This or Forza Motorsport 4 (serious question)

[Viss Valdyr]

It may sound a bit strange, but hear me out, no joke post. I have a colleque who wants to get rid of his xbox360, he also happens to own other games too, but these are not what I am interested in that much. He has Forza Horizon 1 and Forza motorsport 4. He wants to sell his games with xbox as a whole for around 80€ (there are around 15 games, some dated Fifa games and such alike).

I am a fan of the older gran turismo. 4 and 5 is what I own, and I want to check forza as well. People call FM 4 the apex of FM and that's why I am so interested in it.

About me. It is not about graphics, I want a nice single player experience (I have family, online gaming is near to impossible because I need to pause from time to time). With a somewhat competent AI (That's why I wasn't a fan of GT6 or 7). I don't mind using worse cars than the AI to give me a challenge, but I want at least some fights.

I read about the huge amount of different cars in FM4 with a lot of regular road cars inside, which would cater my taste. (Even Toyota Yaris is in there [sadly not in pink..]).

Long question short. Should I go for FM4 and FH1 for that price or should I wait for a sale for the new FM and check it out? I know there are a lot of bad reviews, but opinions change, at least after patches.



Thank you for reading.

[Mexicola9302]

Just play the game pass version, test it and if it doesn't work for you it's not like you lost a lot of money.

[clairvoyantwolf]

We are kindred spirits. I played FM4 until this game came out and haven’t touched it since. The physics model is much better, as you would expect after this much time. The cars feel more alive.

However there are several annoyances. Assuming the game works for you, the car xp system may put a damper on modding cars at your preferred pace. The included single player events are few and some of them have timed availability.

That said you can make your own custom events and it is easier to dial your own difficulty in terms of starting position and AI level in this game.

I agree with Mexicola that you should give it a shot on game pass before making a firm decision. I think this game has a solid foundation, but FM4 is still great to this day.

[Swarmfly]

You can always nab the newest game instantly whenever funds permit, but you are not always able to nab the older ones on demand, and for a reasonable price at that.

[Purple Sauce]

FM4 is the best in the series. This is the worst. Get FM4.

[Quick☢420™]

FM4 was a good game,but it has vibration effects and no wheel support.The graphics although very good for the time are very dated now.I own an Xbox360 with the MS ffb wheel(the only one that works)and while it was fun back in the day,I rarely play it.This game....if you have good luck with getting it to work correctly and have a decent setup is much better,too bad FM7 is not available anymore because I would recommend it over this or FM4.

[♔ BunniEmperor ✠]

I know I'm a bit late, but wanted to put this out here!
So having played both this and FM4 for over 100 hours each recently, the TLDR is Forza 4 without a shadow of a doubt. But there's several pros and cons to each, Honestly id even recommend FM7 over FM8. Lets talk about why.

So lets first talk about the shiny new feature FM4 brought to the table, Laser Scanning! Only a handful of cars have it, and this was when 'Forzavista' was first introduced truly, and at the time (especially to a young me who was coming from FM1) it was amazing to get up close with the cars like that! Little did I know that this would start a chain reaction that would help really make Forza boring in the coming years, as EVERY new car (with some exceptions, like the fallout car) that would be put into Forza would be laser scanned. Sounds great right? Well, No. In reality what this meant is the customization that we were blessed with in Forza's 2-4 was now (for the most part) gone, with some cliche exceptions. Furthermore, actual cars added to the games (FM5 and up) are limited, with Forza entering its infamous death loop of the same car list minus a ton, adding a few. I understand licensing also plays a part in this, but I would ask anyone to pick up either game, and pick a random car to see if you can customize it truly. You'll quickly see what I mean when I say laser scanning might have been more of a curse than a blessing.
Along with this cars that are either hard to get their hands on (Ie the massive list of missing JGTC, GTS, GT2, etc cars) or cars outright destroyed now (ie the Mazda Furai, RIP) will never be in a Forza game again unless that policy changes.

