Its pretty, but its not perfect. I favor its highly realistic physics. It corners like a real car does. The grip is affected by pavement surface and suspension, just like the real world. The scenery streams by, as it should. Its great fun. And the initial boring tracks get a few additions worth driving, like a mountain road in Japan, a seaside road on the coast of Amalfi through a town, and the Nurburgring, which is really fast and really tough to get right.
Screwing up happens. I like that the game has a rewind button so when you crash, you can rewind, breathe for a moment, and try again. I like that the cars can get squirrelly and flip if you get the tires rolling the wrong ways, just like the real world. Some cars are strictly straight line. They need a lot of upgrades to the suspension and tires to corner properly. The most fun to drive are the hot hatches. Hopefully there are tweaks to help mid-engine cars corner better, but stock setups tend to suck, which is surprising. I like that the game just gives you cars to drive. Many are really fun to see how their power and weight distribution affect them. My biggest surprise vehicle was a Peugeot 206 SS, AWD, is a surprisingly fast and zippy car, even if it sounds like an angry sewing machine with a turbo charger in full boost. Fun though. I would never own one in the real world. Its French and would be unreliable with nobody to fix it. They don't sell those in the USA.
Still, the biggest upside of virtual racing is its cheap. An Xbox 360 is $200-250. A driving wheel with feedback is $30-250, depending on features and pedals. Use your computer monitor because its much higher res than an HDTV, which requires around $15 in plugs and cables to hook up, and you're good to go. I now have two sets of speakers, but I could have used plugs to make what I've got work, as is. All that compared to a set of tires? Cheap. No car insurance required for virtual racing.
I just wish there were games based on my favorite California roads, and that the games had more traffic to dodge around and pass. Forza only has 8 cars, and you usually ditch them after a few turns because they seem to be programmed suicidal. The developer wrote them that way because players don't like to lose races. I'd rather have proper competition, myself. Picking when to pass and where is a huge rush, after all, and its virtual, so wrecks aren't real. I have tweaked the settings to make the other cars more competent. Eventually I'll play it without driver assists, like autobraking and stability control, which will be more like the real thing.
I've read reviews of Forza 4, with Top Gear stuff in it. Sounds good, will own eventually. I'm a big fan of the show and enjoy Clarkson's snide comments, even if he's a big doofus Redneck Yobbo, which is the British equivalent of a Hillbilly.
I also read reviews of Forza Horizon, which is odd sounding but has a lot of free play driving and weird events. I've also read reviews of Dirt 3, which is rally racing with a few other bits, and might be really fun as well. I know I like the twisty mountain roads with all the special cornering, braking, and throttle control best. Ovals bore me. High speeds bore me. Chicanes are annoying and cause wrecks.
Speaking of wrecks the damage system in Forza is terrible. Its smash up derby. You can bash into other cars and its mostly just cosmetic. There's no impact on the car performance. That's lazy programming. I wish they'd set that up so there's actual performance consequences there. EDIT: There IS a setting for that. Fixed. Should be more realistic now. The games are more fun when you have to avoid crashing, the other drivers stay on the road like they should in the real world, and they're aggressive like in the real world. I suspect I will replay this game in normal mode instead of casual gamer, to see if it makes it more fun. It's also interesting that in side quests (rallies), the other drivers are much more plausible than the main series.
Speaking of, I bought, in the game, a Toyota Yaris and lowered it, gave it better suspension and tires, and raced it in the appropriate class, complete with stripe and a grey hare on the trunk lid. It looks hilarious, but its fast. You know, cheap hatchbacks with some performance upgrades are really fun. They corner great, they're light so accelerate fast, and they're zippy so can dodge around. If I were into real world racing, I think I'd do those, not the big expensive fast cars. I also learned that the Fiat 500 Abarth is crap at cornering, the Lotus Exige gets loose in the tail end and isn't much better, and the various Ford hot hatches (Siesta SS and Focus RS) are really FUN. They're probably ideal for a racing series or sleeper mountain sprinters. As I do this more, I avoid alcohol and find my mind getting sharper with each successive race. It is good brain exercise and wonderful motivation for proper health. How about that?
So if you finding yourself needing a hobby and wanting to sharpen up your mind, this is probably a good one. Excellent for fine motor control. Just be sure to get a driving wheel. Its painfully hard to play with the standard controller. And setup the level so its a little more plausible. Driving alone is dullsville.
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