So with only one more Forza Monthly left before launch and maybe more content releases at Gamescon, one topic that isn’t on the list of features left to be covered (wheel and peripherals, PC specs which I expect will be next month) is audio.
Audio is frankly the one area of the game that is making me think will be a bit of a let down.
Whilst they made a big thing of it being “built from the ground up” in the Developer Direct, they focused on the introduction of 3D sound and that engine noises will change when you upgrade certain parts.
All good stuff, especially 3D.
But I think there’s still a lot to be desired.
People highlight the fact a lot of car models have been used across generations and this is the same for sound. They’ve had a library of engine notes they’ve allocated to different cars (so a lot of them sound exactly the same) which is fair enough when there are 500+ cars and a lot will sound very generic.
But it sticks out like a sore thumb when some cars with very iconic tunes sound so generic. My favourtie being the Ford GT race car which sounds horrible IRL, like a MX bike and Rally car being forced to have relations, but in FM7 sounded like a fine tuned race car with euphoric note.
The real evidence for me though is the Porsche RSR. In FM7 it sounded airy, plain and in the July monthly where Chris took it to track it had exactly the same note. IRL it sounded like a 2000’s F1 car and definitely should in game.
The other thing is the lack of gearbox whine, especially off throttle where in race cars it’s often pretty much the only thing you can hear, especially at low rpm. But there’s no inkling of that, just a lower revving engine.
Finally, we need to talk effects. We have rumble strips, collisons and tyre screeching (which I hope can be turned down cos I hate listening to hit at every turn).
What we don’t have is rattles and shakes (for race cars at least) as they go over bumps, or tyre buzz and bodywork scraping if suspension is too soft. These effects aren’t just there for decoration, like tyre screeching they tell you what is happening with the car.
I could be wrong, I’m basing this mostly off the lap of Chris in the RSR at Kyalami and what other onboard footage we have seen thus far, but given the time to release I’ll be surprised if I’m wrong here.
ACC really set a new bar for racing game audio and I was hoping for a deeper sound environment as it adds so much to immersion.
That said, it should still be better than FM7 and I guess we wait till release date for the final word.
