My opinion is jaded, since I enjoy arcade racers better than true sims. It's a good sim, I just didn't find it very fun.
User Rating: 5.1 | Forza Motorsport XBOX
I thought I enjoyed sim racers, but I'm quickly learning that is not the case. I enjoyed the earlier Need for Speed games and similar ones. I made the mistake of assuming they were what is considered racing simulations, but, they weren't. The early incarnations of those games were closer to arcade style racing rather than true sims. From what I understand, the difference is that sims tend to be tighter on the controls and very senstive to minor tune-ups and modifications. If you're a car nut, I guess that's cool. I enjoy driving, but I'm not all that into making tedious tweaks to an engine or transmission in order to add .05 to my grip or steering rating. Personally, I just want to jump in and drive. Therefore, this isn't exactly the perfect game for someone like me. I will say, that there are a lot of good things about the game. For example, you can just grab a car and race. There are a lot of cars available, from run of the mill Nissans and Fords to more exotic Lotuses than such. That's a nice feature. It was refreshing to not have to play for hours to get beyond of Ford Focus or something as many games do. Although, if you are playing "career mode", you do have to unlock things, earn your cash and buy better cars. But, if you just want to race, you can drive just about anything. The graphics in Forza are outstanding. REALLY nice detail, clean and refined. The most realistic graphics I've seen on an Xbox game. I enjoy watching the race replays just to see the different angles and perspectives on the scenery. It's really well done. The sound is pretty average. I mean, in a racing game, there isn't much to hear but the engine. But, I didn't notice a lot of ambient sounds and the music was sort of non-existent. It was there, but nothing exciting. What I didn't care for was the gameplay. As I mentioned earlier, this is a racing sim. So, controls are tight, braking is slow and modifications are everything (so it seems). If you're looking for realism, I guess that's cool. Personally, I think I've been influenced by Burnout too much. I really enjoy the controls in that game. It's easy to turn, brake and recover from a, well, a burnout. With Forza, if you start to spin, forget it, you're doing a donut whether you like it or not. Once you get all turned around, you're out of the race. I prefer the get up and go, quick response of an arcade racer over a sim like this. So, take my review for what it really is, just my opinion. 