Now lets talk progression! Honestly FM8 seemed promising at first... but quickly turned into a slog. The campaigns themselves are very neat, and I like building up my car to a degree.. but the fad gets boring quickly. I would rather be experimenting with more cars and car types on the tracks then spending 2 hours doing one campaign in one car. Along with this, Your just racing, racing, racing. No bowling, no autocross, no multi class racing, no overtaking challenges, Nada. Add insult to injury you can beat everything in about 40 hours. Forza 4's campaign isn't perfect either, it suffers from a lack of tracks (which for now is still an issue with FM8) and a smaller AI count (12 max, although this actually works well for smaller races, just less so for longer ones). Along with it, you have the affinity system for manufactures. A good way to earn extra credits, Nice! Downside is you get a 25% parts discount per level, which is NOT hard. Had they taken this system and put it into FM8, and just made it harder to level up and or less of a discount per level, it would have been much preferable to the car leveling system. But overall there is just far, FAR more to do in FM4 with a much bigger variety of fun little mini-games to keep things fresh.

FM8 isn't all bad though right? No, it has a lot going for it! This is where FM8 gets my kudos, the cars feel great! Its fun to drive in the various dynamic weather conditions etc, along with that of course the dynamic time of day, more AI to race with, along with a proper (and good!) free play system. Along with this the game, when it actually loads assets, looks great! (Minus a few AWFUL models.. They really messed up the inside of my C5) Ofc like many others, my 1080 struggles a bit but gets the job done at a solid 70 on med settings. However.. if the whole free play is the sort of stuff your looking for, and not just a game to kill time by racing around the world with, This isn't the game either. You'd be looking at Assetto Corsa, the best 'free-play' racing game, Period.
The multiplayer aspect of FM8 might be the only reason I could see anyone playing it over FM4 realistically, (if you don't know how or want to figure out how to host your own assetto server etc)

Overall FM8 was a huge disappointment having waited years for a Forza game for the likes of me. Got some time outta it, but honestly Ive had more fun replaying FM4 and its not even for the nostalgia, Its just a more fun game you can pick up and race in. Again if you want the proper endurance experience, try Assetto Corsa with mods or I-Racing if you fancy.

[Viss Valdyr]

Thank you a lot for your statement, Emperor!

[Quick☢420™]

Originally posted by The Emperor ✠ ♔:

I know I'm a bit late, but wanted to put this out here!
So having played both this and FM4 for over 100 hours each recently, the TLDR is Forza 4 without a shadow of a doubt. But there's several pros and cons to each, Honestly id even recommend FM7 over FM8. Lets talk about why.

So lets first talk about the shiny new feature FM4 brought to the table, Laser Scanning! Only a handful of cars have it, and this was when 'Forzavista' was first introduced truly, and at the time (especially to a young me who was coming from FM1) it was amazing to get up close with the cars like that! Little did I know that this would start a chain reaction that would help really make Forza boring in the coming years, as EVERY new car (with some exceptions, like the fallout car) that would be put into Forza would be laser scanned. Sounds great right? Well, No. In reality what this meant is the customization that we were blessed with in Forza's 2-4 was now (for the most part) gone, with some cliche exceptions. Furthermore, actual cars added to the games (FM5 and up) are limited, with Forza entering its infamous death loop of the same car list minus a ton, adding a few. I understand licensing also plays a part in this, but I would ask anyone to pick up either game, and pick a random car to see if you can customize it truly. You'll quickly see what I mean when I say laser scanning might have been more of a curse than a blessing.
Along with this cars that are either hard to get their hands on (Ie the massive list of missing JGTC, GTS, GT2, etc cars) or cars outright destroyed now (ie the Mazda Furai, RIP) will never be in a Forza game again unless that policy changes.

