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Forza Motorsport is Microsoft’s other big
Racing franchise, alongside the
Project Gotham Series which has, until the team recent
agreement with Activision, been developed by Bizarre Creations.
Arriving considerably later than expected, the Xbox360’s first entry
in the series has a fair amount of ground to cover, as
hot-on-it’s-heels are a slew of big Racing game releases, including
Colin McRae DiRT,
SEGA Rally, THQ’s Juiced 2: Hot
Import Nights and, of course,
Project Gotham Racing 4.
Forza Motorsport 2 is the pick-of-the-bunch for
Motorsport enthusiasts, being the only title following the realistic
vein of handling, car set-up and track selection – akin to the
PlayStation’s Gran Turismo. While the title offers both
Career and Arcade Modes, the Arcade Mode plays very similarly to the
Career and more resembles a “quick race” option than that of a
wholly different gameplay mode. Setting a course through several
races, the player must simply win each race in order to progress to
the next and complete the mode.
Career Mode, however, is a somewhat different story.
Several Chapters exist, warranting a higher Driver Level to access
the more difficult Chapters. Each Chapter is divided into Events,
which in-turn are divided into individual races. Spanning more than
two hundred races, including Endurance, specific-car types,
nation-based developed cars, set Class types and even a Chapter
which requires you use only the cars as originally developed by
their respective manufacturers, Experience for both the driver and
vehicle
 is gained by placing in races. The Experience earned is
equated to how much money was won within the race, with options in
increase/decrease Artificial Intelligence difficulty, turn the Driving Line on-or-off,
assisted braking etc. dictating how much of your winnings you will
actually get to keep – the easier the set-up, the less money you
will stand to win.
The progression through the Career Mode acts as
tradition would dictate, however, simply the amount of options
available within this mode excels Forza Motorsport above the
common run-of-the-mill Racing Simulation. The ability to toggle on-or-off a Racing Line – that changes from green, to yellow, to red as
it suggests you decrease your speed – as well as choose whether it
should appear throughout, or just on corners - change the difficulty
of the A.I. opponents and turn on-or-off ABS Braking are just the
tip-of-the-iceberg in a title packed with customisable options for
during your race, as well as prior to it. The car customisability
options are simply astounding. While the initial idea, announced at
E3 2006 as part of the LIVE! Anywhere package, of being able
to design new Livery’s on your mobile or PC and transfer them to
your Xbox360 seems to be desperately lacking, the in-game schemes
are amazing. The upgrading of car parts can also be played both
simply for the novice or tuned to fine detail by the enthusiast.
This, however, just adds to the fact that the lack of differing
weather, or even time-of-day options, is quite perplexing.
The tracks are limited in number, but are plentiful in
their racing options. The variety of the tracks cannot be faulted.
 The usual package of chicane-fillers, tracks with many long,
sweeping bends and tight city streets are all present and correct,
but with many of the tracks being accurately detailed
representations of actual tracks, that should really be
expected. And with over two hundred cars immediately available on
the disc, there won’t be many complaints about finding the right
model to handle each course.
Forza Motorsport 2 performs very well
graphically. Each course is littered with detail and the Car Models
shimmer with the sunlight. With fully-3D rendered crowds appearing
trackside and rarely dropping below sixty frames-per-second,
Forza Motorsport 2 certainly outclasses the earlier Xbox360
titles, such as Project Gotham Racing 3.The sound is
predictable for modern Racing titles; licensed bands play through
the menus and pitch-perfect sound effects play well through a 5.1
Surround Sound system.
Forza Motorsport 2 is in a class of its’ own when
discussing the variety of gameplay options. In Single-Player,
there’s months of races to be undertaken and the online aspect of
the title inevitably results in large tussles at both the first and
last corner. The handling is pitch-perfect, and will provide a
challenge for those committed to Arcade-style Racers. The Xbox360
has found its’ own Gran Turismo rival, and what a challenge
for SONY’s racing-wonder it’ll be.
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