Forza Motorsport (Xbox, 2005)

Forza Motorsport is the racing game that fills out the XBOX's racing category. The XBOX has been with out a racing sim for quite a long time and now it finally gets one. Forza is not exactly a game for the masses, it uses real world physics which can be quite challenging since you have to judge when to brake as in real life unless you want to kiss the wall. Also it's very easy to build a very powerful machine with a lot of money, however if not tuned properly or if the car is just simply overpowered, it can be quite a handfull just to keep the car on the road, even in a straight line. The game does have assists which help out greatly, but the only way to have true control is to turn some of them off. Traction control (TCS) makes drifting practically impossible. Anti Lock Brakes (ABS) is mandetory however since it's difficult to modulate the brakes with a controller.

A big chunk of this game is the career mode where you start off with 20,000 so it's enough buy a compact car. I believe the first car I bought was an SRT-4 which has a good amount of power and handles quite well, it's a great car to start with. It takes a little while to earn a lot of money in the first few races so you have to be little patient if you want to upgrade your ride. You can turn the driving assists off you do have the opportunity to make a lot more money, but with the assists off the chances of making a costly mistake are much higher. If you don't want to drive in all of the races, Forza introduces the DRIVATAR which is an A.I. which you can train to do races for you. You can't earn as much money when you use the DRIVATAR but it sometimes helps out with those really tidious races.

The big thing about games like this is the ability to upgrade a vehicle and tune it. Forza adds some new elements to this category, like the ability to really customize the appearance of your ride. While this isn't really new, no game like Gran Turismo has allowed your to really alter the appearance of your car. Also you have the ability to chose which type of power adder you'd like, either super charging or turbo charging. While turbo charging is more efficient it's not instantanious like super charging. These extra options allow you to build a car more to your specifications. Everything else is the same like in any other racing sim, i.e. suspension and brake upgrades. Basically everything you need to turn an ordinary car into a supercar.

In conclusion Forza Motorsport is a fantastic racing simulator with a bevy of features to keep you playing hours on end. However because of it's realistic driving nature, it might not be everyone's cup of tea.

I bought this game because I love cars, I liked Gran Turismo (GT 2,3 &4) for PS2 and I wanted something comparable for my xbox, given it's higher visual capabilities and the fact I have component cables for it, and not my PS2.

This game meets or beats GT4. After a couple weeks I've decided that this game is just as enjoyable as GT4, I won't give up GT4 but Forza is some seriously stiff competition!

Graphics - Forza does a good job in this respect, nothing absolutely spectacular but it's good all around and nothing is lacking. Plus, you can apply paint schemes, and decal graphics to your cars! Its nice to drive a car that feels AND looks exactly how you want it to.

Sound - I thought it sounded tinny and hollow at first but after playing it for a week and adjusting my surround sound, it sounds good. Good engine sounds, good tire squeal, and nothing really sounds repetitive at this point. The menu music gets annoying at times, but you can rip music to your xbox HD and play that instead, and as some reviews online mention, it plays continuously! No funny silence during loading, so those times are less 'boring'.
My one gripe is the loudness of racing transmissions. They would be loud in reality (no syncromesh gears) but they seem to stand out more than in GT4. Not a HUGE deal, but when you're getting used to listening for shift points on each new sounding car, things can sometimes get hairy. I'm getting used to it though.

Gameplay - The menu navigation is sometimes counter-intuitive if you're an avid gt4 player, but besides that you have your basic classes of racing and different events, and its well layed out, in such a way that its eaiser to tell exactly what you have available, completed, and locked. No stupid "manufacturer specific" races either. Cars get unlocked as you play the game based on points winnings at the end of each race. Get enough points and you level up, gaining 'relationships' with various companies.
Use prize money to BUY those cars. You also get reward cars when completing race categories.

Winning points for an actual purpose is a GREAT incentive to race at a higher difficulty level. In gt4 you can't earn anything with a-spec points but here, I have turned off ALL aids, and set the game difficulty as high as possible and so my points winnings go through the roof and my driving skill increases. All this makes the game much more enjoyable.

Now for the racing, the actual track time is great, and you really get a feel for every car you drive. After some playtime (in the most realistic mode, all aids off) you really force yourself to learn how to race efficiently and the effects of damage on your car make this challenging. Accidentally downshift in GT4 now and then - no biggie, GT4 doesn't care. Forza? ..you'll add some damage to your drivetrain and engine which you get to pay for after the race (no worries its not much). Power out of a turn as you scrape against the walls of a turn in GT4? It's all good, you're now a toboggan racer! Do this in Forza...you'll get visible damage to your body, and damage you can feel in your steering. That can get expensive/cost you a race.

