- 3
OMG 
i trade in my ps2 for an xbox
FORZA ! 
How have videogames changed your life? In 1998, Gran Turismo inspired me to empty my savings account for an Acura Integra GSR. Up until that point, I saw cars as polarities of fantasy versus reality; there was, of course, the everyday vehicle I drove for the daily grind (a completely unremarkable Civic), and then there were the exotics you saw only on the covers of car magazines, or on faded dog-eared posters in auto garages everywhere. But Gran Turismo was different. Here was a kick ass game that celebrated the ordinary by putting everyday cars I saw on the street -- real cars for real people, if you will -- onto my PlayStation and into my heart. Gran Turismo awakened within me a car lust I didn't know I had, and showed me to the path of being both a pretentious couch-mechanic and an avid armchair racer.
Some seven years later, my GSR is pushing 100,000 miles, and the driving sim genre has run itself into a ditch. After playing just about every realistic racer under the sun, I've become a broken record of complaints. Lack of competitive A.I., using your rivals' cars as brakes and cushions for cornering, lack of collision or damage modeling, and most of all, the glaring omission of online play and communities, were just some of my discussion mantras with other racing fans. My dilemma is that, in terms of game design, the series fueling my vehicular obsession has been running on fumes this generation. While I still have incredible respect for the games, Gran Turismo hasn't evolved much beyond better graphics and a force feedback wheel -- which, if you think about it, is rather disappointing after a seven-year reign in a sub-genre it practically spawned.
Then along came Forza Motorsport to redeem our little hobby and layout the roadmap for limitless future possibilities. For automotive purists and fans of big metal buckets with a motor on four wheels, Forza is a total godsend. The game's reverence for car culture is on par with Gran Turismo in every way, featuring a healthy roster of essential machines that will satisfy car freaks from both ends of the spectrum. In addition, with its coveted Porsche and Ferrari license, Forza features more of the cars you want to drive. Sure, not everyone may want to trick out the Honda Accord wagon like me, but I'm thinking most hot-blooded males out there would jump at the chance to throttle an Enzo around Nurburgring for hotlaps. But what I love about Forza is that, although it's, first and foremost, a simulation like its PS2 competitor, the game isn't afraid to break from tradition to do things differently.
Structurally, Forza dumps the game design artifice of mandatory license tests, focusing instead on regional limitations and appreciating the nuance of that starter car. You begin the game in one of three areas (North America, Europe, and Asia), with enough cash to blow on a decent list of initial offerings. Being the import tuning nerd that I am, I flew my ass over to Asia and picked up a Silvia S14 for its power and ease of drift characteristics. As it turns out, the S14 would become one of the most reliable and most-loved cars in my ever-growing garage. While races are still organized into specific categories (e.g., FF, AWD, FR, MR, American Muscle, RX-7 vs. Supra, etc.), Forza also introduces the concept of car classes that range from S to D, in descending order. Within that structure, each class is further subdivided into ranks of 1 through 4 (e.g., the lowest grade available is a D4 class car).
Car classes have two immediate effects on how you play Forza. The most obvious conceit is that some races require your car to fulfill certain class requirements -- a stock Inifiniti G35 sits comfortably at C2, allowing you to, of course, participate in C class races. As you tune and upgrade your ride, you'll see the car's rank go up or down in real-time; after time, you'll begin to hone each of your favorite automobiles to the top of their class spec so you have a diverse portfolio of competitive machines for every class. This becomes especially important when you take your customized cars online in both career and ELO mode (I'll get to this in a bit).
The other factor car classes play in Forza is that the system lets you extend the life of your ride way beyond what you'd normally see in a typical Gran Turismo title. Suppose, like me, you harbor an unhealthy obsession for a last-generation Integra Type-R; Forza lets you soup the car all the way up to class S for some mindblowing power, but... do you really want to go up against a 617 hp Mercedes SLR in your overblown rice rocket? In that sense, Forza requires you to understand the limits of your car, and as a result, apply your upgrades intelligently. There's a reason why I keep my Mazda RX-7 FC at the top of class B and don't push it for more power into the C-class range -- the logic works a bit like boxers training to qualify for their respective weight classes.
