Forza 3
Live the most realistic racing experience ever as you take the wheel of more than 400 of the most-beloved cars on over 100 renowned real-world tracks and exotic road courses from around the globe… so says the blurb. But as we all know, the blurb is sometimes only true in the headspace of the spin doctor who wrote it, the guy in the suit paid to create words that sell games, the guy who has never picked up a gaming controller in his life. Fortunately for racing fans, this time that guy is right. Well, all except for the bit about most ‘beloved’ cars. That’s just a weird way of talking about some of the fastest, down right sexy cars in the world. It’s almost a gay way of talking about cars.Â
But enough of the ranting, it’s time to talk about the experience, and with Forza, it’s an experience that is earned. Some gams will throw you into the fast pace world of high-speed fun right from the get go. Forza knows that this would be a recipe for disaster, because Forza is a racing game that learns severely towards the simulation and tries to distance itself from all those fun, but somewhat hollow arcade racers. As such, Forza gives you a medium priced car to start with, one that you can learn the ropes with, re-educate your thumbs (if like me you don’t have a steering wheel) in the discipline of controlled racing.
Wit a little perseverance however, you’ll soon be given some nicer cars, and the ability to upgrade then. And of course, for those of you without the discipline to work your way to the exotics, you can always skip the career mode and opt for a quick race, picking the car of your choice, or jump online and see what you’re really made of.
Career mode is the most rewarding, and has been totally re-worked, played out this time through an annual calendar of events that lets you choose how and what you want to race. Other tweaks include the option of having your car upgraded for you – whilst still retaining the ability to do it all yourself. – which is handy for those players who really know nothing about the mechanics of motor racing.
Visually there were murmurs that Forza 3 wasn’t the graphical leap forward the people were expecting. I’m not sure what people were expecting, because Forza 3 has some sweet eye candy. Handling is – as expected – awesome, with the ability to make the experience as easy or hard as you like, novices and seasoned pros will easily find the setting that best suits their abilities, and most important of all is the new rewind feature – and essential add on that the purists might not like, but saves the tears when you decide to push the envelope just a little to far on the last corner of the last lap of an epic race!
The cream of Forza 3 however, in my oh so very humble opinion, is the inclusion of the Aussie V8 Supercars. It’s something that was promised but never delivered in GRID, and is just the icing on the cake for local drivers. The only thing Microsoft needs to do now, is to come up with some Aussie V8 circuits as a very near future DLC.
It has to be said, that after a week of playing with Forza 3, I can comfortably say that this is the best pure racing games that we’re likely to see on the current generation of consoles.
Reviewed on: Xbox 360
Available on: XBox 360
Reviewed by:
Live the most realistic racing experience ever as you take the wheel of more than 400 of the most-beloved cars on over 100 renowned real-world tracks and exotic road courses from around the globe… so says the blurb. But as we all know, the blurb is sometimes only true in the headspace of the spin doctor who wrote it, the guy in the suit paid to create words that sell games, the guy who has never picked up a gaming controller in his life. Fortunately for racing fans, this time that guy is right. Well, all except for the bit about most ‘beloved’ cars. That’s just a weird way of talking about some of the fastest, down right sexy cars in the world. It’s almost a gay way of talking about cars. But enough of the ranting, it’s time to talk about the experience, and with Forza, it’s an experience that is earned. Some gams will throw you into the fast pace world of high-speed fun right from the get go. Forza knows that this would be a recipe for disaster, because Forza is a racing game that learns severely towards the simulation and tries to distance itself from all those fun, but somewhat hollow arcade racers. As such, Forza gives you a medium priced car to start with, one that you can learn the ropes with, re-educate your thumbs (if like me you don’t have a steering wheel) in the discipline of controlled racing. Wit a little perseverance however, you’ll soon be given some nicer cars, and the ability to upgrade then. And of course, for those of you without the discipline to work your way to the exotics, you can always skip the career mode and opt for a quick race, picking the car of your choice, or jump online and see what you’re really made of. Career mode is the most rewarding, and has been totally re-worked, played out this time through an annual calendar of events that lets you choose how and what you want to race. Other tweaks include the option of having your car upgraded for you – whilst still retaining the ability to do it all yourself. – which is handy for those players who really know nothing about the mechanics of motor racing. Visually there were murmurs that Forza 3 wasn’t the graphical leap forward the people were expecting. I’m not sure what people were expecting, because Forza 3 has some sweet eye candy. Handling is – as expected – awesome, with the ability to make the experience as easy or hard as you like, novices and seasoned pros will easily find the setting that best suits their abilities, and most important of all is the new rewind feature – and essential add on that the purists might not like, but saves the tears when you decide to push the envelope just a little to far on the last corner of the last lap of an epic race! The cream of Forza 3 however, in my oh so very humble opinion, is the inclusion of the Aussie V8 Supercars. It’s something that was promised but never delivered in GRID, and is just the icing on the cake for local drivers. The only thing Microsoft needs to do now, is to come up with some Aussie V8 circuits as a very near future DLC. It has to be said, that after a week of playing with Forza 3, I can comfortably say that this is the best pure racing games that we’re likely to see on the current generation of consoles.
Reviewed by: