Although it's not without a few flaws, this is THE best console racer of all time! If you love cars, you'll love FM2!
User Rating: 9.3 | Forza Motorsport 2 X360
Forza Motorsport 2, the much anticipated 360 debut of the series, has been a long time coming...And i'm happy to say it was worth the wait! First off, the driving model is near perfect (especially with the FFB wheel, more on that later!). You can really feel the shifting of weight during tight turns, and the gentle breaking of traction from the tires when you come into that hairpin just a little too fast. You know through feedback and rumble as soon as the outside wheels touch the rumble strip, and you can almost feel the G's when your racing on the Nurburgring at 200 MPH! This is not a game for the Burnout crowd though, as the driving physics require intense concentration and subtle throttle and braking inputs, otherwise you will find yourself constantly spinning out or plowing headfirst into a wall. You can definitely scale back the difficulty to suit your skill though, and if you are new to sim racers, these options will help tremendously. You can enable Traction control (TCS), Anti-Lock brakes (ABS) and Stability Management (STM), which will help control wheelspin, brake-lock up, and car attitude in tight corners. The racing line is also a very valuable tool in learning the correct braking points on all of the tracks. The A.I. Is mostly very competent, and not overly-aggressive like in the first Forza. They may bump you occasionally but 9 out of 10 times it was your fault for taking a turn WAY to slow with an opponent right on your bumper. The A.I. has 3 settings. Graphics are great and amazingly smooth. Running at a solid 60fps, this game is truly a sight to behold when you are tearing through the tracks at ridiculous speeds. The car models look really great, and are probably the best part of the graphic package other than the framerate. The tracks are a little less flashy, but they model their real-life counter-parts to the TEE. And besides, tracks in real life don't have waterfalls and explosions in the background and all that nonsense, so why should the game? Their are a few instances of jaggies, but nothing too serious, unless your playing on a low quality HD set. Also while the lighting is really well done, they chose to go for a more colorful look and not GTHD's more photo-realistic look. The sound is also amazing, engine noises really do sound like the real thing, upgrades all change the sounds dramatically. The sound is leaps and bounds above the first game. The only thing I thought could have been a bit louder is the turbo noises, or more specifically the Blow-off Valve's. But then again, i'm a sucker for the PSHHHT of high powered turbo vehicles. Multiplayer is another great feature, with tons of host options and solid network code. You can also auction and gift cars, watch live races, qualify and race in tournaments etc. Bottom line, if you love cars and car culture, you owe it to yourself to buy this game! You will not regret it... 
