Granted Forza MS7 was released in 2017 it’s an older game, but I play FMS7 on PC play anywhere which is a new thing-I assume-so guess I throw my opinion about it into the mix.
I haven’t played FMS7 multiplayer at all. I strictly stick to single player racing against potato AI and try to post the best lap times I can in whatever car(s) I’m feeling in that moment. Once I realized I could still earn credits and advance through the game by only doing exhibition/free play races I stopped playing the single player career after the first two series because I wasn’t enjoying the tracks or cars I was required to advance through those races.
I am only playing with controller on simulation settings to this point. I assume playing with a racing wheel and pedals offers a huge amount of additional control compared to controller as far as steering input (smooth braking into corners/turn in/holding turn input steady/smooth steering and accelerator application exiting corners and corrections for under/oversteer.
Things that I like about it: in no particular order just IMHO
-I love the ranked Rivals mode racing vs other players ghosts. It’s a game mode with a nice combination of the best of both single player and multiplayer with none of the downsides of either one that I can play whenever my schedule permits. The ghost of faster players helps me keep pace, be more consistent, and post the best time I can. If I ran 10 laps in single player with no ghost, I’d post one blistering time, one glacial time, and 8 mediocre laps
-Forza MS7 has the best selection of Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers, Chargers, Corvettes, and Vipers is probably the #1 reason I like FMS7 so much. combine that with the large selection of IRL race circuits/tracks, no other racing/sim on Xbox or PC can compete/compare
-I like that I can advance my car collection with appreciable amount of credits and XP by solely doing exhibition/free play races users can configure to their parameters/preferences
-I love the large selection of iconic gran prix, GTLM, NASCAR, and IRL tracks/road courses. I’m not a fan of the Forza Horizon’s 4 open world sandbox BS.
-the automatic uploading of best lap time to online leaderboards and subsequent ranking with other FMS7 players
-large selection of iconic cars.
-the TCS and STM seems a lot better in FMS7 than FH4. In FH4 it seems like it’s on/off when it comes to its intrusiveness as far as manipulating delivery of power to the wheels. I’d like to have an option to choose different levels of TCS or STM on a 0-10 scale similar to other racing sims I’ve played in the past.
What I don’t like-just IMHO in no particular order again just IMHO
-this is probably the thing I hate the most about this game-there is no option to choose to qualify for pole position. instead your starting position is based on having the highest performance index which means you can have a 10-20 way tie for first place based on whatever bot drivertards are chosen for the race
-the criteria for dirty/clean lap is annoying. It makes me super salty when I’m on pace for a PR lap time then I get more than 2 wheels in the grass or hit the apex of a corner up on the rumble strip or a drivertard AI rams me and that makes the lap “dirty” or whatever makes it not count on the leaderboards. As long as I don’t use the rewind, it should count as a “clean” lap.
-the physics seem a bit inconsistent at times especially when on pace for a PR lap time. I’ll be rippin along then it seems like the physics engine or whatever decides “you’re gonna get 65% of the grip on this part of the track compared to the last 3 laps” or “methinks on this braking area into a corner, the sim is gonna get a lot more skiddish/squirly for you than it was the previous 3 laps”
-there’s no quit to desktop option in race pause menu
-some wonkiness as far as settings are concerned. for instance something I run into almost every time start a race is that 99 times out of 100 I have STM and TCS turned off, but on the in game HUD those two assists still appear as turned on, but if I pause the game and go to the assists menu without changing any settings then unpause, TCS and STM assists will then appear as turned off how they should be.
-no cosmetic damage model
-no/limited physical damage model
-first lap is always a throw away because of slow rolling start or AI ramming you
-Not a big fan of the single player career mode. Most of the races, at least in the first two categories are pretty lame IMO. The single player career modes were both better in Forza Motorsport 3 and 4
-I don’t like the fact that there is no “factory stock” category where you can only make a modification like change to higher performance tire compound, add a clean air intake, or add an aftermarket exhaust. In FMS7 if you want to race a factory stock car, you’re lap time is still ranked against other lap times run by cars with the highest performance index in the division
-the car selection is really good. I’m thankful for the Mustangs, Camaros, Trans-Ams, Chargers, Challengers, Corvettes, and Vipers that are currently in game and want to keep them all in the game. The huge selection of supercars, hypercars, GTLM, IRL is awesome, but being a pleb only playing with controller, in FMS7 it’s a lot easier to drive cars with mid tier performance index like A, B, and C class cars. There were some classic cars I expected to see included in FMS7 which have been in previous editions of FMS which aren’t currently available, but would like to see released in carpacks or included in the next generation Forza Motorsport release: second, third, fourth, and fifth generation Toyota Supras, 2003-04 SVT Mustang Cobra aka “Terminator” Mustang (arguably had one of the greatest engines ever put in a Mustang), 4th gen “Edge” and 5th gen S281 Saleen Mustangs, 2012 Boss 302 Laguna Seca Mustang, a 2020 Shelby GT500 Mustang might be too late of a model to be included in FMS7 but if the game is gonna continue to be supported for PC on play anywhere why not? 2014 Camaro Z28 with 505hp LS7, I wish the ~2017 6th gen Camaro ZL1 had the 1LE package, I’m glad there is a 6th gen Corvette ZR1(hands down in the top 3 of my favorite cars of all time) but I was disappointed there was no 6th gen Corvette Z06, currently there is only a 2019 C7 Corvette ZR1 “pace car” version available in FMS7 I’d like to see a factory stock 2019 C7 Corvette ZR1