Tire sounds are very good. You can hear how your tires are behaving at all times and it can help you predict when you are about to spin out or lose traction. At times I feel that the sounds in this game can help you be a better driver whereas in GT you don't get the same feeling and start losing traction before realizing it with audio cues.
This is illustrative of how a certain amount of preference seems to make a big difference in shaping opinion. While I'm getting used to the flatulent tire sounds in F3 again, I don't think they communicate grip dynamics all that well. Not as well as GT4 or Prologue. In fact, I have tire sound cranked up because the grip envelope rides along a certain "breathing" sound the tires make, which in FM2 and 3 were much too quiet. The tire sounds in Forza 1 are better, and I'm tentatively lobbying for a patch to give us a choice on which to load.
The 3D perspective is also funny in Forza. In C Class racing and above, I'm doing a certain amount of guessing when I should brake, unless the trackside has some clear turn markers placed alongside it. I often lock up the brakes because I'm a hair too late. In GT games, in contrast, I have almost no trouble judging the turns, and when I overshoot, it's my fault completely.
Car models are SO much better this time that I'm happy with them. There are actually fewer "real" rim choices this time, which blows, and once again, the only adjustable aero parts are the Forza offerings, which also blows. The livery decal choices this time are mysteriously also a little worse! You'll be stuck with either making or buying a lot of decals for your race cars, which is something I was hoping wouldn't be the case in a "definitive" racing game. The rest of the livery editor is brilliant though, and being able to paint up race cars is a huge bonus. Modifications are also brilliant, though I've also noticed the strange thing that some cars with racing mufflers are
quieter. Very odd.
I hate the bots. They're idiots. I do everything within my power to get as far away from them as possible. Give me Prologue's bots any race. The selection of courses is great, and the fantasy tracks are very well designed, though as Grant says a bit cartoony. They are colorful, but then real life really is full of vivid colors. I will say though that Sedona takes the term "painted desert" a bit too far. It's almost blinding. I haven't tried the Nurb yet, still early in the game for me.
Loading times are strange. I installed both discs to my drive, and only menus load fast. Restarting races is a chore, so I've resorted to using the dreaded rewind on occasion rather than play a waiting game. Changing cars and cameras, and going to Photo Mode in F3 replays is laboriously slow compared to the near instantaneous transitions in Prologue. Polyphony truly are wizards, and Microsoft is... well, MS.
Physics are always a touchy subject. Some people even declare GTR Evo to be a poor step-child to the series, so people can be very picky about car feel and handling. GT and Forza have different flavors, while at the same time in their latest incarnations are very,
very close to real world behavior. I've become a big fan of F3 over the almost two weeks I've spent on it, though I have to admit that I still give the edge to Gran Turismo. But it's easy enough to adjust to and offers so much to do that it does rack up very highly. This is a racing game to get, and will do better than tide you over till GT5 is released.
By the way, the 360 DVD drive only reads faster than the PS3's Blu-ray on single layer discs, and I think the only single layer disc that's come out in years is the install disc included with Forza 3.
Slower than track loading in GT5P.
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I was basing that on screenshots i had seen, and the fact there is no HD background on the demo, just the car model on its own in the selection screen.
