Having played so much Gran turismo on my ps2 I needed an equivielent for the 360, lets see if it can compete.
Gameplay:
Great physics on the cars and a sense of realism that is definatly in the vain of GT3 and other racing games. Its great to have damage and the A.I. of the other drivers is slightly better than in GT series (never played the ps3 versions). The thing I was looking for is realism and a challenge and I feel that forza delivers this, however, its just not quite as good as gran turismo. Sometimes the cars swing in ways that seems unnatural, you can fling cars round corners at high speeds with little consequence and the lap times on various circuits would be impossible in real life.
My friend who is a professional race car driver pointed out to me the flaws in this game but he is also a secret Playstation fanboy so I guess we cant take too much from this :)
Graphics + sound:
Nice backgrounds and car design but theres something not quite right, GT on the ps2 seemed to have more graphical prowess from my memory, So I blew the dust off my ps2 and had a little go. My memory wasn't wrong! The lighting in GT is better, the road surfaces and generall feel is better as well. Not cool when this is a last gen game!
The sound also fails for me, it sounds tinny and not enough variation in the engine noices.
Conclusion
Reading my review I have been extremly harsh on the game and that is simply because I brought the game in hope of a replacement for GT. I've realised now that this game is infact great and noone should be put off by my constant comparisons. I have battered this game non-stop this month and have enjoyed it immensly.