For the single-player experience, Forza also innovates by awarding extra money for players who opt for more challenge and race with the driving aids, such as traction control, stability, ideal driving line, and anti-lock brakes turned off. Personally, I think anyone who plays Forza with all the assists running in the background is completely missing the point of the game. Driving aids render Forza into a bland, unremarkable racing. What's remarkable about the game is its ability to make the player respect speed and momentum; Forza recreates the difficulty of masterfully handling a vehicle traveling at 150 mph so that even the most mundane hotlaps become a test of individual restraint and endurance to sustain control. Likewise, Forza punishes reckless drivers by making them pay for their own car repairs after each race. Again, the stakes to stay to not play bumper cars or to not kiss that wall is higher than ever in Forza.
As always, the most important aspect of a driving simulation is the physics system at work under the hood, and in regards to this requisite, Forza absolutely nails the criteria. The cars themselves handle like the way they're supposed to because the Forza team built a sim on top of a physics engine crunching more numbers and formulas than any console racer to date. Forza's sublime analog controls and tactile rumble encourage you to use allows each of the game's 200 or so cars in the game feel uncannily like their real-life counterparts.
Here's a true story: As an import-tuning wannabe, I recently caught the Honda S2000 bug and became curious about the drifting capabilities of this RWD roadster. So what better way to answer my own question by picking up this slick fan-favorite mobile with some extra money I had in my Forza account. Initial test drives of my new S2000 confounded my expectations. Instead of being able to kick out my rear end on a dime, the S2000 understeered itself into the dirt on high-speed corners if I eased up on the throttle when heading into the apex of the turn. Frankly, it was pissing me off and, if Forza couldn't even capture the handling of a popular car like the S2000, I was ready to write off it off as fatally inaccurate. That is, until I Googled-up "S2000" and "understeer," which lead me to a handful of real-life car reviews that mention the very same handling problem I experienced just hours earlier on my Xbox. I was stunned. Furthermore, I found a suspension tweaking guide (again, for the real-world S2000) that I was able to use and correct my S2000's understeering problem. At that point, I became a true believer. The fact that I was able to surf for tuning FAQs on enthusiast car forums (and ironically, on various Gran Turismo 4 sites) for hints on how to tune my virtual ride absolutely blew my mind.
And like the first Gran Turismo, Forza is an infectious game that will turn casual racing fans into otaku-style car freaks. The sign of a great driving sim is how much real-life knowledge the user gains from time spent in-game. During the two weeks I've spent tooling around its 40-plus tracks, Forza has taught me more about how car tuning than any book on performance theory. Much of this is made possible by Forza's instant tuning system that allows you to pause your test-drive, go straight into your various tweaking menus, and jump straight back into your car to see immediate changes take effect. Although I used many real-life guides Googled over the 'Net to mold the handling of my highly customized RX-7, it was actual trial-and-error on the blacktop that really put theory into practice for me. The best part is, this is all technical knowledge I can take away with me onto whatever racing game I become obsessed with next... or cross the boundaries of reality should I ever decide to graduate into drifting cars in the flesh.
Having aced physics and handling, everything else in Forza becomes pretty much icing on an incredibly rich and hearty cake. Delicious bonuses like aggressive A.I. opponents who drive more dynamically than any other sim racer to date, and who, even on normal difficulty settings, will present an incredible challenge in single-player mode; or the game's innovative Drivatar system, where you train your Xbox to race with your habits (teaching the CPU to drift is loads of fun), handy when you'd rather watch than sweat out a two-hour endurance race in real-time. Other nice touches like a deep cosmetic livery creator, real after-market parts that affect both your good looks and your car's performance (hint: listen to your engine after you've replaced your stock muffler with an upgrade racing grade exhaust -- vrooomm!)
Best of all, you can take all of that customization online, where you pit your unique vehicle and skills against the great wide Live contingent. Forza not only features all of the online tricks we last saw in Project Gotham Racer 2, including downloadable ghosts, and real-time leaderboards for every track, but the game also ups the multiplayer ante with ELO rankings and the ability to play your single-player career on Xbox Live against human opponents. Not only can you compete, but you can also create clans (called "car clubs") and set up car selling and trading servers that bolster Forza's online community beyond just chatting on various forums with other fans. If we could only be so lucky, Polyphony Digital will incorporate all of these innovative features for Gran Turismo 5.
