Well I have had Forza 2 for under 2 weeks and here are my thoughts.
Firstly let me say I owned the original Forza, but didn't buy it until about February 2006, by that time I had my 360 for a few months :shock:. It's not that I didn't want the game at the time. As I remember before it came out reading XBM and the Official Xbox UK Magazine about it and really looking forward to it. Just at that time I never had a job and buying games was more a matter of when you got some money from someone, so I t never got round to it. When I did buy the game I remember putting it in and playing it and feeling it was the worst racing game I had every played. So stopped playing it after about 30-40 mins. Because I was so used to games like PGR etc. the whole issue with braking and not being able to turn at the same time, major pissed me off. Although after a while I got used to the driving physics. In all honestly with there not being any points, looking not good on HDTV and a very deep game to finish. I think I played it for no more than 20 hours and played online 3-4 races.
So you'd think, why the hell did you want Forza 2, if you never really played much or liked the first one. Quite Simply I bought it way too late and felt I could get into it for that reason. I seen the reviews and what other have said about the game, so knew it must have been good. So seeing I love xbox more that other consoles (Ok, I Own a PS3 and likely will get a Wii when they are available in shops, but I still would only ever pick Microsoft's console if I could only have one !!!) I was totally wanting to play the new Forza the minute it was first announced, because at least this time I would have it when it came out.
So the game came out and I have played it "quite a bit". Considering I got it a week behind people in the US, I think I have played much more that the average person who lives over there. So I believe I can comment fairly well on how the game is. Over all the game is solid. There isn't that many flaws I could say that are annoying. If I were to pick a few it be the poor quality reflections on the hood, but I never use that view anyway as there isn't a rear view mirror (you could say that is annoying though, as I likely would have driven in that view if the mirror is there, but It's not that big a deal). As for the outside view of the back of the car, I think I've used that twice (Who the hell drives a car from the outside???) so I couldn't tell you how good it is in great detail, but the cars look fine even if the damage of paintwork gets very repetitive after you have seen it once. The auction house would be better if you could name the design on your car and search for that name.
Points
As for the point in this game, well they'll take a long time to get but nothing really looks hard in it. Although I have many million credits earned in the single player career, the million credits earned online achievement personally sounds the hardest (well most boring). Really, after completing the single player career will I be looking forwards to listening to a lot of ******* from people on XBL to earn that achievement ...nope. Levelling up is easy I am level 41 and I had only played the game for 1 week 3 days days and I had time to complete all of the arcade section including time trials. I have to admit though I have played it much this week, on of the days I mentioned I didn't even play it. I've been so tired the last few days I have even drifted off to sleep while racing in Forza a few times (Man, that really annoyed me when I had not smashed for say 7 laps, then for a split second your eyes close and then a bang and the controller rumbles, most importantly the winning money as reduce because of damages :(). I think I If I have played it a bit more this week I would have been around 45 -7 in level. Lastly the points for collection the cars (the secrets are for that as well) sure they will take a long time, but hey I'm sure they are all easy to get .
Steering Wheel
Well this game work very well with the official 360 wireless steering wheel. It feels much more natural that what the PGR3 force feedback was like. I played with the wheel for the first 20 hours of playing the game and really enjoyed it. The only advantage of the wheel is that your steering tends to be much smoother and precise. It obviously feels more realistic but controller is perfectly fine for playing the game if you don't have one.
Customization
Well one slight annoying thing about the customization especially with car livery designs is that there are no points. As I think I have spend about 15 hours painting/decal cars alone. Which I could have earned points in the career with those hours :(. Never the less it is good but still hard to make good designs. My latest design it actually going to advertise my new website. lol talk about in-game advertising :D.
Sound
The cars sounds are really good, just as you would expect from a AAA racing sim. I really love the crashing sounds though. The sounds of shattering glass or the thud of hitting a cone all sound great. The only down side of the in-game sounds would be crowds are not that diverse, but if your paying attention to that then your not playing it right. Lastly the music in the menus is Soooo much better than that crap in the first game.
My tips for playing the game.
1. Don't got buy loads of cars.
Don't got buy loads of cars just because you like them, else you could run out of credits when you need them. This has never happened to me in racing games like this but I know people do that. why bother when you are given plenty of cars for playing the game. I say only purchase them when you really need them: If you can't enter without buying a car (although if there are other races try them, you might unlock a car that will work in the previous race and save your self credits). Or if you are filthy rich and really like the car :D but still watch out if you haven't got near the end of the career as you have to think about car AND the cost of upgrades.
2. Spend time painting up one good design.
Spend time painting up one good design. Then sell cheap cars from your own region with your design on it. It's like printing money and you'll get a achievement after a while for doing this.
3. "Concentration is Key"
This is really the most important thing I can say when racing. It is so easy to be leading a race for ages and loose focus for a second, most of the time causing you vital damage and race position.
4. Dont cut corners
Unlike other racing games, cutting corners doesn't pay. Even on concrete your cars will slow down, get caught in the sand or grass as it's like driving in syrup. You'll also get a time penalty for it, so if your doing a time trial stay on the track or your time will be much longer. Saying all this though, there are a few places that is worth cutting ;) (if your just racing and not caring about lap times). Try finding them they are very useful.
5. Brakes are more important than your accelerator
Believe it or not, braking is more important (especially with no ABS). At all times remember your braking points. Obviously this will change from car to car but once you work out where they are keep it in your mind. If you don't brake enough, you will be well off of the racing line or even worse smashed up against a wall. Nearly all your mistakes will usually be down to braking, just remember you have to be slow to be fast.
Ok So thats me , I could write much more but it's 2:40 am and I really want some sleep. The text above likly doesn't even make sence. Ah well who cares I really don't feel like reading it all.
Lastly I'm not sure if I'm play much Forza in the next week or 2 I have alot of things to do other than play games.
Hope you enjoyed reading this blog/review/guide any questions about the game then PM me. Oh and lastly don't ever worry about things like Tru-Skill ranks there are always too many people better that you to care about them, and lap times ehh really I don't care about them either, just try and enjoy the game.
Well I'm off and going to bed, c ya's
P.S. This game isn't good for people who want quick gamer points. You'd be quicker playing oblivion to earn them ;)
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