Gran Turismo for the Xbox.
Now finally there’s a true racing simulator out there: Forza Motorsport, and it’s put all the other racing games a lap down. It’s so good that it’s raised the bar far beyond anything else on the Xbox. It’s basically become the Gran Turismo for its system. Speaking of GT, there are some things Forza does even better than GT4. Sony could take some lessons from Microsoft when it comes to racing games.
GAMEPLAY
Forza has everything. It’s a true racing sim. From the several hundred licensed cars, to the feel of the cars on the track: Forza has it all. One major gripe I had about Gran Turismo is there was no Ferrari or Porsche. How can you call it a racing game with no Ferrari? Forza fixes this, and includes many different models of each. It may not have the most cars, but it’s got it where it counts.
The tracks are a little lacking, though. It’s a mix of fictional tracks with licensed ones, but you’ll be racing on the same tracks a lot. The career mode in Forza has a lot of different class races, and some are restricted to only certain automakers or power ranges. But the difficulty is always just right because the races have both minimum and maximum horsepower limits. This means you’ll never be so powerful as to blow the other drivers away. If the car your in doesn’t meet the restrictions for a certain race, the game will actually bring you to your garage and show you a list of all the cars that can enter the race. Very nice!
The AI is brilliant (are you listening, Sony?). The AI drivers differ in their styles of driving. Some will be more aggressive and actually bump you in the turns to pass. While other drivers will only pass you on the straight-aways. But all of them are aware of your presence on the track. They will avoid running into you, and you can’t simply use them as a barrier during tight turns. You’re encouraged to race clean because damage will affect your car, and you lose prize money at the end of the race to repair your car.
GRAPHICS
This is another place where Forza shines. Lots of detail on the cars and tracks. The real-time shadows and reflections look amazing. Forza has full damage models on all the cars. Fenders get damaged, headlights break, and windows shatter. You can even customize the paintjobs on your cars. Add your own sponsor logos, car numbers, change body parts on the import cars, etc. You can also add engine upgrades, and all the other usual performance parts. The only ones you can’t modify are the racing class cars that already have custom paint and parts. The only downside to the graphics is they’re a little grainy in spots, but other wise look great. Nice draw distance, and absolutely no pop in.
SOUND
The sound department is Forza’s only real weak spot. The sound effects are nice, and on track the surround sound works great. The only problem is the music sucks really bad. GT is known for having licensed music (the quality varies), but all Forza has is crappy versions of guitar riffs from songs like Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.” My advise: either turn the music off and listen to the music of a 900hp car engine, or make your own custom MP3 track on the Xbox hard drive.
VALUE
Forza has both a career and arcade mode in addition to online play via Xbox Live. The single player modes are really just different ways of unlocking the same cars and tracks. In arcade mode, you need to win races to get better cars and race new tracks. In career mode you pick your country of origin (which makes certain cars rarer) and earn credits by winning races. The more credits you earn, the higher your “racing level” becomes. This determines what events you can race in, and is a great alternative to GT4’s license tests.
Forza is easily accessible to both novice racers, and race-sim fans. You can turn on assists like braking and traction. But if you turn such features off you can earn more prize money in career mode. Forza actually encourages you to use the assists, but rewards you for taking the training wheels off. Perhaps the best assist is a “preferred racing line.” This line shows you the ideal path around each course, and even changes colors to tell you when to break, hit the gas, or coast.
In the end, Forza is hands down the best racing sim on the Xbox. It doesn’t have has many cars as GT4, or look as good, but it makes enough game play improvements to pass GT4 as the best racing sim on the market. If you’re a racing fan, you owe it to yourself to pick up this game. You'll spend many hours unlocking new cars and tracks. Forza is like Pokemon for car lovers: gotta catch 'em all! This one game alone has shaken up the traditional sim-racing genre, and looks to have a bright future on the Xbox. Watch out Sony! Microsoft is aiming to take away your loyal Gran Turismo fans.