The best way to sum up the excellence of Forza is with another anecdote. It's days before I'm to write this review and at this point, I'm playing the game and neglecting other editorial duties simply because I can't stop. I was taking my MR-2 for a test run down Fujimi Kaido (a fictional track inspired by Mount Akina from the manga/anime series Initial D) when my co-worker Simon Cox came into my office and shut the door behind him. He'd caught the buzz around town that Forza was the game to beat, but as a Gran Turismo devotee, he was still skeptical. Especially because the menus and user-interface lacked the polish of Polyphony Digital's aesthetic. He asked me if I had an Audi S4 in my garage -- I didn't, but I had enough money to pick one up. Because the S4 he drives in real-life is stock-tuned except for two pairs of Eibach suspension (which lowered the car about an inch), I was able to purchase racing shocks with what little money I had saved up and set him loose for a test drive on the 13 mile beast known as Nurburgring.
I watched him take up the controller and gun the car from first to third off the line. The very first words out of his mouth were, "This car sounds exactly like my S4." But already I could see that he was going into the first corner too fast. Simon slams on the brakes and the car locks itself up and glides into the rough. Luckily, he managed to avoid hitting a wall (which could have screwed up the car for the rest of the 12.9-mile ride). After driving the next few miles conservatively, and getting a good feel for Forza's controls, he began push the grip limits of the S4. "Wow, this feels exactly like my car. I just took it down Highway 1 the other weekend so the feeling is still fresh in my mind." It was Simon's first time playing Forza and, already, he was hooked.
Simon and I spent the next half hour gabbing about cars and different ways to love them. He loves European sedans and exotic racers. I love Japanese imports. But just like the game will be when you play it with your friends on Xbox Live, Forza was our common ground -- a meta-place where we could geek out about cars. Sure, it may not run at 60 frames-per-second, and it might lack true feedback support for its Fanatec Speedster wheel (which isn't exactly worth its $150 price tag, by the way), Forza has upped the bar on sim racing. This is by far the most realistic console racer ever made, and it's hands-down the best racing game on Xbox. Congratulations to the team at Microsoft Game Studios for pulling off a minor miracle with Forza.
10/10
http://www.gamerankings.com/itemran...reviewid=491190
http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/920720.asp
http://www.gamerankings.com/itemran...reviewid=490829
i trade in my ps2 for an xbox
FORZA ! How have videogames changed your life? In 1998, Gran Turismo inspired me to empty my savings account for an Acura Integra GSR. Up until that point, I saw cars as polarities of fantasy versus reality; there was, of course, the everyday vehicle I drove for the daily grind (a completely unremarkable Civic), and then there were the exotics you saw only on the covers of car magazines, or on faded dog-eared posters in auto garages everywhere. But Gran Turismo was different. Here was a kick ass game that celebrated the ordinary by putting everyday cars I saw on the street -- real cars for real people, if you will -- onto my PlayStation and into my heart. Gran Turismo awakened within me a car lust I didn't know I had, and showed me to the path of being both a pretentious couch-mechanic and an avid armchair racer.
Some seven years later, my GSR is pushing 100,000 miles, and the driving sim genre has run itself into a ditch. After playing just about every realistic racer under the sun, I've become a broken record of complaints. Lack of competitive A.I., using your rivals' cars as brakes and cushions for cornering, lack of collision or damage modeling, and most of all, the glaring omission of online play and communities, were just some of my discussion mantras with other racing fans. My dilemma is that, in terms of game design, the series fueling my vehicular obsession has been running on fumes this generation. While I still have incredible respect for the games, Gran Turismo hasn't evolved much beyond better graphics and a force feedback wheel -- which, if you think about it, is rather disappointing after a seven-year reign in a sub-genre it practically spawned.
Then along came Forza Motorsport to redeem our little hobby and layout the roadmap for limitless future possibilities. For automotive purists and fans of big metal buckets with a motor on four wheels, Forza is a total godsend. The game's reverence for car culture is on par with Gran Turismo in every way, featuring a healthy roster of essential machines that will satisfy car freaks from both ends of the spectrum. In addition, with its coveted Porsche and Ferrari license, Forza features more of the cars you want to drive. Sure, not everyone may want to trick out the Honda Accord wagon like me, but I'm thinking most hot-blooded males out there would jump at the chance to throttle an Enzo around Nurburgring for hotlaps. But what I love about Forza is that, although it's, first and foremost, a simulation like its PS2 competitor, the game isn't afraid to break from tradition to do things differently.
