I purchased the ultimate edition for my gaming PC and started playing last night. I have 3-4 hours in so far. I am using my system noted below in my signature, which includes the Accuforce wheel, Main Performance PC Simpedals, triple Dell 27 inch S2716 Gsync monitors and I have tactile feedback via a couple of Buttkicker Mini LFE transducers.
I will start with the graphics, they are DROP DEAD AMAZING!!! Best graphics in a racing game, in part because everything is so smooth. No jaggies, no noticeable FPS drops, just buttery smooth, beautiful graphics. The new Maple Valley is a sight to behold, it has such great colors and the farm buildings on the side of portions of the track are such a nice touch. The cars look fantastic. I am running Ultra Dynamic settings, which means that the game dynamically adjusts graphics options to keep the action smooth, but also at the highest graphics level. My powerful CPU and GPU are not going to waste at all. Digital Foundry has called Turn 10's engine the best optimized engine in PC and console gaming and I think they are right. No matter what you are playing on, you will get 60 FPS. Period. No questions asked.
The FFB and physics are quite good, definitely a step up from Forza Motorsport 6 Apex and Forza Horizon 3, but think evolution, not revolution. To be fair, I am using a direct drive wheel, which most folks will not be using, hence YMMV. I can definitely feel what the car is doing and catching slides is definitely possible, in fact I have not lost one yet, which probably means I am not driving hard enough yet. Weight transfer is good, when I make a quick turn I can definitely feel the momentum shift in the wheel. No, the game is not pure sim, nor does it market itself as a pure sim. Its definitely simcade, with a heavy emphasis on sim on the physics side.
The menu interface is good, but somewhat confusing. For example, while I love that you can scroll the menus and make adjustments while the track and cars are loading before a race, there are two separate buttons for "Car Collection" and
"Car Selection."
The car collection screen is difficult to navigate, I have a hard time making sense of it. I also had a hard time finding my free Fast and Furious Car Pack cars, but at the very least, "purchasing" DLC cars is must faster now than in previous titles. You just click on it and boom, its yours. You need not navigate multiple menus. My mouse is very twitchy, I generally cannot use it in the game menus. I suspect that is a bug that will eventually be fixed.
I love the mods and prize crates. I also like that each time you level up, you get the option of a credit bonus, car (sometimes at no cost, sometimes at a reduce price) or a driver's suit. When you win a series, you get a car. Win a showcase, you get a car. Access the Forza Hub app weekly, get a sizeable credit gift. I got 425,000 credits last night since I am a Tier 10 Forza player. Although it will likely take 1-2 years, I am confident I can collect AND drive most of the cars in the game without buying the forthcoming tokens. The game economy seems just right. Mods are a nice way to get more credits, its a game within a game, good fun. I got a total of 11 prize crates to start, one for being a VIP, 10 for my Forza level 10. Those crates gave me a ton of mods. Very cool.
The career mode is good, although its a little irksome that you cannot access every event in the driver's championship you are doing until you level up your car collection tier. Nonetheless, the career mode has a ton of variety and it will no doubt allow us to put to good use the majority of our cars and all of the tracks.
I have not yet tried multiplayer, in part because they have not yet added League racing, which was the primary way I did multiplayer racing in Forza 6.
The car sounds are drop dead amazing, like perhaps as good as Raceroom Experience car sounds. Yes, I said it. For example, the Nissan Fast and Furious GT-R sounds amazing. I don't know if its realistic, but who cars, I am never going to drive a GT-R in real life anyway.
The camera views you can select cover all of the usual options, with an additional cockpit camera that is pushed forward more where you don't see the steering wheel. I switched back and forth between that and the traditional cockpit.
I did not try the game with a controller because I suck driving with a controller. That being said, I did try the demo with a controller on my Xbox One and it worked great.
There is no true triple screen support, rather the image is stretched to fit across the three screens. Do I care? No. Will you care? I don't know, I am not you. Nonetheless, if you care, don't buy the game, stick with iRacing.
The AI is fine. Seriously, they are no more likely to wreck you than real life drivers in iRacing. They race you for position. I am at the "Above Average" skill level. If I make one big mistake, I cannot catch the leaders. That is the way it should be. Speaking of which, you can make the game as hard or as easy as you want. For you simulation studs, you can crank up the AI to Pro, turn off all assists and get all you want and more. For you competionist types, you can practically have the game drive for you. Its your choice.
The dynamic weather is amazing. Its better than Project CARS 2. I said it, get over it.
I say its better than Project CARS 2 because it does not drain performance the way dynamic weather does in Project CARS 2. It looks gorgeous. The puddles are still there, but they are not as ridiculous as Forza 6.
In 3-4 hours of play time, the game stuttered 2-3 times but otherwise it runs perfectly. Seriously!!! Its a stark contract to the buggy mess that is Project CARS 2.
Turn 10 obviously cares about their game, it shows in the product, but it also shows in how they are responding to issues people are reporting with things like wheel support. My wheel works perfectly, but some folks are having trouble and so the wheel guy at Turn 10, Aaron, is on the forums taking notes and giving people advice and updates on fixes they are planning to make. I even have read Tweets by Dan Greenawalt where he is answering questions from Forza fans. No Ian Belling from Turn 10.
Anyway, in summary, the game is everything I wanted and then some. It is literally a dream come true for me. I have been playing Forza since the first game was released on the original Xbox in 2005 and the release of this game means a lot to me. This is the first Forza Motorsport game I can play on my triple screens, in my cockpit with absolutely perfect graphics. I know, I know, I have not yet played the multiplayer. Relax, I will get to it, but I am confident it will be much like Forza 6, which was very good, but not iRacing level.
Buy with confidence!!! And don't whine and complain, its never been a better time to be a sim racer. The hardware and software options we have available are second to none.
The car collection screen is difficult to navigate, I have a hard time making sense of it. I also had a hard time finding my free Fast and Furious Car Pack cars, but at the very least, "purchasing" DLC cars is must faster now than in previous titles. You just click on it and boom, its yours. You need not navigate multiple menus. My mouse is very twitchy, I generally cannot use it in the game menus. I suspect that is a bug that will eventually be fixed.
