Forza Motorsport 4
By TAG , 25 Nov 2011
We’re very pleased to let everyone know that we have been working with the team at Turn10 over the last year or so, on Forza Motorsport 4. Once again it has been great to be involved with such a great team and to be working on such an awesome high profile game.
We are proud to say that TAG’s Stafford Bawler was responsible for the audio on a large number of the vehicles in the game, from editing the engine recordings, implementing and then refining and tweaking it all to perfection. The Kinect (and controller) racing game was released in October 2011, and has already got some fantastic reviews. It won the award for Most Anticipated E3 2011 game, and was ranked first in sales in the UK during the week of its release.
As you’d imagine, we’ve been checking out the reviews and looking out for the audio comments, and are delighted with the feedback it has received.
Check out some nice mentions of the audio on gaming review sites:
“The audio is realistic, the engines sound great with surround enabled.” – venture beat
“Forza 4’s audio design is also spot-on. The soundtrack has a bombastic, techno-like vibe to it, and each vehicles individual growls and squeals have an air of authenticity about them.” - teamxbox
“The richer engine notes may weave a symphony of power and violence but Forza 4 is actually quite a fresh audio experience in other areas too. There are new sounds for collisions, wind rush and more. The inoffensive but bog standard music may not blow your skirt up, but the thick tapestry of sound effects should.” - IGN
“The audio design is quite literally mind-blowing (if turned up loud enough) and deserves surround sound treatment.” – strategyinformer
“Forza Motorsport’s 4 audio matches its visuals – even the diminutive Kia Cee’d has something of a growl.” – eurogamer
“Its sound effect work is incredible though – the roar of not only your own engine, but also your rivals’ is overpowering at times. This is especially true when you’re either in the cockpit or first-person views and can really hear every little noise each car is making. It’s thrilling.” – game-over
“The sound is amazingly realistic in Forza 4, making this probably the best sounding racing game I’ve ever heard. Playing with gaming headsets or surround sound will blow your mind into a fantasy of racing. “ – gamersxtreme
“Particular highlights are the sound. If you ever wanted to buy a cinema receiver to enjoy your games more, than this and Battlefield 3 are the perfect reasons to take the plunge. The engines of your car and fifteen others downshifting, revving, spitting out flame and growling through each corner is pure bliss and deserves to be heard three dimensionally in surround sound. While music is played now during races – turn it down and the sound effects up and you will be in automotive heaven.” – gamedot
“The music suits the title but where the growl is, is with the realistic sound effects of the cars that sound phenomenal through surround sound” – impulsegamer
“Turn 10‘s meticulously-crafted in-game audio is also quite impressive, with exemplary engine, collision and driving sound effects.” - wegotthiscovered
“The same goes for the in-game sound effects, which are so good that we strongly recommend turning off the in-game music. A 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429 lopes and rumbles, a Ferrari F40 snarls and crackles, and an Acura Integra Type-R buzzes angrily.” – pinowlinksexchange
“The sound on the game is undoubtedly amazing. If you mute the music and increase the sound effects you can really feel the screaming beauty of the engine, especially on the older models like the D-Type Jag, the sound is sweeter than Belgian Chocolate on your tastebuds. The different engine sounds stun me at the amount of effort put into it.”- thegameguide
“For true car lovers though, Forza 4’s sweet spot has to be its audio presentation. The game features a wide variety of cars, from classics, to exotic models and each of them sounds incredibly authentic when punching the engine. Want to get to the heart of a car junkie? Turn the volume up real loud and crank a few engines, it’s stellar, strangely rewarding and almost impossible to resist.” – cheathappens
“Once you have heard FM4, going back to GT5 sounds like you are driving one of those motorised bicycles rather than a powerful supercar. In my opinion, FM4 is the audio benchmark for racing games on any platform bar none.” – xboxworld
“Just as stunning is the audio aspect of the game. Never have I heard engine notes so real! From the metallic shriek of the RX7’s 13B rotary engine to the heavy thumping of a fully blown American V8, Forza 4 gets it right EVERY time…” – maifm
Forza Motorsport 4 was developed by Turn 10 Studios, and published by Microsoft Studios.