After much deliberation, I finally resolved to part with the whole four dollars required to obtain the McLaren MP4/4 – part of a recently added DLC pack – in Forza Motorsport 6. Thankfully, Forza‘s DLC cars that are bought with real-world dollars then become free as far as in-game purchases are concerned, so I was mercifully allowed to keep my 2,000,000CR.
Motorsport enthusiasts will recognize the MP4/4 as the legendary Honda-powered machine driven by the late, great Ayrton Senna during the 1988 Formula One season, which cemented its place among the most successful F1 cars of all time by leading for 93% of race laps and winning 15 out of 16 races during that year.
The greatest advantage of racing games is that they eliminate the fear of actual death, so with virtually nothing to lose except an hour or two, I thought I might as well give this ridiculous machine a bit of a poke around Circuit de Catalunya (after coming to terms with Suzuka Circuit’s absence from Forza 6, I was forced to settle for second-best). I will not specify how long it took for me to drive a lap worth recording.
When you want your mediocre performance to look several thousand times more professional than it actually was, replay camera angles are your friend.
Sure, the MP4/4 might be a bit tricky to drive at first (especially when – like me – you’re too arrogant to turn the assists off), but it’s a lot of fun once you get the hang of it. Besides, it’s almost worth doing rubbish laps times just to listen to the glorious noise this thing throws out. Seriously, it really is worth your four dollars.
Forza Motorsport 6 heralds a return to the scale and wealth of content that made Forza 4 so brilliant, and is a refreshing follow-up to the disappointingly limited Forza 5 (which boasted impressive next-gen visuals, but minimal cars and tracks). Turn 10 Studios have proved that they finally have a handle on the capabilities of the Xbox One, with Forza 6 demonstrating next-gen production quality to rival even that of its predecessor, and its popularity will likely be aided by the near-abolition of microtransactions (yes, I realise the very car I’ve been talking about had to be bought with real-world, grown-up money, but it’s one of very, very few, I promise).
In any case, the Forza franchise has qualified well on the grid of racing simulators with this latest instalment, securing a well-deserved pole position.
-JP
