Top Notch Game, Outstanding Review !
User Rating: 9.5 | Forza Motorsport XBOX
It seems that in this generation of racing games, there must be a comparison made to Gran Turismo 4, since the GT series has been the standard for some time. I'll try to do that as briefly as possible, since, if you are reading this, you want to see feedback on Forza, not GT. I found Forza to be extremely easy to jump into. I did several arcade style races just to get the feel of it, and it did take me some time. I'm used to running around a track in Gran Turismo style, and I was unable to do so. The default setting has a "guide" line around the track, showing the preferred line. Solid green means on the gas, yellow means no gas, no brake, and red means get on the break. Once I started following that, and learning proper brake points, things started to flow, even the handling seemed to be more real feeling than I had anticipated. When I dove into the career mode I got more in-depth. I ended up picking what I called my "home track", and racing it over and over until I felt 100% confident in my car that I could dominate every race there. It helped me learn how to "feel" the break points, and it made adjusting to other cars later on a little bit easier. In addition, my practice there helped me to adjust faster to other tracks. As I write, I'm up to level 20, which I'm thinking is not too deep into the game. I've spent pretty much the entire time racing Class D and C cars. The concept of having classes is a great idea. Upgrade your starter car too far, you'll go from Class D to C, or higher. What does this mean ? Well, you may dominate class D as a D1 car, but if you hit C4, then you are at the bottom of the C class. It makes you think about what you want to upgrade, and how far you should go. Engine, Aero, Tires, Weight ? Early on stick with speed and acceleration, later on, I think, cornering and handling become more important. Painting the car. This alone would set a game apart from the competition for me. I've spent plenty of time painting my initial Audi Quattro 3.2 TT, and my Subuaru Impreza, as they've been the two I've spent my most time in. 100 "layers" to paint per side means some very sharp looking designs are possible. What's best, is it is pretty easy to do, very intuitive, and you can be as detailed as you'd like to be. You could easily spend hours just painting your ride ! Right now I've got 16 cars in my garage, and I'd like to paint them all, but I just dont have the time, especially if I'm racing. However, that does give you an idea of how enjoyable it can be to paint cars. Sound, well, I like it. Engine noises sound pretty good, although I would like to hear more of a roar than I do, but again, that may be because of the cars that I've been driving as opposed to what's available. Again, Xbox takes the cake with the ability to play your own custom, ripped soundtracks, listen to the music you like. Damage is another thing that sets this game apart from it's biggest competitor. I've seen people say that damage is limited when they hit a wall at 120-150 miles per hour. I cant comment on that because I've never hit a wall that hard, or that fast. Again, I dont think my Audi can go that fast ! Seriously though, default settings is "limited" damage, and you only have to deal with, I believe I read, 50% of what the actual damage is. I've changed mine to simulation damage, and it's lead me to become a more careful driver. I've hit walls fairly hard, and suffered transmission damage, engine damage, and steering damage. The steering, to me, is a tough one, watch your car pull around the track to one side or the other when you are trying to go straight, and all of a sudden, you understand why you should have hit the breaks a second or so early. The damage ties into the AI pretty well. Race clean, and most of your opponents seem to do so as well. However, late in a race, they take some chances to make a pass, they'll come in faster to a turn, break later, and do things to get past you that I dont see them doing on lap 1. Bump another car, and you do feel your car move around as you try to pull it back under control. The only AI issue that I have to date, is a tendency for opponents to ram the rear end of my car on turns, especially late in a race. They come in, my guess ( have not watched telemetry )15-20+ MPH faster right into my rear bumper. Is the damage model perfect ? No, but to me, it's light years better than just arcade style racers where you suffer no damage, and no effects from a dirty racing style. Other stuff. Well, with replay, telemetry, and the ability to fine tune your car, there is plenty of opportunity to improve your car, your racing style, and get deeper into the game. As far as GT4, I've touched on many reasons here that I prefer Forza to GT. I'm sure than Forza will have some detractors, because it's racing style is a little harder, and more challenging than GT4's arcade style. You'll end up paying attention more, working a bit harder, and be a better driver for it in Forza, if you understand that the heart of it, is a simulator ( even if it's not a perfect simulator. ) The biggest reason to endorse Forza from my point of view is simple. I've never got Xbox live, since my Xbox is in the family room, and my wireless router is upstairs. At this point though, I'm looking into a few options, because while I could/would play other games on Live, I've never been motivated enough to spend the coin to do so. Forza is it, and the reason that I'm willing to do so.