The Good, The Bad, And The Audi

Hey guys. Another day, another set of demo impressions to get off my chest. There's also some other stuff, both game-related and not. Dig in and enjoy! 
 

Forza Motorsport 3 Demo Impressions

YES

• Graphical enhancements - I always felt that the graphical leap between the original Forza and its sequel was negligible and that Forza 2 never really looked like a next-generation racing game. In fact, I'd even go as far as to say that Gran Turismo 4 looked better than Forza 2. The difference between Forzas 2 and 3, however, is beyond noticeable. The cars look significantly better, but it's the demo's sole track that really shows the improvements made. If the whole game looks as amazing as the demo, then Forza 3 could well be the most gorgeous racing game around when it hits shelves this month.
• New options - I spent some time with all the available options in Forza 3 and I'm very impressed. While it's nice to see the old racing line make a triumphant return, it's the rewind feature in particular that I like most. It's really non-intrusive, meaning players will be able to use it as much or as little as they want. Serious racers will no doubt use it to nail those tricky corners flawlessly, while players like me will find it invaluable in endurance race scenarios should they skid off the track and smash into a wall on that crucial penultimate lap.
• Interior view - I've never been a fan of first-person views in racing games because although they offer a better sense of speed, they don't really convey the feel of being in a car. As a consequence, ever since the original Gran Turismo, I've always opted for third-person cameras in racing games. Forza 3's first-person view remedies this issue because it's situated inside the car. While it may take a little while to get used to controlling cars from the new perspective, Forza 3 may be the first time I switch to a first-person camera when playing a racing sim.

NO

• Underwhelming damage modelling - I don't know about anyone else, but after the teaser trailers from E3 I was expecting the damage modelling in Forza 3 to be a little closer to the kind seen in GRID. While the game does deliver on the promise of being able to roll cars over, the rest of the physical damage modelling doesn't seem to have made any advances since Forza 2. The end result is pretty underwhelming.
• Limited demo content - I know it's a demo, but I was expecting a little more teaser content. The five available cars offer a pretty fair representation of all the different types of cars we'll probably be seeing in the final game, but it would have been nice to have checked out one or two more tracks so I could get a better idea of what to expect in that respect.

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