todd

Has anybody played this game? I got it last night. AMAZING! Definitly the best racing game i've played as far as realism goes. Theres a TON of cars in several classes, ranging from stock street cars to high performance F1 and touring cars.

The thing I like most about the game, though, is the many subtle details that makes it so realistic. For example, when you scrape your car up against a wall, the paint from your car rubs onto the wall and off of your car! I've never seen that before. The damage is very realistic as well; i.e. if you just bump into another car, you just scratch paint and get small dent; if you ram into the back of another car, bumpers, taillights, and other parts come flying off both car and scatter about on the track with incredible realism. The physics of wrecks, and the game in general, is just incredible. If you turn off TCS (traction control) and floor it, your wheels will just spin - you have to ease on the gas to get her going, just like you would in real life even with TCS.

Not to mention the graphics. Even during gameplay, it would be easy to mistake some camera angles for a real video of a real race. The sound effects are great too; every car has their own unique engine sound, and will change dramatically depending on what modifications you make to the engine (ie. exhaust; turbo/supercharger, or even whole new engine).

However, one thing I don't like is the very broad style of performance customization. For example, instead of being able to install a "Cold Air Intake" or a "2.5'' Diameter Cat-Back Exhaust," you can only choose from more general parts like "Performance Exhaust and Intake." I was really hoping to be able to choose from very specific parts. You can however significantly tweak how each part performs. You can adjust every imaginable setting for stuff like braking, wheel alignment, suspension, aerodynamic downforce, etc.

Heres what I give the game:
Driving Physics: 8.5
Car Damage/Realism: 9.5
Graphics: 9
Sound Effects: 8.5
Car Selection: 10
Customization: 7.5
Track selection: 7
Overall: 9

Whats hot: Stunning graphics, car realism, car selection
Whats not: Limited performance part customization

Thats my opinion, anyway I'd love to hear what you guys think about this game too. For anybody who has played it, how does it compared to Gran Tourismo 4 (I don't have a PS2)?

FngKestrel

My coworker picked it up and brought it into work. Pretty sweet. My favorite part of it is the replay, where instead of just seeing a pretty replay that just shows off the graphics engine, you actually get a technical display of the weight distribution and steering and all that fun stuff. To me, that makes tweaking the car much more concrete. That was one of my major gripes with the GT series. I don't squat about adjusting cars, so modifying the camber had very little impact on my perceived driving ability.

I did notice on a practice lap on Laguna Seca, that the framerate chugged for a second when driving under the overpasses. The real time reflections off the car throw the game for a loop.

The sense of speed is so-so. It's more in line with the sense of speed that you get when playing Project Gotham Racing 2, where going 60 miles an hour just doesn't feel that fast. It wasn't until my coworker took the car up to 120 mph that I really began to feel like we were hauling down the track.

But all in all, a pretty sweet game.

Anibal5

todd
wait until you get to the professional tracks
like Race Driver 2 but more so, one bump with another car, one decent hit in a wall and its race over as you watch your wheel fly away.
I especially like the varied tracks and options of driving i.e. racetrack, downhill (watch your brakes and tires melt on these ones, upgrade asap), even dirt.

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crossova

i read an article about this game last month in Popular Science. the way they described the game it sounds like the best racing sim to ever be created. i was never much of a racing sim fan (can't keep perfectly on the road...braking is for chumps lol)

mtsgsd

I just started playing this last night. Looks good with a lot of challanging courses, but you just don't have a realistic impression of speed. I was consistantly understeering into the wall of a turn on one track untill I realized that I was over 100mph going into the turn. Never had a clue that I was going that fast untill I saw the speedo. I don't want to check the gauge to know how fast I'm going, I want to drive by the seat of my pants!

My fav is still the original Need For Speed with that edge of your seat, desperate concentration needed to navigate thru the blurred scenery. Not as realistic as other games by any means, but more fun.

crossova

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, racing through the canyon in the Diablo...ahhh the memories

Cynthetiq

I played it last night for the first time...

very cool. I enjoyed it. It's a bit too sim for me as I enjoy the funner gameplay of Burnout 3, but I'm sure that as I play it more often I'll start to appreciate it more.

