Forza Motorsport 3 (Xbox 360, 2009)

Okay, i'll get to what most people ask, which is how this game compares to Gran Turismo. Gran Turismo is the only real competitor for the Forza series. However, Forza 3 itself has no real competition. It came out when there was no Gran Turismo on the PS3, and Gran Turismo 5 didn't come out until a few months ago, so it should be compared with the upcoming Forza 4, not Forza 3.

Forza has a few things nto in any other true racing sim. First, it has a nicely detailed level of customization to each vehicle, including the ability to swap out the actual engines of certain vehicles. You can paint your car, add vinyls, etc. There isn't a Need for Speed level of body modifications, but you don't really expect that with a racing sim as opposed to a more arcade racer like NFS. Second, there is a very nice selection of cars. Adding a real-life drivability to the Italian car line-up is easily one of the greatest draws of the game. The Ferrari's, the Lambos, the Porches... virtually every person who has ever driven a car has wanted to sit in one of these. Then the cherry on top comes with the Le Mans prototype cars; really sweet.

There are a lot of nice tracks. GT4 had Nurburgring and Le Mans too, but Forza is the first place i've seen to include such great tracks like Road America and Sedona.

Here's the rub I have... the economuy of the game is a little unbalanced. It takes a lot of money to finance a robust garage. With the level system attached to the cars, it is as if they encourage you to buy new cars once you max the level of one. The problem is that you barely get any money from winning races, so doing this is a quick way to find yoruself out of money when you need/want to buy a new car for a new race. Part of this is obviously personal matter of how you play the game, but overall it doesn't seem there are races that you can do to get a whole lot of money. Gran Turismo, especially as you got late in the game, had races that you could get a whole lot of money from. Doing a handful of races could get you millions of dollars. It's not quite that easy in Forza, which is both good and bad. It adds some challenge and forces you to play the game, but it really is a nuisance to not have a more convenient way to make money late in the game when you'll be spending millions on cars, or when really interesting cars like the are priced at over $10 million.

The recreation of the driving characteristics of most cars is very good. They don't seem spot on, but they have an acceptable level of accuracty to them. The same can be said about the various tracks. But the internal rendering of dashboards in a lot of the race cars and high-level cars is laughable, with some generic blue digital layout.

The mapping of the vinyls and paint can sometimes be a little off. I had a '95 Eclipse with an aftermarket front bumper, and then went and painted it. On the left side there is a big area of white just in front of the front wheel. Just a little quality check item that got overlooked, but seems to happen
routinely.

Finally, if you want all of the best features and best cars, you better be ready to shell out extra cash for dlc and for Xbox Live Gold. The Storefront in the game lets you buy and sell tuning setups, designs, and vinyl groups. The Auction house lets you buy and sell cars to other players. Neither can be used without the Gold membership. An in-game mode disabled for Gold seems wrong.

A Fun game, but it's not quite as good as GT, IMO.

Forza 3 is a fantastic game all around. Plenty of racing offline and online to keep you busy for hours, hours, and more hours. The level of realism visually and technically with the cars is as good as it gets, compared to other games right now. In no other game can you take a Datsun and drop a new engine in it, new brakes, suspension, driveline, rims, tires, air filter, body kit, and almost anything else you would normally upgrade a car with(and notice the effects on the track). It seems almost limitless when you top it all off with the ability to design your own paint jobs and decals.

This game contains an auction house where people can sell their car creations, and a 'storefront' where original designs and pictures are shared with the community. I think that's what really fills out the game. The community with Forza is so big and full of content, that without Xbox Live - you'd be missing 3/4 of the game. For example: I bought an old Firebird TransAm, and was able to locate someone's artistic replica of the old hood decal of the Firebird. Bought it and slapped it on the hood...just like that.

I have very little to complain about when it comes to Forza 3. I'm normally an arcade racer, so when it comes to tuning the car's brakes and tire pressure...I'm a little lost. Even though their aim was to appeal to all audiences, I still don't like the idea of a tune-savvy dude blowing my doors off because he knew how stiff to make the front suspension for that one specific track. It's a small complaint, considering there is so much more to involve myself with than getting 1st place.

If you're used to pulling off 1st place while trying to maintain 90mph on hairpin corners, this is not your game. If you can appreciate a true work of art in the racing genre, even if leans more towards simulation...you need to at least try it. It's a couple months after my purchase date, and I still haven't witnessed the full scope of what this game is capable of.

