Well, it’s finally out then. Turn 10 have given us the follow up to one of the most successful racing games of the current generation and petrol heads around the world can rejoice again. It’s been 2 years in the waiting, but is the new contender on the grid a champion in it’s own right, or are we just destined to be overtaken by too much familiarity and end up bored rigid?
The fact it’s on two discs for a start shows that there is more to this than previous incarnations. With over 400 cars and 100 tracks to race and master, the depth is most certainly there. The fact you can race up to 220 different events also help to keep things a bit on the fresh side, as the more serious sim side of gaming can produce some tediously boring moments, no matter how much you’re into the subject matter.
Let’s start with the cars. The polygon count has been raised to a much higher level, allowing some very detailed renders. Of the new additions, the stand outs are the Bugatti Veyron, the Holden Australian Touring cars and the introduction of the higher performance people carriers, like the Porsche Cayenne and the BMW X5. There are other fresh arrivals in there, but for the most part a lot of the roster is what you got in FM 2.
This also extends to the circuits. The 100 tracks are split into 22 separate locations, with 13 of those ported over from the previous game. The pick of the nine new additions has to be Camino Viejo de Montserrat, which is a well sized coastal circuit with some sweeping corners and a lovely start finish area with just enough kinks in it to keep your wits sharp. The longer version of what is the demo course on marketplace also brings in part of the Iberian International Circuit and the Ladera test track. Both are understandably smaller than Viejo, but are full of bends you can take at reasonable speed and can help to produce some fine races, especially in the smaller classes. There are other well known names which have also been added to the mix, such as Catalunya and the 24 hour Le Mans circuit. Let’s just be thankful that there isn’t an endurance option to have you racing for an entire day, unless of course you’re a member of Insomniacs Anonymous.
Making a welcome return to the series is the reinstating of the point-to-point races. These were originally in the very first Forza and a totally revamped Fujimi Kaido has never looked better. The time off has certainly done it the world of good, with some truly lavish scenery, as well as giving us back one of the thinking man’s tracks, with hidden corners set to catch out the unwary and the occasional fast straight acting as a reward for negotiating the more intricate parts unscathed. To compliment the “Something Old, Something New” attitude of the third game, we also have the Rally di Positano, based around the Amalfi region of Italy (and also housing it’s namesake circuit within its boundaries). Again you have to be on the ball to get the most out of it, but there may well be another reason we have these more cerebral roads back….
Drifting has finally reached Forza. It has been kept caged in the world of Need For Speed and Midnight Club for long enough and has become mainstream enough to seek inclusion here. I have to be honest and say that this has never been a side to racing that’s even caught my eye, let alone give me any interest in the subject, but it certainly looks like it’s here to stay. For those who have enough talent and know how, victories are possible by, as its normally put, chucking the back end out and maintaining control for as long as possible, while all the time amassing points in the process. All I will say is good luck to you because as far as I’m concerned, this is a skill for a more acquired taste. Drag races are also given more exposure, with a whole section of the event list dedicated to this pursuit.
The feeling you get from Forza now is that of trying to juggle simulation and arcade together without dropping them and causing an almighty mess on the floor. Drifting and Drag Racing were normally only seen on the more simplistic titles, but having them here brings a feeling of trying to please all of the people, all of the time. At the core it still remains as solid as a drum, with all the normal racing modes still in place and working perfectly, but the section where you can see this sense of easy racing is in the multiplayer section, where it looks like Turn 10 have been in at the carcass of PGR and picked off the juicy bits, throwing them in here.
This isn’t to say that it’s a bad thing though. The online section of Bizarre Creations’ last Microsoft outing gave us Last Man Standing, Cat and Mouse and so on. These are now available in Forza 3, as well as the drift and drag racing which have already been covered. Some of the purists (or fan boys if that term rolls off the tongue better) may not like this, but to be honest, anything that adds to the experience without taking away from it can only be beneficial for the majority, right?
There are some innovations that could have maybe been done better. The most notable of these has to be the rewind button. This, as we all know, is a product of the GRID/DiRT school of motoring and allows people to eradicate mistakes made on the road, whether it be your fault or not. With the Codemasters titles, you’re only able to use it up to 4 times at most. With Forza though, that limit has been lifted and this allows drivers to redo things as often as they wish. It’s all fair and well saying “I’ll never use it.” but just wait until you make an error. Just like a drug addict going into relapse you’ll just keep using it time and time again and before you know it, it will be your best friend, regardless of whether it gives you an unclassified lap time or not.
Visually the game is nothing short of stunning, with the old tracks getting a new lease of life and the newer additions hitting the ground running in terms of providing us with such eye candy. Some of the scenery, especially in the coastal tracks, is jaw dropping, which is more of a shame considering you’ll be spending most of the time racing past it at silly speeds, but the thought is there. All the cars are painstakingly rendered with full scans of the internal cockpits and the outer shell to provide us with the closest many of us will get to the real thing (unless you’re Jay Leno). The sound department needs no long winded scan through, mainly because the sound from 2 was as good as it could get and they’ve just went with more of the same, so there’s no problems here (although the musical choice isn’t quite up there with the last one, in my opinion).
It’s the handling that we see one of the biggest plus points with in Forza 3. Sure, we may never drive these cars in any other guise than a video game, but it’s all down to how they feel to us. The beauty of how Turn 10 make these games work so well in this department is mesmerising, as you always feel like the mistake is your fault, and that’s how it should always be. It manages to catch that happy medium allowing people fresh to the franchise and veterans alike to feel like they’re in total control and that nothing can beat them. The constant 60 frames per second also makes its presence felt in keeping everything unbelievably smooth, which makes more of an impact than you’d think.
The online community has always been at the heart of the series and this has been tweaked and expanded to near breaking point. The Auction House still allows would be entrepreneurs to make their millions on the used car market, but the addition of the storefront lets the painters and decorators get their hands dirty too, without having to rake through tons of cars just for the paint job. The way things are laid out now makes it easier to manage what you want to buy or sell, as you’re given your own space to create, store and purchase, allowing for a more personal online experience. Designs and decal sets can now be bought separately from the cars themselves, as well as the chance for budding photographers and directors to show off their skills in the picture and video libraries. The new layout makes it even easier to become involved with an already fit to bursting service, so top marks there.
This is without doubt the best racing game on the market to date. It’s managed to seamlessly integrate the playground of PGR with the hardcore elements the franchise has been famous for for some time now. All the bases are covered and that takes a lot of talent and ideas and Turn 10 have shoehorned both into two discs and there is no way you can do without it. If I had to be picky I’d have a moan about the rewind functions and the menu layouts, which can be a little bit easy to get lost in, but that’s LITERALLY being picky. If you are into racing games in ANY way, you need to grab Forza as soon as possible.
VideogameUK verdict: 9/10
