When it comes to racing games, Forza 3 and Gran Turismo are the leaders in simulation racing. There has been much rivalry between both the games and consoles, and with each release it always turns out better than the last, this hasn’t changed for Forza 3. Nearly everything has been improved since Forza 2. The graphics, sound, gameplay, user accessibility and many more features which have been heavily improved on and even some new features added.
The first thing that struck me when I put Forza 3 into my Xbox was how simple everything seemed, the menus were so polished and refined, there was no messing around, straight into racing, tuning, selling/buying or even graphically enhancing your car. I went straight into season play and this time around it is much better than it’s predecessor, it’s much simpler and easier to understand. It gives you a choice of events to race in, based on the car you’ve chosen. You can glide through the campaign without worrying about which events to play in which order, it uses a calendar system to choose the events, but for people who want to play events in the order they want, there is always that option. The campaign consists of 6 years, and each year is broken down into 30 or so races, as you progress through the years, you gain substantially faster cars and more challenging locations. Speaking of vehicles, Forza 3 is jam-packed with over 300 cars, giving the player a huge range of cars from Volvo to Lamborghini, satisfying the casual racer to the hardcore racer.
The gameplay is fantastic, the cars handle so well and you can actually feel the weight difference when racing heavier cars. The sounds and visuals create a feeling of speed, as opposed to other racers. Even when you break, you can really feel the car struggle to slow down when racing at blistering high-speeds. The controls are so simple, yet work tremendously well, and nothing about them are complicated.
The visuals and sounds in this game are equally astonishing; the cars are all beautifully rendered with every minute detail included. Even the landscaping is intricately detailed - nothing is left untouched. If you smash your car, you will notice, there is a striking amount of detail, even if you scrape a car, it’s paint will be left on your body – everything is fantastically realistic. The sound in the game is also very well done, the roars of the car engines are all unique and most of them sound very real.
The customisation is another thing that is really outstanding this time around, everything can be painted and coloured to suit your style, vinyl’s can been added and once you’ve finished your design you can upload it to the storefront for other people to use and enjoy. In terms of performance, every single detail that would affect your driving can be tweaked, from the shock-pads to the pistons, pleasing the die-hard Forza fans. The amount of customisation available is mind-blowing, but if you are new to the series and just prefer to race with the occasional upgrade to keep you up to scratch with your rivals, there is always the option to “Quick Upgrade” in which the game will upgrade the car for you for the required race, meaning the player doesn’t have to mess around with all the complicated engine parts. If you really want to get the most of the customisation experience, a lot of hours will have to be put into it, but I have to say it has the best customisation options in any sim-racing game I’ve played.
Turn 10 has managed to create a racer, which not only caters for the hardcore Forza fans but for the people that haven’t played Forza before. There are many things in the game that can assist the driver when racing if needed. Special assists that will tell the driver when to break and which path to take when cornering, the damage can be altered from cosmetic to simulation which can affect the way the car handles if it gets smashed, the AI can be made harder and the way the car handles can be changed from Casual to Simulation, depending on your driving style and there is even a rewind function, just in case you mess up a tight corner, which has no negative repercussions. The better players will be rewarded if they have assists turned off; all of this creates a fine balance between simulation racing and casual racing. They have also added a huge amount of cars, totalling to just over 400, from your average street car to modified super-cars, every type of car is included to please the younger generation as well as the older generation. Turn 10 seem to have placed huge emphasis on community, there is a storefront, which people can upload photos, videos, designs, vinyl’s. Everything can be shared among friends to show off what you have worked hard to create. The cars you have made can even be sold at the auction house for other players to admire and race in. Photos and videos can be uploaded to the Forza website so you can show your friends that don’t own the game.
Well, as you might have gathered, I can find nothing bad to say about this game, it is my favourite sim-racer and I know a lot of other people feel the same way. Nearly every part of this is game is perfect; it is so well balanced so it pleases both the true Forza fans and the first-timers. In true Sanctuary4gamers style, the verdict is most definitely a BUY .
