I am a long time Gran Turismo player and PC gamer. I have never tried Forza before because it was always a Xbox exclusive, and my racing wheels where never Xbox compatible (Logitech G27 Currently).
What should I expect coming from Gran Turismo to Forza? How is Forza’s sim factor, are the handling physics more simulation or more arcade? I know a lot of other games I have tried in the past that claim to have been “sims” would try to build drifting into the handling because it looks cool, and it was often faster in those games, but at no point did they take tire physics and wear into account…
How is the multiplayer? Is there a ranking or matchmaking system? How are the fields\cars kept relatively even in multiplayer?
I am debating either picking up Forza Horizon 3 or Assetto Corsa, and am leaning to trying Forza Horizon 3 due to their much larger focus on American car manufacturers.
Edit : Further researching this it appears that Forza Horizon 3 may not be the game for me. From what I have read the Horizon series is more arcade focused where the Motorsport series is more simulation focused. Is this correct?
Forza Horizon 3 is an open-world game (not closed circuits). If you prefer closed circuits, I would suggest Forza Motorsport 6, I play it a lot myself and it’s a great game! Remember: “Horizon” means open-world, while “Motorsport” means closed-circuit.
I would suggest getting Forza Apex as it is free to try out and it is the only “Motorsport” current NOT on the xbox. You stated you are PC gamer so currently all that is available for you is either Horizon 3 or Apex. Horizon being the Arcade style and Apex being the Sim style.
I am a long time GT player. By long time I mean since 1998 when the game first launched here, I bought a dual shock for the game because it was one of the first title with DS support. I bought GT2 and loved it, I bought a PS2 especially for GT3 really. GT4 for me was fantastic, the pinnacle of the series in 2005. I remember the excitement of picking it up and rushing home. I was so hungry for the series I even consumed the concept releases and prologues.
It all started to go a bit wrong with GT5 though. The game was very very delayed and late, over 5 years after GT4. In between GT4 and GT5, there had been THREE full Forza games, and a totally new console generation to boot. Turn 10 had time to refine their game and by the time GT5 appeared it was pretty clear GT5 was already well out of it’s depth. GT6 just emphasised that, it’s like an ancient throwback to the PS2 in it’s mechanics but it was released in 2013…
In terms of simulation the Forza motorsport series is far from perfect, but it is leagues ahead of the last GT game. Since we have been waiting for another GT (it’s been 3 years since PS4 launched and another GT game is still nowhere near launch!) then Forza is light years ahead. GT is one of Sony’s biggest and best selling properties. The worst thing is Sony are launching a NEW Playstation model in November and we STILL don’t have a new GT game! How crazy is that? They don’t know what they are doing with it clearly!
At this point despite Horizon 3 being a more arcade oriented product, I would much rather play it than another GT game that hasn’t had a massive overhaul the series desperately needs.
It still has car tuning, it still has vastly superior customisation, and it’ll still have better and more exciting racing. If you have a PC then play Forza 6 Apex because in a year’s time, you can pretty much guarantee that Forza 7 will be on PC.
For now I think most gamers that just like racing games no matter the platform will love Horizon 3. I can’t wait for it to launch on PC.
I was an ardent GT fan too. Played the life out of GT4, then i came across Forza and i’ve never looked back. GT always felt too clinical to me. Not sure what it was exactly, but Forza felt more alive somehow. Not to mention all the customisation options that GT didn’t have, the paint editor in Forza was a revelation! I’ve spent thousands of hours painting cars. I’ve also spent thousands of hours tuning them too! lol
If you like racing games then you’ll like Forza. Unlike games like Need For Speed you actually have to slow down for corners, not just drift past them! lol. Horizon is more of a hooning game though, and if you want more sim focused then try out Forza 6: Apex. It’s currently free on the windows store and you’ll be able to see if you like it. How it feels is a subjective thing, personal to each player. So give it whirl as it’s free and see how you get on. Always plenty of people on the forums ready to help with questions too!
If you’d like a feel for Forza, as stated above, try FM6: Apex, provided you have a PC that meets it’s requirements. Your G27 wheel is compatible.
If not, you may enjoy Assetto Corsa and similar games better.
Is an Xbox One out of the question by any chance?
I hope you don’t mind, but I broke up your post into separate points.
1: Like above, Motorsport is more sim, Horizon more arcade. They run the same engine (Forzatech), but Horizon’s physics are a bit, say, tweaked, to be more forgiving. You can drift in both games, but in more cases than not it’s more for personal enjoyment over a faster lap time. Tire wear is a thing in Forza Motorsport, so long as Simulation Damage is on. There is also a Damage setting that allows for tire wear and fuel consumption to be factors whilst keeping cosmetic damage to the body, engine, and suspension components. I just forgot the name of it.
2a: Regular public lobbies are a mixed bag. All skill types abound. Leagues, however, are a bit different. You’re given a rating (everyone starts in Grassroots, the better you do the higher you advance), and people that also have that rating will be matched with you. Mind you, that doesn’t mean the racing will be cleaner or anything, just that other players in your league are more similarly skilled to you. Noting, Forza Horizon 3 will not feature the same kind of Multiplayer Forza Motorsport (6 in this case) has.
2b: They aren’t, really. There is such a thing as “Leaderboard cars”, which is a general term applied to a car that, when built accordingly, can be several seconds faster than virtually anything else in the game, at least on a certain track. People go about them with the “honors system”, or that they acknowledge what cars they are and won’t use them, provided others are doing the same. You may or may not be called out for using one. There is also a Performance Index (PI), that ranks cars based on ability. Not too far from GT’s Performance Points method, slow cars low PI, fast cars high PI. Cars can be upgraded (some cases downgraded) to match PI’s of other cars. The PI system, through my significant testing, is relatively accurate, though there are flaws. Cars are also grouped into classes, which are dictated by PI. E-Class is 100-300 PI, D-Class is 301-400 PI, C-Class is 401-500 PI, etc. all the way up to X-Class at 999 PI, the highest PI a car can achieve. In order: E,D,C,B,A,S,R,P,X. Edit: I should say that while the information and names are accurate, the PI structure does change a bit between the Motorsport and Horizon games.
3: The Forza games do generally have the best variety in terms of cars. Some manufacturers are a bit more prevalent than others (Ford, Chevy, and Ferrari have near constantly been in the top 3 for number of cars), but it’s hard to find another game that has the variety the car list has. GT, while having a larger car count, generally is biased towards Japanese cars.
You can see the car lists for yourself, if you haven’t already. FM6|FH3 (scroll down a bit)