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Mr.Deflok

It reminds me a lot of Project Gotham Racing 2, which is a good thing because that is my all time favourite racing game. The simulator aspect to it is beautiful, feels more realistic tha GT4 and lacks the 2 hour load times which plagued that game.

It's a nice feeling to be able to drive a Dodge Viper from the get go.

MiSo

i played a demo at the store and i was dissapointed.
the driving dynamics did not see that great to me.
i felt the GT series from ps2 were alot better.

but then again.. it was a demo so i cant really give a solid opinion on it.

BigGov

In this game you need to be driving from the first person perspective in order to get the sense of speed.

Overall, it is a very nice racing game with very nice physics.

While upgrading each car is overly easy, the option to do engine swaps is very nice. Come on, who doesn't want a 911 engine in a 1,200 pound Porsche race car from the 50's?

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Wingless

Here's the ultimate question, in my opinion:

Is Forza Motorsports the Gran Turismo "killer"?

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MexicanOnABike

true that!! classic gaming!

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Mr.Deflok

It doesn't kill it but personally I think it's the better game.

Cynthetiq

I drove a MINI around the NY circuits last night, and I'm most impressed.

All the buildings are accurate, tenants and stores are pretty accurate most with the correct licensed names, and if there's no license for it, there's a good enough mock up to make you think it's that as you whiz past.

It's rather neat to see Times Square circa early 2004 frozen into a video game.

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todd

Sounds like others are enjoying the game as well.

A bit off topic, but is anybody using a steering wheel? I picked up the Mad Catz steering wheel+pedals accessory the other day. I really like it. It adds a whole new level to the simulatio, making it even more realistic. It didn't take too long at all to get used to it and begin driving well with it either. The great thing about the Mad Catz one is that it has a built in calibrator to let you adjust how sensitive the steering is. There is also a gauge on the dash that shows how much pressure you're putting on the accelerator. It has padel shifters as well as a step stick shift, so you can use either one you want.
My only complaint (which is actually the games fault) is the lack of ability to customize button controls. Forza Motorsports only offers 1 preset controller setup for a steering wheel. Since Mad Catz has padel shifters, which is what I usually use, i'd love to be able to use the stick shifter as the handbrake. The same goes for RalliSport Challenge 2 (where the hand brake plays a HUGE role) which I have been playing lately as well. It's tough trying to use buttons on the steering wheel for something that requires such quick response.

todd

I usually like using first person views in racing games, but for some reason I haven't used it too much in this one. I wish the 'upper' first person view showed your hood, like in a lot of other games such as RalliSport Challenge 2. If it had a visible hood, i'd definitly use it. I've always wondered why nobody has included the option to create your own camera angles. I'd love to be able to position the camera anywhere I want around the car, and adjust field of view and that kind of stuff as well.

After playing the game for a few days now and having reached level 14, my only real complaint is still the customization/upgrades factor. I agree it's far too easy to upgrade your cars, with very few parts to pick from. I think part of the problem is that you win too much money and too many cars. It's not too hard to get first place on every race in an event (difficulty set on medium), which means your garage fills up very quickly. It's too easy to make your car top quality, which in turn makes races quite easy to win.

I also dislike the very restrictive requirements for pretty much every race event. I'd much rather spend all my time and concentration on 2 or 3 cars, than have to worry about getting every car in the game just to be able to compete in races. I've found myself putting 30k worth of upgrades into a car to use for one specific event and then just sell it afterwards, which is quite unrealistic.

I remember seeing commercials for the game on television, and got the impression that you could pick your own racing genre (street, grand prix, touring, drag, etc.) and concentrate on the car you build for that. That isn't the case at all, however.

mtsgsd

I use the in-car view, and I think it could use some improvement too. I can't understand why your perspective is from bumper height! I changed my mind about the realisim though. Some of the tracks are sneakier than others, but you do get that sense of speed. I like/dislike that you have to be more technical in this game and not just drift around corners though. I like drifting!
The only real complaint I have is that if you don't get in front and stay in front right from the beginning to the end of the race, you don't have a chance. Maybe this changes later when the car is more capable, but I'm already getting in the habit of re-starting the race if a car gets in front of me.

