The new “Forza Motorsport” for Xbox proves that Microsoft isn’t just spinning its wheels when it comes to crafting a racing game to rival Sony’s “Gran Turismo” franchise.
In fact, it’s pulled ahead.
Start your engines: Forza isn’t the first racing game from Microsoft. That honor goes to the “Project Gotham Racing” games. But the two “Project Gotham” titles are focused much more on arcade racing, with an emphasis on collecting “kudos” points by executing stylish slides and maneuvers.
“Forza” is pure racing.
Fortunately, the hardcore simulation engine under “Forza”‘s hood is matched with gameplay that’s just as forgiving toward newbies as it is punishing for veterans.
Smooth ride: Casual racing fans generally steer toward destruction derby-type games such as Electronic Arts’ “Burnout 3: Impact” or Namco’s “Ridge Racer” series. The controls are simple, you can scream through almost any turn without ever taking your foot off the gas, and the collisions are exquisitely brutal.
Purists generally prefer games that put a premium on strategic braking, drafting behind other cars and the ability to buy new cars and tweak and upgrade them to your heart’s content.
Wide appeal
“Forza” finds the happy medium and should appeal to any racing fan.
For the speed freaks, “Forza” delivers cars that will casually go from 0 to 100 miles per hour in, oh, about three seconds. Don’t forget to wipe the bugs off your teeth.
Visible damage is another nice feature, and it’s one you don’t always find in games that use real world cars (ahem, “Gran Turismo 4”).
Gamers can blow out their windshields, slam and scrape their cars’ bodies until they look like hamburger and even damage their steering performance and engines.
The car can’t ever be completely obliterated, but the damage is cool enough that you’ll wince and laugh during crashes.
“Forza” doesn’t pull any punches, if you don’t want it to.
The computer’s driving skill can be set so high you’ll feel as if you’re driving a lawn tractor at the Indianapolis 500.
The coolest tool is a virtual guiding line that appears on the track to indicate the best path to follow. In addition to illustrating the best path through turns, the line also changes colors from green to red to indicate when gamers should open the throttle or hit the brakes.
It’s a great training tool and definitely makes the game much less intimidating to a casual racing fan. The only problem is that the line is so helpful that it becomes a crutch, minimizing the need to memorize the layout of each track.
Once you get a feel for how each car handles, you can put up a respectable time on just about any track. The line can be turned off, though, for a tougher race.
Give credit where it’s due: There are advantages to tackling tougher foes or removing some of the gameplay aides.
Winning races earns players credits, which can be used to buy new cars there are more than 200 in the game or upgrade existing rides.
As difficulty levels are added to races, the credit prizes get bigger.
Finish line: “Forza Motorsport” is a masterpiece.
It’s deep enough to give serious racing fans all they can handle, but accessible enough for casual gamers to jump right in and have a blast even while they learn the finer points of racing.
Don’t miss it.
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AP-NY-05-25-05 1559EDT
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