"An Advancement in Racing Simulation"

Forza 3 is an amazing racing game, from the stellar graphics to the flawless driving controls, along with (to my knowledge) one of the largest amounts of cars to choose from, ever. It has all the aspects of a perfect title, with some small flaws.

Gameplay - 8/10
The core of the game. The racing in this game runs along flawlessly as you watch your car advance past the opposition (or as you fall behind). All of the seven other cars that you face have very good AI; they will try to make you crash at the start, sometimes succeeding in causing you to crash, which is where the first fault lies. They will sometimes crash you too early; so you have to try to catch up (hard in some of the races) or restart. You do not lose anything for restarting, but it gets annoying the fifth or sixth time. Another fault is the difficulty curve. The Easy difficulty is, quite that, easy. You blow past the competition with very little difficulty, and with all the assists on it almost feels like they're holding your hand. But. turn the difficulty up to, say, Hard, the computer will do everything in its power to stop you. And they WILL succeed. The Medium difficulty is definitely in the middle; the AI is proficient while your assists are limited. The jump from each difficulty is indeed a bit steep, though.

Graphics - 10/10
This is, undoubtedly, one of the best looking games in a very long time. It runs along at an amazingly smooth frame rate (60 frames per second IIRC) while allowing you to see the amazing detail put in the game, from the damage to the logos on the track walls. And. there's the decals. You can see them at an amazingly clear resolution, even on an SDTV. That shiny new X-Wing Countach you bought? Stare at it in amazing detail even on an SDTV.

Sound - 10/10
Forza Motorsport 3's entire sound database is a remarkable thing to hear, from the stellar soundtrack to the sounds of the engine and the trippy elevator music in the menus, Forza 3 is a masterpiece of sound. The sounds of the raceway are all there; from the tires skidding to the brakes doing their thing and the engine howling, it is a pleasure to hear.

Replayability - 10/10
The game doesn't end after the 6th year. The races keep coming, but that's not all. After all is said and done, there's still a helluva lot of stuff to do. Between buying the car of your dreams and finishing all the achievements, there is a nearly infinite amount of stuff to do. Even moreso if your are one of the many graphic artists that can make an amazing piece of art such as the aforementioned X Wing Countach. You can go for hours making brilliant pieces of machinery that can range from Castle Crashers TVRs to Guitar Hero Bugattis and Racing Decal, well, pretty much anything.

Final Recommendation/Overall Score - 9/10
Overall, Forza Motorsport 3 is an amazing game with obvious attention to detail and making the game as realistic as possible, which it does a damn good job of. The minor flaws barely weigh down the experience at all; it is still a stupendous game. Don't rent it. buy it, and make sure there's a good amount of hard drive space for the content on the second disc. You won't regret it.

This is already high on my list of awesome video games. The graphics are unreal, the online play is pretty fun as well. I have started an online racing league, and we race every Saturday. It is a great way to wind down on a Saturday evening.

Love the game, I am genuinely glad I bought it.

It's in a similar vein as the higher-profile title Gran Turismo 5, but Forza 3 is definitely the superior product. While GT5 does as many things stunningly right as it does horrifically wrong, Forza 3..well, it just gets them right.

There are well over 200 cars to choose from, and all of them can be bought in career mode - there are no 'secret' cars that aren't on the list and get unlocked. Also, you can play with any of the cars in a free play mode, either single player or in a two-player split-screen. You've got several choices of American muscle, over twenty Ferarris, the famous Bugatti Veyron, the rare Lamborghini Reventon, and even several concept cars from different makers. There are LOTS of cars that can be downloaded (for a small price), including the new Mercedes SLS, a DeLorean, and the Aston Martin DB-5.

There are enough tracks that everyone is sure to find a few that they really enjoy; personally my favorite part of the game is that it includes the legendary Nurburgring.

Each car can be customized with dozens of upgrades from turbochargers to fully adjustable transmissions. There's also a painting system that allows you to jazz up the cars as creatively as you like. Whatever you choose, they will all look stunning, and every car in the game has a fully-rendered interior view.
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If you love driving and love a challenge (the game can be driven in automatic, semi-automatic, for full automatic with a clutch!) this is the game for you. It'll look even more amazing on an H.D. television set. For the petrolheads out there, you probably won't be able to get enough of this game.