Structurally, Forza dumps the game design artifice of mandatory license tests, focusing instead on regional limitations and appreciating the nuance of that starter car. You begin the game in one of three areas (North America, Europe, and Asia), with enough cash to blow on a decent list of initial offerings. Being the import tuning nerd that I am, I flew my ass over to Asia and picked up a Silvia S14 for its power and ease of drift characteristics. As it turns out, the S14 would become one of the most reliable and most-loved cars in my ever-growing garage. While races are still organized into specific categories (e.g., FF, AWD, FR, MR, American Muscle, RX-7 vs. Supra, etc.), Forza also introduces the concept of car classes that range from S to D, in descending order. Within that structure, each class is further subdivided into ranks of 1 through 4 (e.g., the lowest grade available is a D4 class car).
Car classes have two immediate effects on how you play Forza. The most obvious conceit is that some races require your car to fulfill certain class requirements -- a stock Inifiniti G35 sits comfortably at C2, allowing you to, of course, participate in C class races. As you tune and upgrade your ride, you'll see the car's rank go up or down in real-time; after time, you'll begin to hone each of your favorite automobiles to the top of their class spec so you have a diverse portfolio of competitive machines for every class. This becomes especially important when you take your customized cars online in both career and ELO mode (I'll get to this in a bit).
The other factor car classes play in Forza is that the system lets you extend the life of your ride way beyond what you'd normally see in a typical Gran Turismo title. Suppose, like me, you harbor an unhealthy obsession for a last-generation Integra Type-R; Forza lets you soup the car all the way up to class S for some mindblowing power, but... do you really want to go up against a 617 hp Mercedes SLR in your overblown rice rocket? In that sense, Forza requires you to understand the limits of your car, and as a result, apply your upgrades intelligently. There's a reason why I keep my Mazda RX-7 FC at the top of class B and don't push it for more power into the C-class range -- the logic works a bit like boxers training to qualify for their respective weight classes.
For the single-player experience, Forza also innovates by awarding extra money for players who opt for more challenge and race with the driving aids, such as traction control, stability, ideal driving line, and anti-lock brakes turned off. Personally, I think anyone who plays Forza with all the assists running in the background is completely missing the point of the game. Driving aids render Forza into a bland, unremarkable racing. What's remarkable about the game is its ability to make the player respect speed and momentum; Forza recreates the difficulty of masterfully handling a vehicle traveling at 150 mph so that even the most mundane hotlaps become a test of individual restraint and endurance to sustain control. Likewise, Forza punishes reckless drivers by making them pay for their own car repairs after each race. Again, the stakes to stay to not play bumper cars or to not kiss that wall is higher than ever in Forza.
As always, the most important aspect of a driving simulation is the physics system at work under the hood, and in regards to this requisite, Forza absolutely nails the criteria. The cars themselves handle like the way they're supposed to because the Forza team built a sim on top of a physics engine crunching more numbers and formulas than any console racer to date. Forza's sublime analog controls and tactile rumble encourage you to use allows each of the game's 200 or so cars in the game feel uncannily like their real-life counterparts.
Here's a true story: As an import-tuning wannabe, I recently caught the Honda S2000 bug and became curious about the drifting capabilities of this RWD roadster. So what better way to answer my own question by picking up this slick fan-favorite mobile with some extra money I had in my Forza account. Initial test drives of my new S2000 confounded my expectations. Instead of being able to kick out my rear end on a dime, the S2000 understeered itself into the dirt on high-speed corners if I eased up on the throttle when heading into the apex of the turn. Frankly, it was pissing me off and, if Forza couldn't even capture the handling of a popular car like the S2000, I was ready to write off it off as fatally inaccurate. That is, until I Googled-up "S2000" and "understeer," which lead me to a handful of real-life car reviews that mention the very same handling problem I experienced just hours earlier on my Xbox. I was stunned. Furthermore, I found a suspension tweaking guide (again, for the real-world S2000) that I was able to use and correct my S2000's understeering problem. At that point, I became a true believer. The fact that I was able to surf for tuning FAQs on enthusiast car forums (and ironically, on various Gran Turismo 4 sites) for hints on how to tune my virtual ride absolutely blew my mind.
And like the first Gran Turismo, Forza is an infectious game that will turn casual racing fans into otaku-style car freaks. The sign of a great driving sim is how much real-life knowledge the user gains from time spent in-game. During the two weeks I've spent tooling around its 40-plus tracks, Forza has taught me more about how car tuning than any book on performance theory. Much of this is made possible by Forza's instant tuning system that allows you to pause your test-drive, go straight into your various tweaking menus, and jump straight back into your car to see immediate changes take effect. Although I used many real-life guides Googled over the 'Net to mold the handling of my highly customized RX-7, it was actual trial-and-error on the blacktop that really put theory into practice for me. The best part is, this is all technical knowledge I can take away with me onto whatever racing game I become obsessed with next... or cross the boundaries of reality should I ever decide to graduate into drifting cars in the flesh.
