showcases also are a great way to earn extremely rare cars, as certain vehicles are only available from select showcase events. There’s also an ‘Open Division,’ which allows players to race whatever vehicles they want – including the car you were last driving, on your favourite tracks in the game. All of this is delivered with a motorsport emphasis and structure, allowing players to build up points and become the best of the best across multiple series within each of the championships on offer in the Forza Driver’s Cup. Events will conclude with a leaderboard, showing your current progress within a championship at the end of a race with the points you’ve been awarded.

The Forza Driver’s Cup finale, meanwhile, integrates events from GT Racing and Prototype Group Racing to Formula 90s and Forza GP – Turn 10’s own take on Formula One, as well as Showroom Rally, Supercar Renaissance, and the Open Elite series. Overall, this is the most diverse and thrilling Career Mode in Forza Motorsport yet, and I’m very excited to play through it all from start to finish once I have my hands on the full game.

It’s also worth discussing the menu interface for Forza Motorsport 7, which has been simplified and made even cleaner than its predecessor whilst packing in even more features and content for fans to discover. In fact, the entire menu interface is designed to pull the player into the experience. You can see your driver in their gear to the left side of the screen, standing by the last car you’ve driven, whilst the right-hand portion is taken up by a selection of tiles, divided into groups of tabs. These include Home, Single-Player, Multiplayer, Cars, and Progress. Across the menu, you’ll find the Forza Driver’s Cup, Free Play, Rivals, Mods, and Online Hoppers and Leagues.

You’ll also be able to customize your driver’s gear from the menu. Here you can personalize your ingame Drivatar with more than 300 pieces of unique gear influenced by motorsport history. Driver Gear is split into multiple categories when swapping race suits, including Forza Favourites, Pop Culture, Team Colours, and A-Z. In addition to the motorsport-inspired outfits, there’s also some funny ones in there, including tuxedos and sweaters, as well as ridiculous suits like biker gear, astronaut and cop outfits.


Driver Gear in Forza Motorsport 7 is also rated by how rare it is. For example, the Biker Gear is considered “Super Rare,” and suits can be earned by completing various race events or championships. They can also be earned from Prize Crates, and Drivatars will appear in other races driving the suits you choose in the cars that you love. In addition, your driver will also be in the gear you’ve chosen whilst trackside before races begin in single-player and multiplayer.

Overall, Forza Motorsport 7 is shaping up to be the biggest, best, and most badass Forza game ever released. I’m extremely excited to dive deep into the Forza Driver’s Cup, and I’m also looking forward to racing competitively and improving my skills in online multiplayer. With a roster of 714 Forzavista cars and 32 track locations with more than 200 ribbons and dynamic sky and weather conditions, Forza Motorsport 7 is absolutely stuffed with content and I cannot wait to dive back into it again this September 29th when Ultimate Edition Early Access begins.

The standard worldwide launch is on October 3rd, but if you’re like me and cannot wait until then, be sure to download the free demo on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC available today, which includes three race events: the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS on Dubai, the Mercedes-Benz Tankpool racing truck on Mugello, and the Nissan NISMO GT-R LM on the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit. Let us know what you think of Forza Motorsport 7 down in the comments below and be on the lookout for more coverage in the near future!