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Forza Motorsport Review: Page 1
- Rippance, May 3 2005
When Microsoft Game Studios announced Forza Motorsport, it was received by the racing community with a bit of scepticism. Everyone knows Sony defines the racing simulation genre on the console with Gran Turismo. Will Microsoft’s first attempt at delivering a racing simulation for the Xbox even come close to that? Yes, oh yes, it definitely did — in some areas even surpassing it.
Forza Motorsport is Microsoft Game Studios’ take on a racing simulation for a console and comes with an incredible amount of content. Perhaps not as incredible as a certain other simulation racer, but the 230 plus cars from 60 manufacturers all around the world, over 30 track layouts, the ability to upgrade the performance and exterior of your car and online play, should definitely grab the attention of every racing fan.
The Wheels
The fleet of cars available ranges from ones capable of pulling off speedy grocery shopping to full blown racing monsters you see on today’s tracks. Some manufactures present are Volkswagen, Porsche, Ferrari, Ford, Acura, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Nearly every car from the United States, Europe or Japan that’s track worthy, will eventually be available to the player. All of this is organized in an alphabetical class system denoting the car’s stock performance, with each class having four subclasses (with exception of the R class) indicating a car’s relative performance within that particular class. Cars classified as D4 generally perform less well than D2 or D1 cars.
The R class consists of racing cars designed to, you guessed it, race. You’ll be happy to see several cars from JGTC, ALMS and Le Mans sitting right there waiting for you. This class has three subclasses: GT, GTS and P1. The GT subclass is based on entry-level sports cars with a ‘mere’ 300 bhp represented by cars such as the Porsche 911 GT2 Cup or the Dodge Viper ACR. The GTS subclass with 500 bhp contains Honda Takata Dome NSX, Audi TT-R Nurburgring and friends. Last, but very far from least, are concept and prototype cars classed as P1 with animals such as the Audi R8 or Bentley Speed 8.
Every car has five aspects that are typical for a car and are affected by any modifications you’re applying to it: speed, acceleration, braking, cornering and rarity. Upgrades for your car are available in three different categories: engine and power, appearance and aero, and chassis and drivetrain. Every package in this category will positively or negatively influence your car’s performance. Prior to applying the upgrade you’ll be notified how much it will affect any of the aforementioned aspects, as well being presented with torque curves in the engine and power category.