sheograth

Anyone else looking forward to it? The first 2 are great, no doubt this will be too. Definitely good competition for Sony and the upcoming Gran Turismo 5.

HJJFFFAA

I'd buy it but I can't afford to get it.

DarkFire989

I will wait. I had the second one but got bored of it.

Ttam Says Blarg

I cant believe I missed this thread. I have been playing forza since the beginning. I should be able to jump into this one no problem. I dont know if i will pick it up tomorrow but I'm definitely going to buy it!

Foxy

Playing since Saturday, here are my thoughts.

I got the collectors edition which includes an awesome magnetically sealed box (yeh, seriously), a key ring (typically cheap, but not ugly, all metal at least), and a 2GB USB stick with a kind of Audi R8/FM3 theme to it. Again, nothing special, but kinda neat. Of course it also includes a 'normal' game box, so it doesn't look weird in your collection (I hate when games do that)

Firstly the complaints, lets get them out of the way...

When you start the game, you have to do the 'inaugural' race, to decide what driving aids you want enabled... I first selected 'Serious' gamer, as a setting, which left ABS on, turned off braking help, stability control and racing line, and left traction control on. Perfect? No. For some reason 'Serious' still gives you an auto box. :S So I changed it to manual, and also turned off the braking line (kind of a secondary racing line just for braking). So now my settings say custom. No biggie.

I very quickly realised I'd made a big mistake though, and here's a big oversight by MS... You CANNOT get to the main menu until you've run this race, and you cannot change the buttons without going to the main menu. I like to use the right stick or throttle, and the left stick for steering, using the shoulder buttons for the gears. There was nothing telling me what the buttons were at any stage, so my first tenn seconds with the game was spent watching the pack disappear off into the distance, while I figured out what the buttons were. ULTRA FAIL, and a very bad impression for me straight off. So I quit, put it auto again, just for that race, until I could get to the main menu.

So, once I actually began to enjoy the race, I was able to take stock of the game... Firstly, if you run the VGA cable to a 1080P TV, the graphics are UN-BELIEV-ABLE. The VGA has MUCH better antialiasing than the hdmi, this is my biggest Xbox 360 tip. When people say the PS3 and Xbox graphics are identical, I always tell them (you haven't tried the 360 with a VGA cable ), it's like playing on the NEXT generation of consoles, trust me. Anyway, I digress...

The handling is much too easy. There's no kind way to say it. The handling isn't that realistic, but it does allow you to concentrate on racing rather than just keeping the car on the track, and bear in mind, I was playing on a 'difficulty' level tweaked UP a little from the game's own 'Serious' setting, and it was still much too easy. I tried playing around with the remaining settings to find something more balanced. ABS is absolutely necessary when playing with a joypad, so that had to stay, I tried traction control off, but turned it back on again (it's just more fun to be able to hammer it out of the corners, rather than feathering the throttle), so I tried putting the AI skill up to Difficult (settings are easy, medium and difficult), and it was just hard enough to take some of the fun out of the early game. They need another difficulty level between medium and difficult... Advanced for example.

I DON'T LIKE THE NEW CAREER STRUCTURE.

Basically, it's calendar based now, there are championship races which are run fortnightly at weekends, and in the days in between (during the week), it gives you a choice of only 3 events. What this has meant is that while I was running in the class C championship in my NSX (yeh, yeh, Honda boy ), my choices for other events were a mid engine battle (NSX again), a Ford Focus battle (which is really stupid because by the tie you get it available, you should already have been awarded the 2010 Focus RS, which is so much better than the other Focus cars, that the race is pointless, OR a muscle car race, which doesn't interest me in the slightest (if I wanted to drive boats, I'd have bought a naval simulator )... Basically, I would have liked a bit more choice in the kind of events I can do.

Anyway overall, it deserves its 9 plus review scores, it's a great game. Just a bit too easy on medium settings, and difficult settings need a steering wheel.

Sum up...

Graphics - 10
Sound - 9.5
Gameplay - 8
Interface/Artistic merit - 9
Value - 10

Bottom line, it's Forza 2, redone again, slightly better. At least they seem to have gotten rid of those really stupid 'snake' tracks. God I hated them.

dc2 man

i saw it advertised on tv and it looks good.

but i think i will wait for GT5 on ps3......man it looks good also.

iexion

Fooxy is spot on with some of the things.

First off. Some games Ive played in the past do that BS where you jump right in and are forced to play the game before you know what the hell you are doing. This NEVER works out well and is ALWAYS a pain in the @$$.
Second those snake tracks.... Those we're the #2 thing I hated about about forza 2. (#1 being if you don't have xbox live. you can't sell your car(s) for jack dittily)

Last... why DOE'S forza still not have a "drift spec" mode with a selection of drift tires and a more drift worthy suspension set up?
Im dead serious. I have spent hours trying to tune a frikkin car to be able to drift. "D spec" could be a simple "auto tune" (kanye not included) feature that helps you get a basic starting point for drifting. most then just tight up front and loose in back.