Ruse

Just picked this game up Im having a lot of fun with it so far. I love how damage actually effects the driving and look of the car - the gameplay and graphics are wonderful.. blah blah blah. Everything is great except for one thing. They spent all this time making it more "realistic" but what they have in realistic damage they lost in realistic prices and winnings. If all the cars in the game had the real price for the value and if you got less for winning races then the game would not be only more challenging but ( to me ) a helluva lot more fun. You cant appreciate something as much if youre just handed the keys - you need to work for it.

martinguerre

frankly, i'm still a GT4 man myself. i liked forza...but i'd have to get used to the xbox controlers.

Frankly whatever system you had before...either is fine. where GT4 has the edge is in game size. forza moves slow in that the prizes are pretty small in the early game, but gt4 just has more races, etc...so far as i can tell. the perception of speed is an interesting comment...forza does feel slow sometimes, where as GT4 has me feeling like i'm really hauling.

GT5 is going to have to step things up a lot to regain it's previous spot as THE racing sim.

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Ruse

heh.. GT4 has you feeling like youre hauling eh?

It had me at a stand-still with loading screens.


Edit: Also... I beg to differ. Forza moved too quickly at the beginning in my opinion. You started out with your choice of car from a selection of half a dozen give or take and from there you could have 2-3 new cars and enough winnings to buy another within 30 minutes - not to mention that you can sell those cars for 5/6 the buying value basically (and on top of that have a bonus % of cash just for turning some basic things on or up in difficulty). GT4, however, you had to shop for a used car ( I liked that idea ) race and race and race so you could upgrade it and eventually save up by selling the terrible cars you won for 1/4th the normal buying price. Reminds me of "the grind" in Everquest...
On the flip side, GT4 did have a lot more tracks and licences (Imagine that... no licence tests in forza. Thank god. ) than Forza.. and they both look amazing.

martinguerre

i guess the grind went faster for me in GT4. once i got a decent beemer, the German Touring Car cup is a huge money maker. the car that you get on the prize is something like 500,000 or something like that. a couple times through, and any car that's for sale can be gotten and pimped to hell.

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todd

Something i've began to hate about the game is the very restrictive race requirements. Such as "D class" races, or something that limits the performance of the car. It's difficult going from driving your favorite high performance car to having to race a very slow and ill-equipped car. I find myself restarting the race many times before I get used to the car I'm being forced to drive. And even modding it to the brink of gaining a class, the other cars in the race blow me away off the line and on straight aways. And i'm only using medium difficulty setting.

Coppertop

Just started playing the game yesterday. It's great so far. Quite similar to GT (GT3 was the last I played) except for the lack of license tests - thank fucking god. Man those were a pain. I don't find the game hard at all, after only a day or so I have gotten used to the game and can consisently win.

I play with a +55% difficulty:
- sim damage on
- stability off
- best line off
- manual transmission

And I am sure that the more I play, the more I'll ramp up the difficulty.

So far it's a great game. It is the only thing to bring me back to the Xbox since Jade Empire. I am only about 3% of the way through the game and look forward to the rest of it.

rideough

I found that Forza was like GT4 for people with A.D.D. If you are any good at the gran turismo series then the Forza game will have you bored fast. I played my friends after playing GT4 all day and he said " be careful this car is hard to control...really fast" well i won the race no probs and didn't want to play anymore. its too easy.

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spongy

I rented it last week and liked it well enough, but I am basically gonna try to save my gaming time ( and money) for the 360.

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ZeliG

I love Forza Motorsport. It has great graphics and nice little touches here and there. One can really customize the difficulty ( I have everything turned to max now and am finishing up the endurance races ).
I really like how even though it has less cars than GT they are varied ( I dont have 700 versions of Honda NSXs and then 40 Accura NSXs ) and actually gets you to use a good deal of them.
The interface is very nice as well, clean and efficient.
The game does do much worse on the costumization side of things. Body mods are nice but more actuall parts would be prefered. Finally, the pacing of the game is done well.