“Forza Motorsport 4” marries excellent racing with a comprehensive and exciting career system.

You can increase the performance of your car by doing something as drastic as putting in a new engine or as minute as changing your exhaust. Like other racing franchises, “Forza Motorsport” is faced with the daunting task of trying to wring every bit of speed out of a familiar formula — race, win, and repeat. The changes in “Forza 4” I find most exciting don’t alter this setup dramatically, and yet with just a few tweaks “Forza 4” feels like a fresh experience. It’s re-invigorated, and every turn is infectious and alluring.

Much like last year, you can race through “Forza’s” career mode by either choosing races specifically laid out before you or picking from the all-encompassing Events List. The difference is that in “Forza 4,” the races you choose for your career path are specifically designed around whatever car you’ve selected from your garage. This lets you steer the career mode to your liking even more. Don’t like the races before you? Change your car and new options will conform to your choice. Unlike most racing titles which cement how you progress, this lets you choose between investing in one car and upgrading its car class or sample from the many cars you’ve unlocked through the game’s very generous leveling system. Letting you pick from rewards like increased driver XP, manufacturer affinity XP, or a random payout is also a nice way to customize your ascension. Creating your career path in these ways is great, and the fact that the game still takes you around the globe in a set order of locations (nicely introduced by an announcer) while changing the specific tracks at those locations paces the mode, provides interest, and avoids track replication.

“Forza 4’s” refined career structure is reinforced by a badge and title system that rewards you for achievements in the game ranging from reaching career milestones to good racing, which is monitored by performing Race Feats. These are things like passing and taking turns correctly, drifting, drafting, etc. Badges and titles you win can be put on your online profile. In fact, that game’s seamless transition between online and offline is a powerful motivator to experience all aspects of “Forza 4.” Whether you’re creating rivals through the game’s endless list of challenge races, sharing the cars you won offline with your online car club members, or simply earning credits through online races that you can spend on cars for your career mode, the game feels like so much more than a list of cars and tracks.

“Forza 4’s” actual racing is no less impressive than how the game itself is structured. The wide variety of car types feel distinct from each other, the tracks and background environments look fabulous, and the driving itself is demanding and really conveys a rush of adrenaline. My favorite race is the Fujimi Kaido mountain track. As you navigate the tight switchbacks, altitude changes, and car traffic with Mt. Fuji in the background, it’s easy to lose yourself in the moment.

Racing games have always strived to strike that balance between being a virtual showroom for car lovers (see the well-done and informative Autovista mode for that) and actually being fun, compelling experiences. “Forza 4” successfully bridges this gap and is the racer you’ve been waiting for.

‘Forza Motorsport 4’

9.25 (out of 10)

Xbox 360

Microsoft Games, Turn 10 Studios

ESRB rating: E for Everyone

New game releases

The following titles were scheduled to be released the week of Oct. 16:

• “Batman: Arkham City” (PS3, X360)

• “Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge” (X360)

• “Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder” (Wii)

• “Bass Pro Shops: The Strike — Tournament Edition” (Wii)

• “Dungeon Defenders” (X360, PC, PS3)

• “Bass Pro Shops: The Hunt — Trophy Showdown” (Wii)

• “Jimmie Johnson’s Anything With an Engine” (PS3, Wii, X360)

• “Minute to Win It” (X360)

• “Family Feud 2012 Edition” (X360, Wii)

• “The Price Is Right: Decades” (PS3, Wii)

• “Beat Hazard Ultra” (PS3)

• “Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken” (PS3)

• “The Sims 3: Pets” (X360, PC, Mac, PS3)

• “Rocksmith” (X360)

• “Payday: The Heist” (PS3)

• “JASF: Jane’s Advanced Strike Fighters” (X360, PC, PS3)

• “Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure” (Wii, PC, PS3, X360)

— Gamespot.com

DOWNLOADS

The editors of Game Informer Magazine rank the top 10 downloadable games for October:

1. “NBA Jam: On Fire Edition” (PS3, Xbox 360)

2. “Crysis” (Xbox 360)

3. “Portal 2: Peer Review” (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)

4. “Renegade Ops” (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)

5. “Orcs Must Die!” (Xbox 360, PC)

6. “Binding of Isaac” (PC)

7. “Resident Evil 4” (PS3, Xbox 360)

8. “Rochard” (PS3)

9. “Radiant Silvergun” (Xbox 360)

10. “Guardian Heroes” (Xbox 360)

— McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Weekly download

‘Mercury Hg’

For: PlayStation 3 (via PlayStation Network) and Xbox 360 (via Xbox Live Arcade)

From: Ignition Entertainment

ESRB Rating: Everyone

Price: $5

To get a quick picture of “Mercury Hg,” imagine the classic Labyrinth board game in which you rotate the game board to move a ball around and (ideally) keep it from peril while guiding it to the exit. Now replace the ball with a temperamental glob of mercury that’s prone to wobbling, shape-shifting, spilling and splitting into multiple smaller globs you must manage simultaneously.

Then replace the square board with bizarrely-shaped boards teeming with numerous useful and dangerous gadgets that alter the glob or place it in peril, and set that board to bounce to the beat of the game’s music or your own custom soundtrack.

At long last, you have “Mercury Hg,” a reboot of the awesome PSP and Wii puzzle series that feels right at home on PSN and Xbox Live. At 60 deep, “Hg” doesn’t have as many levels as the last retail “Mercury” game, which had 160. But at $5, it also doesn’t cost nearly as much.

— Billy O’Keefe

McClatchy-Tribune News Service