Forza Forza Forza
Turn 10 really nailed it with Forza 2. Like the rest of the world, I'm extremely satisfied with the game. The cars feel awesome and the learning curve (as opposed to Gran Turismo's punishment) is extremely satisfying and rewarding. The assists are a brilliant idea, as well as the incentives for turning them off and driving au natural. I hope that's proper French. Actually, I don't care.
The game forces you to compete in a variety of events and drive a multitude of cars, which I've realized is the biggest reason I'll be playing this for a while. With Need For Speed, I always race until I get a really good car. Then, I go all out upgrading it and use that car the rest of the game, or until I quit about 60% through it. NFS doesn't really require you to learn the game, and unlike Forza the tracks don't really make that much of a difference. Hold down the gas, brake occasionally, cross the finish line first -- it's a simple game, which is probably why the mass market loves it.
With Forza I've driven hatchbacks, American cars, muscle cars (they can die), luxury cars, and I'm nowhere finished. The game constantly rewards you with new cars to sample and try out and I'm saving up my cash now to buy myself a Ferrari. Ideally I'd get this one, which Microsoft sponsors.
I've only dabbled with the car layering editor, but it's already a lot of fun. I don't expect to make any masterpieces, but I've made my artistic mark on the world. I spent 20 minutes last night trying to put the SquadZero logo on this '82 Porsche 911 (a bit too heavy in the rear if you ask me) and a little longer creating this flaming skull on my Lancia hatchback. That car rocks in the early races. I swapped the colors on the skull, but I haven't uploaded those photos yet.
I think the community site is also fantastic. With the tournaments, online user pages, auction house, and 60 fps 8 player racing the development team is really pushing Xbox Live. I respect the hell out of that. They could have sat back and still made a game that would fly off shelves. Instead they put the screws to Gran Turismo. I love competition.
(posted by grant at 6/14/2007)
