Forza Motorsport Review

After devoting countless hours to Forza Motorsport, I can happily report that it everything a simulation racing fan could want. With great customization options, perfectly balanced gameplay, and a wealth of features, Forza Motorsport stands as one of the best, if not the best, Xbox racing games on the market.

Gameplay

When you take a car out onto the track in Forza, everything just feels right. The cars have a realistically heavy feel to them which translates into solid cornering, acceleration, and braking. You are in complete control over the vehicle and it reacts exactly like you expect it to. Since this is a simulation racing game, however, you can’t just hold the gas down and expect to be successful. As the game points out very early on, sometimes you have to go slow in order to go fast and that means knowing how and when to brake and accelerate on a given corner as well as how to take turns correctly. This can be overly complicated and difficult for some gamers and simulation racing games definitely aren’t for everyone, but it is hard to deny the satisfaction you feel when you run a hot lap or win a race because you definitely have to earn it in Forza.

Adjustable Difficulty Keeps Everyone in the Game

If you find the concept of a realistic driving simulator intimidating, Forza still might be for you. Microsoft smartly included a number of driving aids and adjustable difficulty levels that allow you to make the experience as realistic as you want. In addition to antilock brakes, traction control, and stability management that help you keep your car on the track, there is also a suggested line feature that gives you a visible line on the track to follow that also tells you when you need to be accelerating or braking. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this feature takes all of the fun out of the game, though, because it is actually the opposite. It makes you understand racing and driving and everything involved so much better than if you were just dumped onto the track without a guide. When you are comfortable with your driving skills you can turn the suggested line off and you will likely find better and faster lines as you learn each track anyway, but it is a great feature. It will teach simulation racing game veterans a thing or two and will also make the game much more accessible for new fans which ultimately means more fun for everyone and more qualified opponents to face online.

Real-Time Damage and Cutthroat AI

In addition to having extremely tight and responsive simulation-style gameplay, Forza goes the extra mile to make the game realistic by featuring real time damage that actually affects the performance of your car. When you slam into a wall, paint will scrape off of your car and the body will twist and deform. This can affect acceleration and top speed as well as the handling of your car. You can adjust the affect of the damage from being purely cosmetic to being full on simulation where you can actually make your car impossible to drive with many subtle levels in between.

Not only do you have to worry about your own driving and skills, but you also have to keep track of other drivers on the track. Forza features outstanding AI for computer controlled drivers and they will really give you a run for your money. They aren’t afraid to spin you out or nudge you off of the track if they need to and part of the fun in Forza is staying one step ahead of the AI. They aren’t without flaw, however, and they will crash and run off of the track just like you so it provides great competition overall.

Career Mode and Customization

The main single-player mode in Forza is a career mode that allows you to earn cash for winning races which you then you to buy new cars and win more races. When you start the game you choose a region and whatever region you pick determines what cars you will be able to buy and how much they will cost. Some cars are rarer than others and that will affect how much they are worth and how much they can earn in a race. Forza does a good job of placing limitations on each race so you can’t just use your most powerful car all of the time. Your overall earnings affect your progress in career mode and new races will only open up when you earn certain amounts of money. It all works very well and will keep you interested because you are always moving forward and using different cars and running different types of races.

The best part of career mode is that you can upgrade the performance and appearance of your car however you want. You can apply up to 100 layers of vinyls on each side of your car to create custom designs as well as bolt on a number of body kits and spoilers. When you make a car that looks and performs exactly the way you want you get a great feeling of ownership which is really satisfying.

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