Forza Motorsport 6 Preview

Making a splash.

The next entry in the Forza Motorsport franchise is making bold additions that Forza fans such as myself have reason to be excited for. During a meeting at E3 2015 with several members of Turn 10 Studios, the development team spent the lion's share of their time showing off all-new weather effects. This has long been requested, and it's being done right the first time. Individual water droplets are calculated with their own physics, making them behave realistically on various surfaces whether it be the windshield of a Ford GT going 100 miles per hour, or on the the carbon fiber side panel of a McLaren P1. As in real life, different materials are porous to varying degrees, making water sit and move across them in unique patterns. This was demonstrated live, and was remarkable.

While the rain looks great, it's the puddles that I was most surprised by. Puddles will collect on parts of a track when it's raining providing unique hazards. If you attempt to slam through one, your car will hydroplane. If you knick one with one of your tires, your car will behave accordingly. It's worth noting that puddles aren't always going to be located in the same spots. Essentially, they provide a unique hazard that will re-define racing lines as they do in real-life. You'll want to be particularly cautious when driving on a wet track at night.

There were a few other points of interest during our meeting, including the revamp of Career mode. It's no longer as monotonous as in Forza Motorsport 5, with more than twice the track count and a structure that provides more options for how you challenge A.I. To mix things up, there are new event types woven into the that allow you to participate in one of various disciplines for a single race.

After a brief presentation, I was able to ask questions to Turn 10 Studios' Forza Motorsport 6 team. I begun by questioning why the team has decided to make 60 frames per second a standard for next-gen Forza, to which they explained that they feel it's a critical component to having a racing game that feels as smooth as possible. They appeared very satisfied with 1080 60 fps, and will likely continue with that heading into the future.

After my experience with Forza Motorsport 5, I felt it was important to ask how Forza Motorsport 6 will handle rewards. Turn 10 studios made it clear that players will be rewarded often and in meaningful ways. For one, players will occasionally be presented with the choice to either be rewarded a random car or a sum of credits for their achievements. Secondly, Forza veterans will be recognized and have their garage populated early in the adventure with vehicles they have acquired in the past. As usual, you will accrue credits after each race and for completing a championship. The reward amount will be much closer to post-patch Forza Motorsport 5 than how it was at launch, thankfully.

I was curious which among the new tracks the development team was particularly excited for. Rio was chosen for its great mixture of complex turns and beautiful scenery. Judging by the screenshots of the track, it's no wonder. They also brought up that Laguna Seca is being re-tuned to be even more like its real-world counterpart. Dirt can be kicked up on the track as in the real-world, and providing both a visual and mechanical simulation in the process.

With 450+ cars at launch, 26 tracks, and even 2-player local multiplayer, Forza Motorsport 6 was without a doubt the best racing game on the show floor at E3 2015. It has quickly propelled itself to one of my most anticipated games of the year.