Forza Motorsport will return with shiny cars and classic tracks in 2023
Horizon's nerdier sibling
Racing games are often technological powerhouses, and the announcement trailer for the new Forza Motorsport spent time talking about ray tracing, refined surfaces and fancier trees. It looked... fine? It looked fine! Check it out below.
Here's the video shown during tonight's Xbox showcase:
That track is Maple Valley, a favourite from past Forza Motorsport games stretching back to the original. It was specifically chosen to show how far the series has come in terms of visual fidelity, with time in the trailer spent dwelling over rocks and trees that do, indeed, look better than before. I just wasn't as wowed as the slow pans over concrete seemed to imply I should be.
There were other returning tracks in the trailer, including Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and Laguna Seca Raceway, and new tracks like Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit and Circuit Hakone. We saw some of these tracks in different lighting conditions, since there's now a dynamic time of day. There's also a new damange model for the ways in which cars be dinged up. All of this is a step up since Forza Motorsport 7 back in 2017.
Look, I'm a Forza Horizon kinda driver. I'm less interesting in racing cars than I am in racing hovercraft. I thought Motorsport looked merely decent, but maybe you're a fan and you're bowled over by those new wheel rims. I've no idea.
You can read all the details about the new Forza Motorsport over on the Xbox blog, where they do not once explain why they're not calling it Forza Motorsport 8. Forza Motorsport is aiming to launch sometime in the first half of 2023.
Not E3 2022 is in full-swing - see everything in our E3 2022 hub, as well as our complete round-up of everything announced at Summer Game Fest 2022. Many more big game showcases and streams are still to come this summer, so make sure you stay up to date with our summer games stream schedule.