After a somewhat strange showing at last year's gaming trade show, E3, which saw the game's developers demonstrate how Kinect's technology could be used in a racing game, by letting you virtually walk around, kneel down to check the wheel arches, and kick the tyres of a hideously expensive Ferrari, Microsoft have formally announced the latest instalment in their impressive racing series, Forza 4, which at least ties up one of the stickers on yesterday's Microsoft E3 invite.A blend of the hardcore prop shafts and differentials hardcore racing nuts love, with enough options, assists, and a full paint package that lets you decorate your car however you want helping turn it into an accessible racing game, Forza's been looking to expand its target demographic over the past few years, and this one seems no different. With support for Kinect, rumours are rife that instead of the "admiring car" mode, which caused a few embarrassed looks at E3, Forza 4 will instead be sporting a super-easy Kinect mode, which works a lot like Kinect Joy Ride, and sees you holding an invisible steering wheel, while the car accelerates and brakes for you.
Using Kinect, you can examine your virtual Ferrari. "Ooh, that's a nasty ding. Shopping trolly was it? What's say we cut £60k off the price?"
But while the Kinect modes remain the subject of speculation, what we do know is that Microsoft are going to be running a few promotions to get people interested in buying the game. The first batch of customers who buy Forza 4 will receive five additional cars - a Ford Mustang Coupe 1965, Koenigsegg Agera 2011, Lexus SC300 1997, RUF RGT-8 2011 and a Tesla Roadster Sport 2011. No, we don't have any idea what those are, either, but we'd be willing to make an educated guess that they have four wheels and go brum.
Somewhat oddly, those five free cars are limited to the first run of disks Microsoft produces, so quite how many copies of the game will come with these, or how you'll be able to tell, unless you pick it up on day one, remains to be seen. Which is presumably why Microsoft are doing it. Also announced was that a Limited Edition was in the works, but that's all we know - strangely, Microsoft didn't mention what's going to come in it, or how much it'll cost. Guess we'll need to wait until E3 kicks off in a fortnight to find out.
One of our favourite features in previous Forza games, the ability to decorate your car however you want with a surprisingly powerful paint package (if you take the time out to learn it), is also being pushed as a key feature of Forza 4. Some of the designs we've seen (and done) take hours to make, so we're somewhat glad that in Forza 4, you're now able to import your designs across from Forza 3, for use in the new game. If you've spent hours on your career in Forza 3 as well, you'll also be gifted a variety of new cars, and even money to spend on brand new purchases, although the cars and money you'll receive are dependent on how long you've spent on the game.
With a full reveal just a few weeks away, we'll have more on Forza 4 soon. In the mean time, if you want to make sure you'll get the five bonus cars, make sure you place your pre-order at a retailer - GAME are offering it for £39.99 here. Don't be put off by all the brushed metal and polish - there's more to this than for petrol heads alone.