I still pick forza over Grand Turismo. Even tho I've pretty much grown up playing that game, forza has something different

Foxy

Forza has character, where GT is soulless. I'll play both, but I prefer Forza. GT5 will have to be something else to change my mind, and the additional realism isn't enough. If I want realism, there are several PC Games I could play. It comes down to fun. I won't judge yet, I'll wait and see.

sheograth

Foxy is right about GT being soulless, it's very sterile. Hopefully 5 will have a bit more personality.

blackrain

i will be getting my copy friday i loved forza 2 so this is a no brainer anyone tried doing some designs yet. GT5 im shore will be all looks and very little content. i use to play gt in the past gt3 being my favorite but once i played forza 2 there was no looking back

sheograth

Hmm thanks for the tip about the VGA thing Foxy, I'll check that out.

iexion

I still don't have a decent reason to go back to a 360. Halo ODST looks fun but thats still a no go. Forza 2 was ultra addictive for me so F3 wouldnt be far off the chart. We stop playing the Wii then just ended up selling. the 360 was ok aside from a few disappointments but I had a mojor fear off the 3 rings coming to visit me[sm=angry.gif]
So as for now I kind of want to try a PS3 but then again, the PS4 is just around the bend (out in 2010)

HJJFFFAA

I like it. Foxy is right, it is essentially Forza 2 repackaged.

annie_himself

This seems like the perfect reason not to buy it. I hate hate hate the career mode. Pitting you against the same model cars is lame. Are you able to build cars and race against modified stock cars (not race cars). I hated not being able to race my modified cars against other modified cars, only against race cars.

Foxy

IMO, for 1080 games its the only way to play.

Whether or not you like it on the 720p is going to be down to personal preference. What you gain with the VGA is antialiasing and smoothness, what you lose is sharpness and a little brightness. Personally, I prefer not to see jaggies, whatever the downside, and that's what the VGA cable gives you.

Foxy

To my knowledge, you cannot do this, at least in the early game. But that's not a reason not to buy it. There don't seem to be many races all same models to be fair. Even the Focus races I Was talking about, my car was a good 20% better than the others (stock), since it was a prize award.

splcrazy

i played forza 2 , and finished the entire game with all the high end cars in the garage with still enough money left over , the game was way too short to complete i think i finished it within a week .

Gex_61

Arcade style racing games may have character, but I definitely get bored with them much too soon. If they are too easy or they get repetative, the fun fades away and the game goes to the shelf.

From what I hear, with GT5 Prologue they have tried to make the racing more exciting than previously. You can't buy vague upgrades for the cars anymore, instead you can tune each car within a certain range for each specific race. I think this is a great idea. Different cars will be more closely matched, while still having unique handling characteristics. I already concider Gran Turismo to be best everywhere else. If the racing is going to be more close and there are 4-5 times as many cars on the track, where else will they need to improve this game? Soulless??? The realism alone does it for me.

Foxy

I see what you're saying, but I play GTR online occasionally, and the realism doesn't compare. For me if I want fun, it's Forza, if I want sim, it's GTR, but I can see why those who don't play PC games might turn to GT for the realism, however, it's not head and shoulders more realistic than forza, just a little.

The Hedgehog

They say PS4 will be coming out around 2012.

iexion

[link=http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/04/dont-bother-picking-up-a-ps3-ps4-is-right-around-the-corner/]Clicky[/link]
Its just a rumor for now...

Enzyme80

dude not to be mean but that link is from 2006... not really helping your 2010 - sony is not that dumb.

annie_himself

Thats were I get my fun. I had to shelf F2, I never even completed the career because I get my happies from building and painting cars, and not being able to race them against appropriate opponents killed it for me. I used to play only to build and then I would race against R2 and R3 class cars.

blackrain

any of you guys using a racing wheel if so how you like it. im thinking about picking up the 360 wheel my self

Chris_RC

Here is my $0.02.

I am not a gamer so to speak, as a matter of fact I haven't played my 360 in about 6 months to a year, and before that I would only play it every 6 months or so. I guess its because I play a game for about an hour, then I am bored. Forza 2 is a good example, bear in mind that is the most advanced racing game I have played, so I will be a little biased.

With the Xbox controller or wheel, the cars just don't handle like real life. Some cars almost feel like a schoolbus when turning, but this is probably since I am used to racing rc cars where traction and steering are at an adundence, but still, it jus doesnt feel real and makes me not want to play the game. I would like a big company like Microsoft, etc. to create a RC on/offroad racing game, not a stupid game with power ups and tire/fuel/power/handling upgrades. A game like VRC, but with more than 2 people trying to create this huge game. The only game I have really stuck with is VRC v3.5, because you can race against people, and it is rc cars.

Although nothing is more fun than being on the drivers stand running a 45 minute main, VRC's 45 minute mains do get my heart racing. But the console games just dont see to be very fun, IMO.

Now, how are you guys going to correct me, because I know I made alot of mistakes because of my newbishness with consule games.