The Forza 6 NASCAR Expansion: Casual Friday


It has been long rumored that NASCAR, absent since Forza Motorsport 4 on the 360, would be making it’s return. And last month it came in a big way. But also a very odd way. Alongside a full compliment of cars, and a new track, you get a story mode not unlike the Porsche expansion. And if you can guess from the image above, Turn 10 let things get weird with the NASCAR expansion and the game is all the better for it.
First, before we get to how the cars and new additions to the UI feel, let’s tackle the amazing premise that is given along with this DLC. Sure, you race on an oval at first and learn how to tackle pack racing. Take on the three ovals in the game, move onto some American road courses, and then buckle up, because you’re going across the world.
That’s right, the caveat of this DLC is a What If scenario often spoke about in drunken tones in bars all over the US. What would happen if you ran a NASCAR machine against some of the most high-tech racing vehicles from Europe and beyond. It’s here that realism seems to be thrown out the window. Of course you still have the lovely Forza Tech engine which is simulating everything the same, but it all feels just a tad more arcade-y with the big V8 beasts. The cars are appropriately floaty and powerful, hard to control on road courses, but at home on an oval.

You throw the big float monster with say, GT3 cars, or Indy cars, and it starts to make sense. Forza has never been a game about oval racing, but NASCAR is about the most popular spectator event in the US. Forza is the leading next-gen racing game. There had to be a way to marry them, and I feel like this is the best possible result. The amount of times I was giggling as I barged another machine off the road, or got a perfect draft, or just had something smile worthy happen was astounding.
This is the casual Friday of racing games. NASCAR isn’t about suits and ties and champagne. It’s about going fast and having a good time. Bringing that attitude to the usually uptight Forza Motorsports franchise is a gift. This expansion is about having a good time with the anachronistic beasts we love. I had a ton of fun with this expansion, and if you are a regular Forza player, I think you will too.
[Disclaimer: Microsoft was nice enough to give me a code for the expansion. You can grab it on the Xbox Live Marketplace for a cool twenty bucks.]

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  1. Dean Bigglesworth Avatar
    Dean Bigglesworth

    Now they just need to fix endurance races and add an actual fuel gauge and fix tyre wear so that it’s possible to wear them down before you have to pit. As it is you always run out of gas before tyres become a problem, and there really should be a proper fuel gauge so you could figure out how many laps you can go. You just have to guess by the shitty little “gauge” on the speedo. I’ve run out on the last corner of the last lap of a two hour race more than once. Endurance racing was miles better in Gran Turismo 2. Does the newest GT still have different tyre compounds, not just a single “race” tyre as forza?
    Drag racing also needs fixing; launching is terrible when you’ve only got about a second to get the revs right before launching with the bloody camera spinning around. Plus there’s no practice mode with timing. It has potential particularly online, but currently it just feels half assed. Like endurance racing.
    They should bring back the hill climbs too.

  2. caltemus Avatar
    caltemus

    I wish there was a way to turn off cars I haven’t or won’t buy from showing up as AI. I can’t race any cars near the nascar rating in free play anymore, lest I be bombarded on all sides by stock cars the whole race. I was just getting to really like that Viper ACR too…