(this has evolved into quite a long post. My bad, bear with me lol)
I’ve been watching these forums closely and was holding off on posting my experiences on FM7 since so many have vented their worries and dislike in relation to the game’s bugs and shortcomings. But it got to a point where, no matter how much I wanted to like it, I felt like I need a say in the feedback Turn 10 receives. Like many here, I pre-ordered FM7 back in July and I couldn’t wait for it to come out. As soon as the demo came out, I downloaded it straight away and did the Dubai race with the GT2RS. My first reaction? The camera movement thing was pretty stupid, and it wouldn’t let me do my camera thing when I raced (it was turned off). Secondly - the handling was ** disgraceful ** - never in any Forza game has a car handled so horribly, the closest comparison being Project Cars. Interestingly, the Truck (though one can’t race it on the outside view as it covers the view of the track) and the Nissan were completely fine. When I got the actual game, I went straight to Forza Driver’s Cup and dived into the homologation system.
********About VIP (or lack thereof)
I was really dissapointed to find out VIPs don’t get 2x credits on every race - instead, one has to pick when they want the 2x mod, out of a limited 25, which is simply a joke and a spit in the face of those who paid extra for whatever VIP means nowadays. News that they will change that got me excited but I’m not exactly counting on it anytime soon.
********About Homologation and upgrades
I like the idea, but the execution has fallen short. As another poster said previously, the upgrade shop has been effectively reduced to where you go pick different rims and body kits (like spoilers and that). Every car comes homologated and there is no room to play at all. Its also the only way cars like trophy trucks can be raced in a competitive manner, but there are several shortcomings regarding the races themselves. For instance, the Fast and Furious BRZ, F-Type, Demon and 2000hp Plymouth are all in the same group. So are all the Hoonigan cars which vary wildly in performance. Also, who was the clown who decided to take off the test-drive option from the tune menu? As a matter of fact, I haven’t found a test-drive option at all.
About career races and AIl*******
I’ve been meaning to ask what car y’all chose for the career races, since my experiences have been just weird.
This, and what happened today, is what finally pushed me to write all of this (bear with me). By the way, all my races are ‘long’ and AI set to unbeatable.
I started and finished the Formula E series and started the Touring Car series in Breakout today. Formula E was easy for the first 3 races (tight tracks, lots of turns) , and the last two were just impossible to win by clean means due to long straights. AI nailed every corner, and since they’re all the same car, any gaps were just widened. So you either got to first or very close to first on the 1st lap or you could chase him for 65 laps and not get an inch closer. Trust me, I like a challenge, but this isn’t even enjoyable, especially since you have to get 1st every race (the points system after the race doesn’t mean jack).
Having sold my Formula E car (don’t want to drive the thing anytime soon), I set off to the Touring Car one. First race (Dubai), in the Cruze, was a breeze. Won with over 600ft of space to 2nd.
Catalunya though, made me want to stop with the game and come back in two weeks hoping for updates. The cars were just unreal- so let me explain in a simple manner.
1st - Cruze. Despite Raceboy77’s tune, it still suffered at the hands of the RWD Volvos and BMWs with understeer and slow acceleration… so I bought the Volvo for 100k.
2nd: Volvo S60. I was appalled to discover that it didn’t have a fraction of the grip of any of the cars in the group. Literally handles like a 5000lbs race car. Also got devoured by the BMW, Audi and Honda in the straight despite having considerably more horsepower than all of them. And since the Honda didn’t move until the turbos kicked in (circa FM6), I went for…
…the Mercedes (3rd). It is hilariously, hopelessly, stupendously slow. Like, desperately slow, to a level where it gets left behind at the ROLLING START. It handled like it was on rails though, it just couldn’t go fast (at all, at any degree imaginable). So I just bought the BMW (100k again).
