In the launch trailer for the Forza Motorsport 4 demo, Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson paints a beautiful image of a kind of virtual autobahn in which some endangered species of motorsport enthusiasts may thrive, having been all but systematically sussed out from modern society due to their devotion to driving fast. The impassioned, live-action trailer cues into the level of enthusiasm which exists as the main parallel between the original Top Gear crew and Turn 10’s work on Forza 4 – what is shared is a common bond – an enthusiasm for racing which is as much about the full emotion of driving incredibly tuned vehicles as it is the culture surrounding it.

What’s readily apparent in the Forza 4 demo is that they’ve achieved a new level of accessibility. The presentation is streamlined across the board, whether it’s the delightfully simple menus or the way each car’s status is shown in-race, it all feels on-point, the work of a developer at the top of their craft.

The demo, which we’ve previously covered last E3, presents the sweeping vistas of the Bernese Alps. The surroundings of the motorway are absolutely gorgeous. As you speed past the tundra-based location’s waterways, mountainous hills capped with snow, the game’s full beauty sets in with light casting across the track and accurate shadows shedding from each vehicle’s frame.

The choice of vehicles will be every bit as significant as the particularly well-conceived tracks for race fans, with the demo being segmented into three portions of the Alps, with Rivals challenges (essentially racing ghost laps from the leaderboards). There are five cars in total – the 2009 Pagani Zonda Cinque being a personal highlight, for both the combined aesthetic effect and immersion in its control. A few other top-class vehicles round out the demo nicely ranging in versatility and make.

One of the few downsides of the demo is the feel that tracks are populated with computer traffic. Whatever they’re doing, going 45 mph in a closed circuit racetrack, or where they plan on going is beyond me, but it’s a reminder that even in this otherwise elegant last bastion for motorsport enthusiasts that Jeremy Clarkson so vividly puts forward in the trailer, the roadways are still populated by assholes and to make matters worse, they’re slow assholes.

This is otherwise an exemplary demo and is exactly how you sell a game. Going into the holiday season, Forza 4 stands not only as a sort of last bastion for motorsport fans but also one of the few remaining core exclusives available on the Xbox 360. The demo is available now to all Xbox Gold subscribers and the game will be releasing early next week. As always, check back in with Thunderbolt for further coverage post-release.