Setting Forza 7 Apart

I've played Forza Motorsport 7 on Xbox One X, and there's a lot to like about it – it looks great, it feels good, and its got some cool features. That's not unusual for a Forza title. However, there are some constituent aspects of the title that are under the radar which help set this entry apart from the others in the series as well as the rest of the pack.

CUSTOMIZATION

For the first time in a Forza title you can see your avatar (male or female) outside of the car, and there are over 300 firesuits that you can select to put them in (you'll even see your friends' drivatars in their suits). While the helmets aren't a separate, selectable part of the look, the firesuit/helmet combos span racing history. As you can see from the shot above, everything happens trackside in the pits. Thus, there isn't a different showroom to check out your car via Forzavista.

What you can't hear from the screen above is the game's music. You can use your own tunes and hear them in the game. Moreover, when you're out on the track you'll hear the music as if it's coming from the track speakers. Similarly, during race days it'll be like it's being piped through the grandstand. Developer Turn 10 talked about importing the music via a One Drive playlist, but they declined at the time to talk about other ways to import music into the game.

CAREER

The Forza series changes up its career format seemingly every year. Sometimes it's about freedom, other times it's a more curated journey. Thankfully Forza 7 is more open than some years. There are six major championships in the game within which there are a multitude of series based around the vehicles in your garage. Hot Hatches, trucks, stock cars, historic vehicles, it's all covered. Showcase races return hosted by various as-of-now-unannounced racing celebrities, and beating some of these Showcases are the only way to unlock some of the game's cars.

I asked Forza 7's creative director Bill Gies why the series keeps changing its career format, and he said, "We reinvent it every year based on the content that we have and the stories we want to tell. And with this one, we wanted to reimagine everything to be more human, more thrilling, and again going to the PC and these bigger markets, we wanted players to have more fidelity to be able to control it how they want. It's more open, players can choose their path to mastery, choose the cars they want – again, it's more authentic."

THE CARS & YOUR REWARDS

Forza 7 has an unbelievable 700+ cars, and what the team says is the largest collection of Porsche, Lamborghini, and Ferrari cars in any video game. If that wasn't enough, Forza 7 continues to heap on the rewards. I've always thought the rewards and cars you earn for leveling up your avatar was a great part of the title. This time around there's an added wrinkle: The more cars you have in your garage gives you greater rewards when the time comes.

Forza 7 comes out on Xbox One and Windows 10 on October 3.