Articles
By Diresim
Published: Jun. 16, 2007 1:03 PM
Developer Turn 10 finally gave gamers a reason to ditch Gran Turismo when they released Forza Motorsport to the masses on the original Xbox console. The first motorsport “simulator” to be released under Microsoft’s relatively young brand, Forza took car racing games to the hardcore, and was critically praised for its lavish recreation of authentic racing. Now on the Xbox 360, Turn 10 has upped the ante, delivering the long awaited sequel, Forza Motorsports 2. Whilst the core game remains very much the same, this new disc comes packed with a number of new features, an upgraded physics engine, gorgeous high definition visuals, a much more entertaining single player mode, and an upgraded livery editor. Whilst some sequels talk up all the new stuff gamers can enjoy, Forza 2 walks the walk. Whilst it’s not for everyone by its very nature, it aims to turn car freak into gamers and gamers into car freaks. Thankfully, it succeeds, and it does so with flying colours. If you’ve been waiting for a deep, hugely rewarding, and extremely addictive racing game for your 360, this behemoth is going to satisfy you in all the right ways. The core single player game is still based around collecting cars. Functioning in a similar fashion to an RPG, you pick a region to start off in (Asia, Europe or the US), throw all your starting allowance at a low end ride, and hit the track. The better you do, the more money you earn. With this cash, you can buy numerous upgrades for your car. Far from being aesthetic, these upgrades dramatically change the way your car drives. Alternatively, you can spend your moula on one of 300 new rides, those manufactured in your chosen region being considerably less pricey. As you progress, your car will level up, giving you discounts on parts by that manufacturer, and so too will your driver. This will unlock more events for you to participate in, covering over 20 tracks, some in multiple varieties, and some reversable. Although this doesn’t seem like that many courses for you to rip up, admittedly a lot of these tracks are real world locations, and have been recreated so well that you won’t be too fussed. Hopefully Turn 10 release a few more via downloadable content in the future though.
Driller getting ready to pass on the inside of this low speed hairpin.
Key to any racing game is the quality of the AI, and although many developers like to tout their AI as being revolutionary, few tend to deliver. Not Turn 10. Your computer controlled opponents, on the hardest of the three difficulty settings, are fast and smart. Not only that, but they have different personalities. Pre-release I remember reading the emphasis that lead designer Dan Greenawalt and his team were placing on AI, but I never for a second believed they’d be able to do so well. You see each of your opponents will behave differently depending on their aggression levels. Leading the pack coming up to the last straight and desperately trying to hold onto your car through the last hairpin? Depending on who’s chasing you, you might get taken down the inside through the corner by a driver with better turning capabilities, or you might get whipped past by a driver with better straight line speed as you approach the finish line. It really is a considerable accomplishment, although it’d be nice if they made a few more errors on the highest difficulty (it’s a shame being out of the race because of one little mistake).
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