Banzai Magazine

Okay, let me state my position from the off: I'm an Xbox 360. Not literally of course, but I jumped ship from the original PlayStation (or PS One as it had been re-branded by then) to the Microsoft console years ago and haven't looked back. Ever since the first Forza Motorsport was released, I have been utterly beguiled by the racing sim, believing it to be a worthy competitor to Sony's Gran Turismo franchise on every level. There, glad I got that out of the way.

So, Forza Motorsport 4 (FM4), one of the most anticipated games of the year, is finally upon us. Turn 10 Studios have teased us with gameplay videos, demonstrations of its Kinect integration and behind-the-scenes insights for over a year, and now we find out whether it can live up to the hype. And I think its fair to say that many Forza fans have been secretly hoping that the game will be one in the eye for Gran Turismo 5. Rivalry, eh?

The hard facts show that FM4 packs over 500 cars from 80 different manufacturers, considerably fewer vehicles than its rival, and yet at no point do you feel that you've been short-changed – after all, how many underpowered econo-boxes do you need to choose from or will realistically buy and/or race? Turn 10 has even got round the prickly licensing issues surrounding marques like Porsche (if the Stuttgart metal floats your boat) by the inclusion of the modified Ruf models. And of course there are plenty of icons from the land of the rising sun to keep even the most hardcore JDM fan occupied for months.

First impressions are good, with FM4's rebuilt rendering engine displaying cars and scenery in exquisite detail and unparalleled realism. The way that light and shade dances over the shiny surfaces of the cars, perfectly reflecting the surroundings, is extraordinary. One of FM4's major boasts is the new Autovista mode, allowing gamers to 'step' into the game using Kinect to explore the best cars more fully – just 28 cars are available in Autovista, which are unlocked through the game progression. Navigating the menus using Kinect can be a frustrating exercise, but actually 'walking' around the Autovista cars and getting right up close to admire them is impressive.

FM4 can be played using Kinect alone, although this doesn't hold any interest for more serious gamers and would only really be suitable for newcomers or kids (and let's face it, what are the chances of us letting them have a go?). Acceleration and braking are done for you, so all you have to do is worry about steering – not my idea of a racing sim to be honest.

Where Kinect comes into its own is in the main controller-based gameplay. FM4 debuts Kinect headtracking and this is one of the standout innovations in the game in my opinion. You adapt to it within a few minutes of enabling the feature (it isn't enabled by default) and it becomes second nature to 'look' through corners and for the on-screen view to adjust accordingly. It's even changed the way I race, switching me to an in-car view after many years of gaming using a front bumper camera viewpoint. Need for Speed Shift and Shift 2: Unleashed set new standards for realism and dynamism with in-car gaming, but they weren't able to wrench me away from my bumper cam preference( it dates all the way back to V-Rally - remember that?!). Headtracking has changed that – it feels so natural and the car's interiors are so detailed that I have often found myself referencing shift points from the tacho on the dashboard rather than the one on the head-up display.

Turn 10 has brought in some new tracks for FM4 too, making for a wide variety of racing layouts that you won't tire of in a hurry. Because of the system of game progression through the Career mode's World Tour, you quickly get to visit many different locations around the globe and race in a range of vehicles. Race successes are awarded with credits, XP and affinity XP, as well as reward cars at fairly regular junctures. A choice of reward cars at each stage means that each gamer will end up with a differing arsenal of vehicles in their garage, particular to their personal tastes – brilliant! Suffice to say my garage is predominantly filled with J-Tin...

FM4 is generous with its XP rewards, more so if you turn off driving assists. Even logging on to the FM4 Community gan net you bonus XP just for turning up, which is a good incentive to get involved regularly. The online aspect of Forza Motorsport has always been a strong point and FM4 takes this further still with a new Rivals mode and the introduction of Car Clubs. Rivals allows you to challenge your friends in a diverse group of events, even if they are offline. Beat a rival and you'll get a bounty of credits, and if they are a friend, a message will be dispatched to let them know they have just been pwnd.

Car Clubs allow for groups of friends to come together and share their passion for cars in an exciting way. Club members can share cars from their personal garage with other club members, working together to move their club up the FM4 leaderboards. Of course, Banzai should have its own club, so we've already set one up under the club name Banzai Magazine (club code BNZ). Feel free to send us an invite request and no doubt our resident forum HLC expert will be along to set some interesting challenges for us all.

Of course there's so much more to FM4 that is worth discovering – the Top Gear challenges, Clarkson's informative takes on the Autovista car, and the old faithfuls like the massive tuning potential and customisation available in the livery editor. The more you explore, the more you will find. To sum up then, what would be our recommendation about FM4? Buy it. And if you don't own an Xbox 360 or Kinect, go and buy them too. It really is that good.

Check out our gallery of Forza 4 images here (apologies for the shortage of Jap cars) or watch the Forza 4 'Endangered Species' viral video here.

(Forza Motorsport 4 is released on October 14 2011, priced at £49.99 ERP for the standard edition or £59.99 for the limited collector's edition)