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| | Title:
Forza Motorsport
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System:
Xbox
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Genre:
Racing
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Publisher:
Microsoft
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Developer:
Microsoft
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Release:
Winter 2005
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Online:
Yes
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ESRB:
Rating Pending
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Forza Motorsport is Microsoft’s answer to Sony’s Gran Turismo franchise. Since the release of Xbox Live fans have been waiting for a simulation racing game where they can test their racing and customization skills online. Well rejoice, Forza has arrived.
The first and most important question on everyone’s mind is “Is Forza better than Gran Turismo?” The simple answer is yes. In some areas Forza runs Gran Turismo off the road *cough online*, while in other aspects of the game Forza stumbles. It is an excellent first attempt by Microsoft. In the years and sequels to come, Forza can very well be the dominant racing sim on all the consoles.
Gameplay
This is not Burnout 3. This is a simulation game and plays like one. Every car handles differently making the player have to adapt to each new vehicle he purchases. Ramming into opponents, barriers, or anything else that doesn’t move should be avoided at all costs. Once enough abuse is inflicted upon the car the performance begins to suffer. A car can lose speed and even list to one side. One quirky aspect seems to be that no matter how much damage a car receives it always lists to the left. The general concept of the game is simple. Buy a car, race, upgrade, tune up, race some more, unlock more cars, tune them up, and repeat. Here is the first instance where Forza loses some points. Forza is designed to be a very open ended experience. A player can race any track he wants with any car that meets the restrictions as many times as he wants. He has full freedom. This full freedom though at times does not compel the player to unlock more cars and dive deeper into Forza’s robust car lineup. Also the way to unlock cars is not explained very well leaving some players wondering just what they have to do. A more streamlined progression would have helped here as well as very obvious incentive to keep unlocking cars. Forza contains a very healthy list of cars. It does not boast the numbers of Gran Turismo but Forza has cars we actually want to race. The game also makes sure that the player gets to these cars early on. Forza managed to acquire licenses from some very popular foreign country car companies, which for some will be incentive enough to keep playing. The most enjoyable feature in Forza is the upgrading of the cars purchased. Buying superchargers, improved brakes, spoilers, and putting a fresh coat of paint on the new ride never felt so good. What’s nice is Forza lists the parts in increasing improvement so that those players who are not car savvy can just remember, “Farthest to the right is the best.” These upgrades unlike NFSU actually improve the performance of the cars. It’s not superficial. After buying upgrades the player can then tune up his car for certain situations. These tune-ups have a direct authentic effect on the cars performance. To give an example I had over 700 horsepower in one of my cars and it was under steering. So I lowered the tire pressure in the front tires and voila problem solved. This is one of the most rewarding feelings in the game when a player discovers a problem and is able to fix it. Overall, the customization of the cars is done incredibly well. A minor complaint I have is with the clunky interface when customizing the look of the cars. There are just too many windows and menu screens to go through. A greater variety of decals would have also been nice.
Graphics
Forza is a beautiful game. The cars look amazing and all are rendered authentically. How the sun reflects off the cars and makes them glow is impressive and probably the best I’ve seen. It has been done before in almost every racing game of this generation but Forza really gets it right. Damage also is displayed accurately. Scrape the car along the left too much and slowly the paint begins to wear away. Bash into the back of an opponent and the nose crunches. Get rear-ended and the bumper begins to hang. The windows even crack and break. The reflections of surrounding environments off the cars though were poorly executed. They moved at a stoic pace and honestly didn’t look that great
What was really surprising is the amount of detail and time the team went into when designing the tracks. The scenery while racing through the tracks is really impressive. At times I was tempted to slow down and forfeit the race in order to just gander at the beauty before me. A great example of this is New York II track. The billboards, lighting, and how the city seems to go on forever really brings the player into the game that few other racing games can. The player truly feels like these are the crowded streets of New York.
Sound
The sound effects and music of Forza are admirable. Each car sounds unique with tune-ups and upgrades adding to the ferocity of the engines. Tires skidding, cars bumping, it all sounds like it should; no complaints. 5.1-surround sound is recommended. The soundtrack on the other hand is best left off. As I played I quickly found more enjoyment in the game with no music at all. Games like Burnout 3 benefit from music, Forza does not. Those who want to race to music use Xbox’s custom soundtrack feature. Maybe more environmental sound effects would have helped too.
Replay Value
Forza has an enormous amount of replay value. Those worried if they will get their money out of this game need not. You will. The huge list of cars to unlock, upgrade, tune up and race adds endless hours to the game. A player could literally have a car for every type of racing situation involved in the game, which is quite a lot. The real replay value is online. It is here Forza shines. Players can take their custom cars online to showcase to the world. Car groups like the clans in Halo 2 allow up to 100 people to join together and race online. One of the most ingenious ideas that Forza incorporates is that a player can earn money online to use offline. This is a smart move on Forza’s part because now players won’t just be playing for pride online. Just the drive to be the person who wins or has the coolest car will keep people coming back to this game again and again online.
Overall Forza is an amazing simulation driver and the best on the market. The experiences of buying a car, upgrading it, and taking it online to beat down anyone who crosses your path is experience no racing sim has gotten right or even done. Until now. This game comes highly recommended to car junkies and anyone else who’s dreamed of owning the car of their dreams. 9.8 out of 10.
| The Core Score |
Overall
9.8 |
| Fun |
|
10 |
| Gameplay |
|
10 |
| Graphics |
|
9 |
| Audio |
|
9 |
| Replay |
|
10 |
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