Simply put, this game can really help your driving skills where GT4 is so forgiving it eventually just feels like a car collection game near the end. Forza has plenty of appeal and I haven't even gone online with it yet...that part looks fantastic.

I love this game!! It's pretty realistic. It is a simulator like it claims. Not like every other racing game that lets you just mash on the gas and brake. You have to slow down for turns, ease on the gas or you will spin out. Stuff like that. You have to ease on the brakes & gas just like in real life. The game is challenging, which some people dont like, but if you want a game thats true to real life driving, this is the game.

You can cuztomize your ride. Wheels, tires, exhaust, aerodynamics, turbo's, superchargers, tuning, you can even customize down to tire pressure & window tint!!!
Talk about customizing your ride... you can change paint color, Put awsome vinyl graphics on it (which is pretty sweet cuz thats what I do for a living) And if you do it right you can come up with some killer designs.

Graphics are pretty nice as well. Especially with component cables.
There are soooo many cars you can drive too. You win cars the more you complete the game.
The only con for this game is that there is no cockpit view with the dash and steering wheel. You can only see the road and your HUD.

I would love to get a good steering wheel for this game, with pedals and everything. That way it would be like you are really driving on the race tracks.

Oh yea and the tracks are awsome too! Nubergrin (spelling?) is on a couple of different games, and on Forza it seems to be the most realistic.

I recomend this game for anyone who likes realistic racing action!!
TWO THUMBS UP!!

This is probably the best XBox racing game ever made. I love a good racing game, but most of them have arcade like physics and end up not being boring. Forza isn't an acrade game. It's a racing simulator like the Gran Turismo series. It doesn't have as much cars as GT, but the selection of cars isn't that bad either. There's stock cars that you can buy off the showroom right now (like the Mustang GT, Pontiac GTO, Ford Focus SVT, Dodge SRT-4, etc), muscle cars (Dodge Challenger, Pontiac GTO, etc), exotics (Ferraris), and everything in-between (Toyotas, Mercedes, VWs, Audis, Hondas, etc.). There's so many upgrades and parts you can buy from aesthetics to performance. It's amazing how much stuff is available!

I love being able to tune the cars and buy parts. Sometimes I'll spend an hour upgrading, tuning, and testing a car until it's perfect! Then I'll race. It's fun because each car will handle differently and you have to adapt to the differences. And it's not all about power either. You've got to tweak the suspension, brakes, and tires too so the car won't spin out of control. For example I was racing with an older Mercedes gullwing and for me it handles perfectly and it had the right balance of power and handling. On the other hand, my friend drove the exact same car and he thought it handled like a brick on Jello. I've noticed that he likes cars to understeer a bit while I like cars that oversteer more. The great thing is that we can tune the cars differently and use the ones we feel comfortable with. It's so much fun when we're racing against each other in multiplayer mode! Too bad the multiplayer mode is only for two people.

Using most of the default settings, it was kind of easy to beat most of the races in career mode. I do like the damage. It realistically effects what happens to the car. I'm happy they didn't go overboard with it so that one head-on hit and your car is dead. The damage includes cosmetic damage, limited damage, and simulation damage. The names are pretty self explanitory. Some of the options you can turn off for bonus credits for the races. You can turn off the stability control, traction control, and anti-lock brakes for about 30% bonus credits. I recommend turning off the stability and traction, but leaving ABS on. There's a lot of things to play with so it should appeal to most people.

This game is totally worth the money. I'd recommend this game for anyone that enjoys a good racing game or simulation. It has great physics, a decent selection of cars to fit just about anyone, lots of options and parts to play with, and it looks beautiful!

Forza Motorsport is undoubtedly one of the most realistic racing sims out there. From the accurate styling of the cars, to the excellent shadow rendering, the graphics are extremely well done. The game has a solid feel to it, with well-built menus and physics that closely emulate real life. The physics system makes it a more challenging game to play, because gone forever is the arcade-style handling that is propogated in titles such as the Need for Speed series. Instead, you will be faced with tire slippage as you go around a corner at high speed, body roll that can be attenuated with multiple levels of upgrades - part by part, instead of the general upgrades provided in most other games of this genre. All in all, this game provides an edge-of-your-seat racing experience, often emulated, but never duplicated. Highly recommended for both casual and hardcore racing fans.