Forza Motorsport is a simulation game that was supposed to match up to Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo, which has still dominated the raceway since 1997. Forza was released in May 2005 with 250 cars and about three-dozen tracks, which is probably the best selection to come on the Microsoft XBox. It reached a million in sales a few weeks ago, and it was dubbed the Gran Turismo Killer around many websites. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Forza Motorsport doesn't quite raise up to the bar that the Gran Turismo series, but this I must say is one of the most impressive starts to a racing series yet.
Graphics
Gran Turismo 4 was probably the greatest game on the Playstation 2 in terms of its visuals, and anyone who says it isn't impressive is a fool. Forza Motorsport is another eye pleaser that has come onto the XBox with flying colors. While not as impressive as Gran Turismo 4 in this category, Forza delivers vehicles on such integrity and precision that the XBox does surprisingly well, and this game has the capability to make anyone who has the stubborn attitude for this category buckle at its feet. This title runs on a smooth frame rate and the cities, like New York, Silverstone Raceway, Nurburgring, and Laguna Seca. This game has eight cars to a race so this title does have a bit more work to do than Gran Turismo 4, and the fact that you play on mountainsides and in the middle of nowhere obviously adds a sense of realism to the party.
Gameplay
People consider some racing games to be boring and not innovative enough to make the lengthy gameplay worthwhile. For some reason, Forza makes simulation racing fun, and innovative. Forza pits eight racers against each other, one of them that you are controlling, and there are three somewhat different difficulty levels, and by somewhat I mean that they aren't so different for one another. Easy is about as hard as the hard difficulty level, and the same otherwise. This game will probably take about a good thirty hours of hard work in order to complete, ranging from Level 1 to Level 50, and the more levels you achieve, the better prizes you get, and the more harder it gets. The races range from Sprint, which is just point-to-point racing, to Endurance, which will test your patience and durability. Oh, and Online Play is in there somewhere as well.
Sound
This is probably the weakest part of the Forza system. Unfortunately, soundtracks have never really been good in racing games, and Forza Motorsport is no exception. You will probably wind up having to turn off the volume and listening to the radio or something else while you play it. The racing theme blends really well because it sounds very good during the gameplay and the racing feels like you are actually at the raceway experiencing it. Every time you seem to add some performance to your vehicle, it sounds different every time you step on the wheel, and that is a big positive. Every car sounds different, so you know you aren't driving the same muscle car, classic car, or sports car, and that, once again, is another positive to the sense of realism that this game unfolds.
Replay Value
This is another critical factor that goes into a game's development, and Forza does this category as strong as most games can't possibly match. If this game has 250 cars, and over three-dozen tracks for your racing pleasure, this is easily a great quality for this game to master. Even though the fact that you probably will probably not want to play this game again, it would be a car tuner's dream because of the hours and hours you will spend tuning those different automobiles of all shapes and sizes. This game isn't as in-depth as some others are, in my opinion, but for the one who likes the simulation look with a sprinkle of arcade feel, it could keep one deadlocked in their bedroom for weeks and maybe even months to come.
Overall
Forza Motorsport is a classic addition to the gamer's library. It isn't as spellbinding or astounding as it was supposed to be, but for a few hours of time passing, this game is easily a great way to waste it. Even though there are some technical issues, because the damage system, which I forgot to mention, is kind of poor and isn't superbly realistic, but a nice attempt to try to reenact a race. Unfortunately, there really isn't a multiplayer mode to speak of, unless you want to count the Online Play as part of it, but that isn't really a big factor to one of the biggest titles of 2005. This is an above-average racer, and if you are into the Gran Turismo 4, but are willing to sacrifice some gameplay for Online Play and not as impressive graphics for damages, then Forza Motorsport is a welcome bet.
Ratings
Graphics: 4.3/5.0
Gameplay: 4.3/5.0
Sound: 4.0/5.0
Replay Value: 4.2/5.0
Overall: 16.8/20.0 - 4.2/5.0 - 84%
Graphics
Gran Turismo 4 was probably the greatest game on the Playstation 2 in terms of its visuals, and anyone who says it isn't impressive is a fool. Forza Motorsport is another eye pleaser that has come onto the XBox with flying colors. While not as impressive as Gran Turismo 4 in this category, Forza delivers vehicles on such integrity and precision that the XBox does surprisingly well, and this game has the capability to make anyone who has the stubborn attitude for this category buckle at its feet. This title runs on a smooth frame rate and the cities, like New York, Silverstone Raceway, Nurburgring, and Laguna Seca. This game has eight cars to a race so this title does have a bit more work to do than Gran Turismo 4, and the fact that you play on mountainsides and in the middle of nowhere obviously adds a sense of realism to the party.
Gameplay
People consider some racing games to be boring and not innovative enough to make the lengthy gameplay worthwhile. For some reason, Forza makes simulation racing fun, and innovative. Forza pits eight racers against each other, one of them that you are controlling, and there are three somewhat different difficulty levels, and by somewhat I mean that they aren't so different for one another. Easy is about as hard as the hard difficulty level, and the same otherwise. This game will probably take about a good thirty hours of hard work in order to complete, ranging from Level 1 to Level 50, and the more levels you achieve, the better prizes you get, and the more harder it gets. The races range from Sprint, which is just point-to-point racing, to Endurance, which will test your patience and durability. Oh, and Online Play is in there somewhere as well.
Sound
This is probably the weakest part of the Forza system. Unfortunately, soundtracks have never really been good in racing games, and Forza Motorsport is no exception. You will probably wind up having to turn off the volume and listening to the radio or something else while you play it. The racing theme blends really well because it sounds very good during the gameplay and the racing feels like you are actually at the raceway experiencing it. Every time you seem to add some performance to your vehicle, it sounds different every time you step on the wheel, and that is a big positive. Every car sounds different, so you know you aren't driving the same muscle car, classic car, or sports car, and that, once again, is another positive to the sense of realism that this game unfolds.
Replay Value
This is another critical factor that goes into a game's development, and Forza does this category as strong as most games can't possibly match. If this game has 250 cars, and over three-dozen tracks for your racing pleasure, this is easily a great quality for this game to master. Even though the fact that you probably will probably not want to play this game again, it would be a car tuner's dream because of the hours and hours you will spend tuning those different automobiles of all shapes and sizes. This game isn't as in-depth as some others are, in my opinion, but for the one who likes the simulation look with a sprinkle of arcade feel, it could keep one deadlocked in their bedroom for weeks and maybe even months to come.
Overall
Forza Motorsport is a classic addition to the gamer's library. It isn't as spellbinding or astounding as it was supposed to be, but for a few hours of time passing, this game is easily a great way to waste it. Even though there are some technical issues, because the damage system, which I forgot to mention, is kind of poor and isn't superbly realistic, but a nice attempt to try to reenact a race. Unfortunately, there really isn't a multiplayer mode to speak of, unless you want to count the Online Play as part of it, but that isn't really a big factor to one of the biggest titles of 2005. This is an above-average racer, and if you are into the Gran Turismo 4, but are willing to sacrifice some gameplay for Online Play and not as impressive graphics for damages, then Forza Motorsport is a welcome bet.
Ratings
Graphics: 4.3/5.0
Gameplay: 4.3/5.0
Sound: 4.0/5.0
Replay Value: 4.2/5.0
Overall: 16.8/20.0 - 4.2/5.0 - 84%
