Finally the Xbox gets a more realistic racing game. Forza throws in upgrades, numerous cars, and some simulation type physics to become the most realistic racing game on the Xbox.
Gameplay – To start off with there are three different major modes of play. You have multiplayer, career, and arcade. They also throw in time trials as a minor addition. In the arcade mode you go through racing in short series that will and up having you racing on every course in the game once. You start out with a certain amount of cars you can choose from that are in different classes. The classes range from A-D, to S, and finally end up with the R class. Choosing a car from class D will result in you racing only other cars from class D. Choosing a GTS car from the R class will result in you only racing other GTS cars. Your goal is to finish first in every race in the series, but you will still get rewarded if you finish third in one of them or third in all of them. If you finish third in one or all of the races in a given series then you will unlock one car. Second in one or all of the races will give you two new cars, and finishing first in all of them will give you three new cars. To complete 100% of the Arcade mode you will need to finish first in all of the races, though. You can go back and repeat any race that you have already unlocked at any time.
The career mode is a little more complex than the arcade mode. Here you will start out with enough credits to buy just one simple car to start out your long career. You gain more credits to buy new cars or to upgrade the car you already have by winning or finishing well in races. Credits do more than just allow you to upgrade or buy cars, also. Credits are used for the leveling system used in Forza. What leveling up does is it gives you discounts on upgrades, unlocks cars to buy, gives you cars, and unlocks races and racing series. There are five different racing series with four different racing styles. There is a point to point racing series where you race from one point to another. There are two series lap racing series where you race a number of laps. A points series is included where you race in a number of races to rack up the most points at the end. Finally there is an endurance series where you race a large number of laps in each race that requires you to make pit stops to win.
In the career mode there is a damage and fuel wear system implemented. If you hit into a wall or another racer then your car will take damage and your cars performance will be affected because of it. Your engine can be damaged from improper use and the tires will wear. It seamed like right in the middle of the tire wear sequence that the cars performance got better and then when the wear got too bad the performance suffered. Also watching how much as is being used is very important in the endurance races because running out of fuel could be detrimental to a race, especially if you're towards the end and in the lead of a race that is taking you over a half hour to complete. Most of the damage done to a car can be fixed in the pits, but some damage is permanent. The more damage that needs to be fixed, the more time in the pits you will spend.
In each racing series there is a mini series of races. Each mini series will have a certain amount of races and will require you to finish first in all of them to get full credit for the series. The one exception is the points series. Here you will need to have the most points at the end, have finished third or better in all races and have won the final race to get full credit. Full credit is when you get the car reward given at the end of the mini series. However you will still need to finish first in all of the 315 races to get 100% for the career mode.
Graphics – The graphics in Forza are simply brilliant with some minor flaws. The cars and the textures are done spectacularly. They all look very realistic. The problems I found with the game were some minor frame rate problems, late texture pop-ins, and cardboard cutout fans. The frame rate problems were minimal and no worse than the majority of games. The texture pop-in problems happened on a frequent basis and did bother me to some extent. The cardboard cutout looking fans were a minimal annoyance, but the makers of Forza could have done a much better job at making them look more realistic.
Sound – The music is forgettable, but the game does include customizable soundtracks, so the music is a major upside because of that. The sound effects in the game such as engine sounds and crashing sound are done superbly. It everything you would want in a racing game and more.
Replay Factor - The multiplayer over Xbox Live will be enough to keep this game in your Xbox for some time to come. The career mode leaves plenty of replayablitly for everyone with the upgrading and customization of cars. You will want to get more and more credits to make the best car you can.
Bonus – Finally getting a game like this on the Xbox is a bonus in itself. Before you have to go out and get a PS2 to play a Gran Tourismo game. Now you can just keep your Xbox and play Forza. The wait for a game like this to reach the Xbox was well worth it.
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