Now lets talk progression! Honestly FM8 seemed promising at first... but quickly turned into a slog. The campaigns themselves are very neat, and I like building up my car to a degree.. but the fad gets boring quickly. I would rather be experimenting with more cars and car types on the tracks then spending 2 hours doing one campaign in one car. Along with this, Your just racing, racing, racing. No bowling, no autocross, no multi class racing, no overtaking challenges, Nada. Add insult to injury you can beat everything in about 40 hours. Forza 4's campaign isn't perfect either, it suffers from a lack of tracks (which for now is still an issue with FM8) and a smaller AI count (12 max, although this actually works well for smaller races, just less so for longer ones). Along with it, you have the affinity system for manufactures. A good way to earn extra credits, Nice! Downside is you get a 25% parts discount per level, which is NOT hard. Had they taken this system and put it into FM8, and just made it harder to level up and or less of a discount per level, it would have been much preferable to the car leveling system. But overall there is just far, FAR more to do in FM4 with a much bigger variety of fun little mini-games to keep things fresh.

FM8 isn't all bad though right? No, it has a lot going for it! This is where FM8 gets my kudos, the cars feel great! Its fun to drive in the various dynamic weather conditions etc, along with that of course the dynamic time of day, more AI to race with, along with a proper (and good!) free play system. Along with this the game, when it actually loads assets, looks great! (Minus a few AWFUL models.. They really messed up the inside of my C5) Ofc like many others, my 1080 struggles a bit but gets the job done at a solid 70 on med settings. However.. if the whole free play is the sort of stuff your looking for, and not just a game to kill time by racing around the world with, This isn't the game either. You'd be looking at Assetto Corsa, the best 'free-play' racing game, Period.
The multiplayer aspect of FM8 might be the only reason I could see anyone playing it over FM4 realistically, (if you don't know how or want to figure out how to host your own assetto server etc)

Overall FM8 was a huge disappointment having waited years for a Forza game for the likes of me. Got some time outta it, but honestly Ive had more fun replaying FM4 and its not even for the nostalgia, Its just a more fun game you can pick up and race in. Again if you want the proper endurance experience, try Assetto Corsa with mods or I-Racing if you fancy.

Great write-up but fm4 is just a gamepad game with vibration effects,we are soooo far past that.Racing games almost feel real nowadays.I packed my 360 back up after only a few races,all you need to do is go fast and nail the brakes on at every corner and zoom around.It's not realistic to the standard we are all used to and very easy.....and because it's so easy,I lost interest very quickly.It WAS really cutting edge at one point in time.....long ago.

[Abdu]

My first Forza game was FM4, and let me tell you that it is one of the most memorable racing games I have played... I spend many hours.

But that was back in 2012.

Shame the game isn't on PC, because I remember being it jaggy (low res 720p, no AA).

[Mexicola9302]

https://youtu.be/wi-BXVXq7zo
https://youtu.be/oApjCX0wia4

[Voodoochile]

Okay, lets not clown ourselves here. If you play FM4 instead of FM8 you might as well just play GT4 with emulator...Graphics are not important but resolution IS. I can't play 720p game more than the hour needed to experience the nostalgia.

That aside, I'd buy it even solely for the long term value and then buy FM8 on gamepass or sale.

[Quick☢420™]

Originally posted by Voodoochile:

Okay, lets not clown ourselves here. If you play FM4 instead of FM8 you might as well just play GT4 with emulator...Graphics are not important but resolution IS. I can't play 720p game more than the hour needed to experience the nostalgia.

That aside, I'd buy it even solely for the long term value and then buy FM8 on gamepass or sale.

Yeah,that's exactly how I feel.I will keep my 360 forever,it's cooler has been modded and runs very cool,kept only for nostalgia trips down memory lane,race games are all better nowadays.Forza 4 WAS the King back in the day though,we can all agree on that.

[Tharest]

Forza 4 was when Forza was good they have made so many mistakes and removed so many wanted and good features and release this mess... i miss Forza 4