Having aced physics and handling, everything else in Forza becomes pretty much icing on an incredibly rich and hearty cake. Delicious bonuses like aggressive A.I. opponents who drive more dynamically than any other sim racer to date, and who, even on normal difficulty settings, will present an incredible challenge in single-player mode; or the game's innovative Drivatar system, where you train your Xbox to race with your habits (teaching the CPU to drift is loads of fun), handy when you'd rather watch than sweat out a two-hour endurance race in real-time. Other nice touches like a deep cosmetic livery creator, real after-market parts that affect both your good looks and your car's performance (hint: listen to your engine after you've replaced your stock muffler with an upgrade racing grade exhaust -- vrooomm!)
Best of all, you can take all of that customization online, where you pit your unique vehicle and skills against the great wide Live contingent. Forza not only features all of the online tricks we last saw in Project Gotham Racer 2, including downloadable ghosts, and real-time leaderboards for every track, but the game also ups the multiplayer ante with ELO rankings and the ability to play your single-player career on Xbox Live against human opponents. Not only can you compete, but you can also create clans (called "car clubs") and set up car selling and trading servers that bolster Forza's online community beyond just chatting on various forums with other fans. If we could only be so lucky, Polyphony Digital will incorporate all of these innovative features for Gran Turismo 5.
The best way to sum up the excellence of Forza is with another anecdote. It's days before I'm to write this review and at this point, I'm playing the game and neglecting other editorial duties simply because I can't stop. I was taking my MR-2 for a test run down Fujimi Kaido (a fictional track inspired by Mount Akina from the manga/anime series Initial D) when my co-worker Simon Cox came into my office and shut the door behind him. He'd caught the buzz around town that Forza was the game to beat, but as a Gran Turismo devotee, he was still skeptical. Especially because the menus and user-interface lacked the polish of Polyphony Digital's aesthetic. He asked me if I had an Audi S4 in my garage -- I didn't, but I had enough money to pick one up. Because the S4 he drives in real-life is stock-tuned except for two pairs of Eibach suspension (which lowered the car about an inch), I was able to purchase racing shocks with what little money I had saved up and set him loose for a test drive on the 13 mile beast known as Nurburgring.
I watched him take up the controller and gun the car from first to third off the line. The very first words out of his mouth were, "This car sounds exactly like my S4." But already I could see that he was going into the first corner too fast. Simon slams on the brakes and the car locks itself up and glides into the rough. Luckily, he managed to avoid hitting a wall (which could have screwed up the car for the rest of the 12.9-mile ride). After driving the next few miles conservatively, and getting a good feel for Forza's controls, he began push the grip limits of the S4. "Wow, this feels exactly like my car. I just took it down Highway 1 the other weekend so the feeling is still fresh in my mind." It was Simon's first time playing Forza and, already, he was hooked.
Simon and I spent the next half hour gabbing about cars and different ways to love them. He loves European sedans and exotic racers. I love Japanese imports. But just like the game will be when you play it with your friends on Xbox Live, Forza was our common ground -- a meta-place where we could geek out about cars. Sure, it may not run at 60 frames-per-second, and it might lack true feedback support for its Fanatec Speedster wheel (which isn't exactly worth its $150 price tag, by the way), Forza has upped the bar on sim racing. This is by far the most realistic console racer ever made, and it's hands-down the best racing game on Xbox. Congratulations to the team at Microsoft Game Studios for pulling off a minor miracle with Forza.
10/10
http://www.gamerankings.com/itemran...reviewid=491190
http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/920720.asp
http://www.gamerankings.com/itemran...reviewid=490829
) But I really don't like all these fanboys sticking up for one side or another, there both games, and what are games for? Fun! Thats right you guessed it! Like you mushuggah I didn't know much about cars until the first Gran Turismo came out and immidatly feel in love with they Supra/Skyline/Rx-7/Corvette but at that age I only like Exotics (around 10 years old), all I was into was Fast Lamboghinis and Porcheas and what not, But i started to go crazy every time I saw a old MA70 Supra Turbo go by, I mean there pretty common MKIII's but still i said "I HAVE THAT, I HAVE THAT" now since I bought myself a Camaro I think I going to stay with domestics for the remainder part of my life
