Microsoft's Gran Turismo killer is here, and it's very deadly indeed!
The Xbox 360 has got some fantastic graphics to show of, and to see the machine work its magic on the speedway is fantastic. The car models look great with reflections all over the place. There are some minor jaggies here and there, but they wont bother you. The environments are fantastic showing the suns reflection on the roads up ahead, as well as casting the shadow from the trees over your vehicle along the way.
One of the games minor mistakes comes through the sound from your car engine. I haven't had any grudge about it, but people keep saying that the cars don't sound that much like the real thing. This doesn't bother me, cause the cars sound great! The other sound effects are flawless, and the music is just perfect. It's only appearant in the menus, but it's just awesome and fits the game perfectly.
After having played Gran Turismo 4 for many many hours on the PS2 and finding it a bit too serious for my taste, I was very excited to play Forza 2. And it didn't take long before I was hooked. Microsoft has created a more "arcadeish" feel to the simulator formula. The game is more accessible and, in my opinion, more fun than Gran Turismo. The cars aren't that hard to drive, and the famous guide lines help a lot. You can choose if you want these lines to show all the time, or just when you have to brake in corners and such. These guide lines work absolutely brilliant, making the driving simpler and more accessible. So the driving is fun, well then there's the question of game modes and multiplayer. The game features a deep career mode which makes you level up through a huge amount of races in different classes. You earn money and buy new cars and upgrades. This works very well, and will last for ages. There are over 300 cars for you to collect and you can upgrade and paint them all. That's right... painting and designing your cars is something you'll spend hours and hours on. There is so much to do here, people manage to paint huge anime characters on their cars looking absolutely amazing. And after having made a fantastic looking car you can even sell it on the online auction house! Here you can buy and sell cars as much as you like, and together with a great multiplayer the online bit of Forza 2 is enormous. Forza 2 is close to being the perfect racing simulator being both accessible and deep both offline and online. If you have the slightest interest in racing games, buy Forza 2!
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The guide lines are great. Accessible gameplay. Beautiful graphics. The game is stuffed with game modes and impressive possibilities. The music fits perfectly to the gameplay. Nice menus. The opponents AI is great.
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Some jaggies on the cars. The cars doesn't sound 100% realistic! (I'm being harsh, I know!)