Review: Forza Motorsport 4 July Car Pack

Title: Forza Motorsport 4 July Car Pack
Platform: Xbox 360 (requires Forza Motorsport 4 to play)
Developer: Turn 10
Publisher: Microsoft Games Studio
Tagline: An eclectic mix of cars for Forza enthusiasts
Family Friendly: Click here for more information.
Verdict: Wait for a Sale

They say that the only two certain things in life are death and taxes. I think we can add Forza Motorsport 4 car packs to that list, as Turn 10 seems to get these things out on time every month, without fail. This new pack, as with the others, offers up 10 new vehicles to be used in both the career mode and free race modes. As with the prior car packs, they feature a wide eclectic mix of performance machines and ragtag classics that no one would want yet everyone talks about owning at some point in their life.

Before going too far into this look at the July car pack, I guess we should look at what your 560 MS Points gives you if you don’t have the VIP pass. You will get the following 10 vehicles:

• 2011 McLaren 59 GT MP4-12
• 1973 AMC Gremlin X
• 2012 Ascari KZ1R
• 1998 Astom Martin Vantage V600
• 1952 Hudson Hornet
• 1994 Jaguar XK120
• 2012 Spyker Aileron
• 1956 Lotus Eleven
• 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG
• 1995 RUF CTR2

As with every car in Forza 4, each one of these new vehicles has its own handling and driving mechanics. It was fun to go from the AMC Gremlin X, which has the most gutless V8 I have ever experienced to the rocket that is the SLK55. Even more entertaining was jumping into a car like the Hornet, which lacks a lot of the current driving friendly assists and getting it to stay on the road consistently when trying some of the trickier driving maneuvers.

I found the selection of vehicles to be of a good mix, going old with some and more modern with others, and including a few iconic favorites as well like the aforementioned Gremlin X. Dashboards and readouts are also modeled after each car, so it was fun to go from the stark interior of the Hornet to the full gauge readout of the SLK or the Aileron.

However, the one item of contention I have with this and every other car pack out there for Forza 4 is the idea of having to buy these cars in game when playing career mode. I understand that the career mode is all about unlocking and buying cars, but DLC cars that I am paying extra for should not have to have in-game currency spent on those cars. Worse still is that Forza will still give you the option to buy car tokens to unlock DLC cars you have paid money for already. I have ranted about this in the past, and yet, it is a problem that is still not fixed.

As with any car pack for Forza Motorsport 4 recommending it will come down to whether you have a soft spot for any of the cars in the bunch or if you are an obsessive collector. Without that drive, I personally would have probably passed on this car pack. Again, that is more because the pack did not have any cars that stood out as must own vehicles. Also note that you can buy cars individually, although the value proposition goes down a bit when buying more than two separately.

SLK55 AMG:

• Decent selection of cars
• Interior and exterior modeling is spot on
• Handling is great for all of these vehicles

Gremlin X:

• Still have to unlock all cars in career mode
• Game will allow you to use pay tokens to buy cars you already paid for

Family Focus
As with all other car packs for Forza Motorsport 4, there is nothing objectionable to find here for all ages. The faster cars might have a degree of difficulty for younger audiences, but overall, anyone can play this car pack without worrying about content.