Forza Motorsport
Discussion
Cross-posted to other lists:
I just started driving with Forza Motorsport and it is a great alternative to those using GT4. Some of its advantages are:
- You can drive any car on any track. You don't have to wait to pass numerous difficult tests before you are qualified to do this.
- There is a collision model so you actually see damage to your vehicle. My friend was driving a yellow Esprit like mine and purposely flipped it on a guardrail. It was amusing to see the front bumper hanging lower on the driver side and bouncing up and down as the car went through a bump. The headlight pods were sitting lower in the bucket and the paint looked like the burnt yellow V8 that Guy Therien bought last year. Later on a 911 rammed into the rear of the Esprit and busted all the windows. The rear wing came off car and was laying on the track where it kept being thrown around as other cars continued to hit it.
- There are more, real-world tracks. My biggest thrill is to drive Road Atlanta (a track I'm quite familiar with) with an Esprit V8. Everything looks so realistic; in 6 laps I actually improved my lap times by 30 seconds and was reaching 147mph on the back straight; both things I was never able to do in my S4s.
- Somehow, Forza has managed to secure licensing with Ferrari, Porsche, Pagani, and other marques that GT4 was unable to achieve. This gives you the opportunity to drive an Enzo, Carrera GT, Merc SLR, and others.
- There is a driver's aid that shows you the correct line through the track and where the braking zones are. So far, I don't know how to shut this off.
On the cons column:
- AI cars seem to be more likely to ram or hit you that when driving with GT4. It might be more realistic, but it is annoying if you're driving really well and somebody smashes you into a guard rail.
- The camera angle for in-car seems unusually low for some cars. For example, I was driving a McLaren F1 down the Nuerburgring (www.nuerburgring.de) and it felt like the camera was only about 4 inches off the pavement. This may be OK for a Formula 1 driver, but I found it disturbing.
- Probably related to the camera angle, but I did suffer much more motion sickness when driving in "The Ring" in Forza than I ever have in GT4. I wasn't even able to complete a full lap because of the headache I got.
- Overall, the sound and physics model doesn't seem to feel as realistic as GT4. I'm sure that my PS2 Driving Force Pro steering wheel contributes to this though.
In general, I do recommend Forza. If you only have an xBox it is the first and only real challenge that this platform has to GT4 on PS2. PGR2 and the other franchises are mere toys that pale in comparison. So check it out...
I just started driving with Forza Motorsport and it is a great alternative to those using GT4. Some of its advantages are:
- You can drive any car on any track. You don't have to wait to pass numerous difficult tests before you are qualified to do this.
- There is a collision model so you actually see damage to your vehicle. My friend was driving a yellow Esprit like mine and purposely flipped it on a guardrail. It was amusing to see the front bumper hanging lower on the driver side and bouncing up and down as the car went through a bump. The headlight pods were sitting lower in the bucket and the paint looked like the burnt yellow V8 that Guy Therien bought last year. Later on a 911 rammed into the rear of the Esprit and busted all the windows. The rear wing came off car and was laying on the track where it kept being thrown around as other cars continued to hit it.
- There are more, real-world tracks. My biggest thrill is to drive Road Atlanta (a track I'm quite familiar with) with an Esprit V8. Everything looks so realistic; in 6 laps I actually improved my lap times by 30 seconds and was reaching 147mph on the back straight; both things I was never able to do in my S4s.
- Somehow, Forza has managed to secure licensing with Ferrari, Porsche, Pagani, and other marques that GT4 was unable to achieve. This gives you the opportunity to drive an Enzo, Carrera GT, Merc SLR, and others.
- There is a driver's aid that shows you the correct line through the track and where the braking zones are. So far, I don't know how to shut this off.
On the cons column:
- AI cars seem to be more likely to ram or hit you that when driving with GT4. It might be more realistic, but it is annoying if you're driving really well and somebody smashes you into a guard rail.
- The camera angle for in-car seems unusually low for some cars. For example, I was driving a McLaren F1 down the Nuerburgring (www.nuerburgring.de) and it felt like the camera was only about 4 inches off the pavement. This may be OK for a Formula 1 driver, but I found it disturbing.
- Probably related to the camera angle, but I did suffer much more motion sickness when driving in "The Ring" in Forza than I ever have in GT4. I wasn't even able to complete a full lap because of the headache I got.
- Overall, the sound and physics model doesn't seem to feel as realistic as GT4. I'm sure that my PS2 Driving Force Pro steering wheel contributes to this though.
In general, I do recommend Forza. If you only have an xBox it is the first and only real challenge that this platform has to GT4 on PS2. PGR2 and the other franchises are mere toys that pale in comparison. So check it out...
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