E3: Freaking out over Forza Motorsport 4 feature list

This is silly. You show me this, you tell me that, and then you tell me it’s coming in October. That’s a dick thing to do, Turn 10. I really like you guys, but you just can’t throw these shiny things up in my face and expect me to be patient.

This week at E3 I got to sit down and hear Turn 10’s Dan Greenawalt barf out a constant stream of feature reveals and refinements for Forza 4 in a behind doors meeting. Every feature he listed had me nodding in agreement and approval in the beginning. As he continued on my nods got bigger and more approving. I’m sure they were obnoxious nods. Toward the end I felt like raising my hands up in the air and shaking them in praise like they do in a gospel church service. Oh lordy!

Keep in mind that the following isn’t even a full feature list for Forza Motorsport 4. It’s just the bit the decided to release at E3 to tease us. Game makers and their PR representation love to hold a lot of the good stuff and let it trickle out. I’m sure there’s more good news coming. For now, this is more than good enough.

Autovista:

We’ve already told you a bit about Forza 4‘s gawking mode, Autovista. You’ll be able to look at and in some of the loveliest cars ever created. I saw stunning recreations of vehicles that look closer to a car commercial than a videogame in this mode. It comes complete with Top Gear commentary. This mode is pure eye candy for lovers of vehicles. 

Kinect support:

We’ve already covered how Kinect was worked into Forza 4. The features are optional, but they’re mostly useful and fun. Everything from head tracking to car gawking is supported by the motion sensor.

Career mode changes:

The career mode has changed a bit since Forza 3. The World Tour mode takes you across the world, not through a calendar. The game learns from cars you’ve chosen and events you’re picking to give you more of the same choices. This means that you’ll sort of pick your own path with your preferences. Difficulty and Ai are also tweaked according to your choices and performance.

Keep that Forza 3 save file:

Do you still have your save file from the last game? Good. Keep it. You’ll get some really nice goodies in your garage as a gift. Forza 4 looks at your progress from the last game and gifts you extra vehicles for your hard work. It’s possible to take on some of the early races with supercars. 

Events and AI:

There are more kinds of events to pick from. Autocross, multi-heat and drifting modes are in the mix, and you’ll find that there will be varied numbers of cars in the races now. In the multi-heat races you’ll find that one leg could be in the daytime and another set at night. Turn 10 wants to keep things fresh and exciting.

A new Track Day mode has you seeing how may cars you can pass. The game looks at your skill level and then determines how many cars you’ll need to successfully pass to proceed. In a demonstration of this mode Turn 10’s Dan Greenawalt showed off the game’s fancy new AI. The AI-controlled driver passed in a very natural way, sometimes weaving, and other times more aggressively whipping. From what I saw I’m already a bit scared to race against this new AI.

Car Club:

Car Club lets you share driving tips, strategies, and more. What’s better is that you can even share cars with your club. It’s like borrowing a car without having to pay for one. 

Rivals Mode:

Rivals Mode lets you race…a computer. It’s cool, as you’re really racing the races of other gamers. You can pick from other pre-recorded races and try to beat their times. If you do, the’ll receive notification that you topped their times. Racers will be matched by the server. A nice bonus is that your races in Rivals Mode count toward career mode progress.