Review: Forza Motorsport 4 Porsche Expansion Pack

Words by: Ben Rollason | Posted: 11 months ago | Filed under: DLC, Game Reviews.

Ah the classic 911

When Forza Motorsport 4 released in the Autumn of last year, the one thing that was missing in the game was inclusion of German car manufacturer Porsche. Due to a dispute between turn 10 and EA over licensing, it left the game feel a little empty when it came to choice of classic cars that have been in previous Forza games. A way that Turn 10 managed to compensate for this is by having the widest range of cars and manufacturers in a game than ever before, even having the fictional M12 Warthog from 343 Industries’ Halo series included in the Autovista. This is until an agreement was reached earlier this year, and Turn 10 announced that they were going to be releasing the Porsche Expansion Pack.

Launching onto Xbox live for 1600 Microsoft points, the Forza Motorsport 4 Porsche Expansion pack adds 30 of the most iconic and new Porsche cars to the game. These range from the 911 to the Carerra S. What I do like is the diversity of the cars that are on offer. They range in prices that anyone can buy ranging in-game from 12,000 CR of the 1989 944 Turbo, to the extravagant Porsche Racing Team cars, decked out in individual liveries each for a staggering 2,000,000 CR.

Porsche missing from Forza really was a crime

The DLC also adds on 20 “new” events that are integrated in to the World Tour mode, or can be raced individually in the event list. This is where I start to dislike the pack content on offer. The cars I love. They look amazing in the Forza 4 engine and sound spectacular, just like they should, but when it comes to the events they leave a lot to desire, and that is my main gripe with the Porsche Expansion Pack. A price tag of 1600 Microsoft Points is a lot, especially for what’s on offer, but I don’t know if I set the bar too high when going in to this.

I enjoyed driving the Porsches that were on offer in previous games, with them becoming a favourite of mine alongside many different models of Subaru, but I don’t know what feels different about this. The content doesn’t feel like there is anything new for you to test out. The events are very similar to ones previously raced on in the older games in the series. That’s the constant feeling that I have with this. It’s a lot of content that should have been in the game in the first place, or included in the next title, not just thrown in at a later date.

The cars look and sound amazing

Turn 10 have been really good with the DLC drops before, and the cars that they put on offer for each of the individual Monthly packs are worth the price every time. Looking on the positives of this however, the achievements are very straight forward, with achievements for earning so much in a set vehicle, winning online in a car or just competing 5 races in a 911. These allow you to enjoy the cars that you do get and explore them a little bit more than perhaps if they had been on disc and you’d have overlooked them. Completionists out there will have to really earn their gamerscore with the online achievements though. I’ve never been too good of a racer to win events, so I wish you all the luck in the world if you’re going for them in a night, although they’re still easier than own all the Ferraris included on Disc 1, or obtain Affinity Level 50.

Looking at everything, the one word I would use to sum up my experience of the Forza Motorsport 4 Porsche Expansion Pack is disappointing. It’s an expansion pack in name, but not truly in nature. Unless of course you are a major Porsche fan, or an avid collector of the in-game cars themselves, I’d wait for this to drop either to a Deal of the Week, or when it is included in a possible Ultimate Edition of Forza 4.

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About Ben Rollason

When not playing Grifball, Ben can be found trying to earn achievements on games that frustrate him. He is yet to complete a Sonic the Hedgehog title.