Ohk So I finally got my paws on Forza 3 ! yeah I know its late but money dont grow on my back so I budgeted to buy it this month.
upon loading the game it asked me to do an install (1.9 gigs to be exact) which went quickly then i had to switch back to disc 1 to get into the game.
First thing i noticed is the menu is white which is in stark contrast to the black menu forza 2 had, secondly this is just my personal opinion but i really feel certain aspects of the forza 2 menu looked better than the forza 3 one, upon looking at the car models all i can say is that it is Definately more detailed than the models of forza 2 but not by much, the big difference that is responsible for the graphical leap forza 3 has over 2 is the lighting as far as i can see. looking at the cars the lineup is quite impressive (+-400 cars), and their is even some dragsters thrown into the mix. whats disappointing though is the fact that the Nissan GTR is not present in the core game but instead is available as a download (which costs money).
The track selection is also really impressive especially the new tracks (which all have a coastal flavour as far as i can see), alot of the other tracks in the game however are directly ported from forza 2 but with the improved lighting of F3 making them look way better then they did in the previous game, also the crowd models are also recycled from the old game and looks exactly like they did in forza 2.
The physics in the game is definitely a class higher than any other racer i have played (I didn't think the real time tire deformation system would have such a major effect on handling) and there's even a rewind feature (which turn 10 ripped of from grid as far as i can tell) in case you ram yourself into a wall.
I have only had the game a few hours now and i am really impressed at the improvements turn 10 made in the game, physics wise this game is in a class of its own, graphically though this is what forza 2 should have looked like, however in my personal opinion GT5p still has the graphical advantage especially when it comes to car models and lighting. Overall in the end this is the best Sim that money can buy though and it is worth every single cent.
Good to know mate, thanks for the info. I wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts as you go along in the game. I thoroughly enjoyed Forza 2 but got annoyed further towards the end of the game, where every single race (ok the majority of races), easy or hard, would take 15 - 20 minutes to complete!
This took the fun out of it for me, because I didn't want to sit for 2 hours to finish only a handful of races, and who knows when I would get to the end of the game.
So - I am very interested in getting Forza 3 for Xbox, but would like to know your thoughts on how long the fun lasts
Ok this is my opinion and personal experience with Forza 3 and Need for speed shift:
I bought NFSS first and loved it from the get go. I am using a Logitech Force FX steering wheel, very lekker wheel and works amazingly with NFS. Nice force feed back and you can really whip the cars around the track without a problem. Overall a awesome game in all respects.
Forza 3 on the other hand is very disappointing in comparison. Using the wheel almost renders the game unplayable. Its almost impossible to keep the car going in a straight line and even the slightest yank on the wheel and you are in a spin. After a few hours I got a bit more used to it, but still is not as fun as NFS. You have to so gently turn the wheel and make sure you don't turn to hard. You are also constantly moving the wheel to correct it when going, or at least trying to go in a straight line. I have read online and adjusted my settings accordingly to the best I can yet it is still disappointing. The force feed back is very weak in Forza 3 and really makes NFS a winner here.
So after playing Forza last night for a few hours I have come to the conclusion that this really is not a bad game at all, I think it is a mistake to compare it to NFS as they play differently.
One thing I have noticed is that Forza 3 requires a certain "finesse" using the steering wheel, where as NFS you can be more of a bully and get away with it.
so after playing the game a bit more i have come to the conclusion that the game is definately just built upon an enhanced version of the forza 2 engine (kinda like what ea did with nfs 3 and 4 and what IW did with cod 4 and 6) which sports better lighting, shading etc. the handling of the cars are also a bit different as to how they were handling in forza 2, i did a little test running the f430 around the nurburgring in Forza 2 1st and then in Forza 3 afterwards and the lap in forza 3 was actually alot easier to complete as if the handling system has been dumbed down a bit, its actually alot harder to spin a car out in forza 3 than it is in forza 2. also the replays are sporting alot more realistic camera angles than what f2's got. i'll play some more and update as i go along
My Forza 3 Review