Only the BMW posed any serious challenge to AI in the race. It handles and accelerates well though it is a bit too tail happy. The point is, though, that out of what, 6 cars, I bought 4 and only one was anywhere near the performance needed to try a win. That’s 300k down the drain only to find out that the cars I bought don’t come remotely close to AI (which also drives those cars, but somehow do flybys). This also happened with the trophy truck series, when I found out that not only the F-150 might as well have 300 thousand hp that it would still drive like a bear on a skate board (no resemblance of grip whatsoever, all you do is slide the car in the general intended direction), the RJ truck’s wheels don’t turn (2017 and games are being released with cars whose wheels don’t TURN - also not the only one) and that the Mini (of all ‘trucks’) was the best one.
I could go on and on and on and on about my thoughts in regards to other aspects of the game. But I feel like my point has been made. I LOVE Forza, I had every one since 2, and it had a direct impact in my love for cars. BUT - as much as I try to like FM7 and look past its faults and home in on its good features (not few, too), its really hard to ignore the ugly bits especially how the affect the game in such a monstrous way. I’ll list some of the other issues I have encountered thus far (and that I remember right now, definitively not all I encountered)
- VIPs dont get 2x Credit
- The awesome bucket system in FH3 for the Upgrade shop wasn’t carried over, meaning slow and painful and costly upgrades.
- Which is entirely ok since the Homologation system makes the Upgrade Shop pretty much pointless anyway
- I changed the livery of the Acura NSX FE, and I have tried to change it several times since. It always reverts to the first livery I downloaded for it (the kind of thing that pisses a lot of people off given that its turn 10 and not some small studio)
- Sometimes Homologation is way off
- IIn what I consider a serious testament to how unready this game is, some of the cars in the game have static wheels. This means that in full lock to either side, the wheels remain straight. IN 2017.
- THE CAR MENU IS VIRTUALLY UNUSABLE. I have NEVER ever seen so much lag on a menu in my life. I find it unbelievable that people saw this and thought it would be ok to ask money for this experience.
- AI+Unbeatable+Homologated+Same cars + Having to climb from 12th to 1st every single race= either a very easy or a very hard race. There’s very little in between. And its seldom enjoyable when its the latter, usually I have to resort to cheating
- IAm I supposed to collect all cars (in detriment of raising funds)? Is there a sort of ‘unwritten’ requirement to collect all cars or is the car collection menu just a way for you to see what you do or don’t have? They make it seem like car collection is paramount but I don’t really see the point of it.
- Multiplayer, 17 days since release, is essentially non-existant.
- Some long loading times and no ability to finish a race and then come back to the menu. One has to wait for the next race to finish loading AND THEN go to the menu.
- No point in having a league-like points system if you have to win every race.
- Did I say how laggy and just plain stupid the car menu is?
- The driver gear is sort of silly (I like it tbh) - there is no way to find out how to unlock a certain gear though
- The limited usage of mods is just dumb
- No Torque number when upgrading cars
- No storefront to see people’s paints
- I really want to know the person that though it would be funny to use a 300k Prize Crate to reward a Clio. They made a mistake here. (I also bought 2 by accident, 50 laps of Nurburgring in the horizon - does the car in which you do a race affect its payout?)
- Assists don’t produce extra CR anymore
- I don’t quite understand the specialty car dealer. I believe that cars sold here won’t ever be available anymore, sort of becoming unicorns, but I don’t know. I like the numbering thing though.
- Auction House, Leagues, Forzathon and Marketplace are all unavailable 17 days after release.
- The 1 race I played online was plagued with laggy audio and video. From what I saw from the community, it hasn’t changed at all.
- I heavily dislike Prize Crates, but its how I got my Ferrari F1 car. Whose front wheel rims dont exist due to a glitch that makes them disappear behind the brake pads. And its also not the only car[/list]
I really hate having to say all these bad things about a game I waited for so long for but I’d be naive to ignore these glaring issues. This is the worst Forza start since FM5, and even that was understandable since it was the first Forza of Xbox One and (to me, at least), doesn’t really count as a full on game.