Forza Motorsport - Australian Review (Reviews)

Chris Stead, GamePro Australia

12/07/2005 11:19:06

Petrol-sniffing Xbox owners your time has finally come, Forza is here and it's so damn sexy you might even find yourself in the back seat. It is the car simulation 'the box' has been seeking, delivering realistic racing, amazing graphics and some mighty fine gameplay ideas. And while its legacy will ultimately be measured against PS2 juggernaut Gran Turismo 4, on the Xbox it finds itself in fresh air, leading a pack of pretenders (V8 Supercars 2, Project Gotham Racing 2, Juiced) at a blistering and very addictive pace.

In fact, you know Microsoft is on a winner as soon as the key hits the ignition - the soundtrack rocks out in a blaze of adrenalin pumping riffs and the ice cool interface throws you straight into the action. There is no arduous 'driving school' here, and you can crack straight into Arcade, Multiplayer, Time Trial or Free Run modes. At the start you only have three tracks to race on, so it's into the epic Career Mode where you can unlock more goodies, get yourself a ride and mod the puppies up.

That's right, despite being a Sim, Forza has a much-needed license for flair and you can tweak any car in the game with paintjobs, vinyls and decals (over 100 layers), rims, spoilers, bumpers and all those other pimpin' goodies. It doesn't delve as deep as Midnight Club 3, but it's a perfect example of Forza's 'where anal, just not that anal' attitude to car simulation and it makes the online component that much more fun.

As for the gameplay, your goal is to, der, win races and victories are rewarded with cash. You begin with a region specific car (Asia, North America or Europe) which gives you access to certain races and as you invest cash in new cars more become unlocked - there is no story though, which would seem like an odd criticism if the idea hadn't been so wonderfully implemented in V8 Supercars 2. Having said that, the idea of letting cash won in online and offline multiplayer games contribute to your career mode is sensational, allowing gamers to not let their single player experience falter due to a love of the excellent online modes.

There are six classes of car to evolve through, and while you start off with a 'shit-box', it won't take long to save up the mullah for a 'chick-magnet'. The upgrade system is excellent, with the performance or class changes that result from potential purchases (be it new exhaust, turbo, brakes or even aerodynamic tweaks) spelt out in figures and even graphs, ensuring that both vehicular fanatics and people who 'like driving games' are kept in the loop.

But Forza never looses focus on being a Sim and when you are on the road, everything handles and sounds extremely authentic. The difference between cars is amazing, and you have to keep an eye on over-accelerating, under-braking, body-roll, hitting the grass, hitting the ripple-strip and all the other little nuances that make a good racing game so much fun. Car fans can get stuck into the garage and the post race data (everything from g-force, to suspension wear and tyre friction) to achieve optimum performance. Novice gamers are well catered for too, and can begin with computer assistances turned on (Suggested Line, Stability Management, Traction Control and ABS), but those looking for a bit more challenge can turn some or all of these off for marked differences in game.

The Career Mode in particular uses this feature well. Winning races is worth a standard amount with everything turned on, but turn something off and the cash bonus goes up. Turn off ABS, for example, and the cash bonus increase by 15%. You even get a bonus if you drive manual over automatic, providing plenty of incentive for gamers to drop the Sunday driver shenanigans and race with some balls.

Of these computer driver assists, the Suggested Line is the most interesting new gameplay feature. Basically, it is a colour coded driving guide that follows the track and shifts from green through orange to red depending on your required speed. It's dynamic and alters itself on the fly depending on how you approach a corner, the result of which greatly improves your driving. This is ace for the casual gamer, but you can't help but feel like you're cheating. You can turn it off, of course, but since the tracks aren't lined with brake-markers (ala V8 Supercars 2), you have to know the circuits quite well before you can make that leap and thus, in a way, Forza inadvertently alienates the middle-of-the-road gamer - which is most of us.

Still it'll keep you off the concrete, an important point given Forza's penchant for damaging their precious little licensed cars. But when we say damage, we mean scrape the duco and maybe do a little bit of bodywork damage - there's no car into cube satisfaction here. And while you do get post-race financial penalties for dents, your cars performance isn't affected in-race, leaving Forza a step ahead of Gran Turismo (fence turning is ill-advised) but below V8 Supercars 2.

The circuits, however, are as good as any racing fans have encountered and they look awesome, incredibly awesome. In fact, the Forza's graphics are mouth-watering with next to no pop-up, incredible draw-distances, plenty of trackside detail and not a whiff of frame-rate slowdown. The cars glint and purr like sex on wheels and can be perved at in an impressive replay mode. We're not rewarded with anything as cool as commentary, but Forza is still a pole setter in terms of presentation.

Indeed Forza is a worthy challenger for the PS2's Gran Turismo series. Perhaps it could've built on a few features found in V8 Supercars 2 to make it a more complete package, but it still makes great strides for the genre with smart gameplay ideas, great graphics and pitch-perfect car physics ensuring countless hours of enjoyment for genre fans.

Score = 9.5/10

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Graphics: 5.0

Sound: 4.5

Control: 4.5

Fun Factor:

Scoring scale: 1-5

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Publisher: Microsoft / Developer: Microsoft / Retail Price: $99.95 (Xbox) / Release date: 15/05/2005 / Genre: Sports / OFLC Rating: G (8+)