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BoundBruiser
06-12-2004, 01:38 PM
May 12, 2004 - "We sat down today and played Forza Motorsports for the second time, and MAN, is this game good. Being a Gran Turismo fan is a hard thing, believe it or not. Microsoft's internal development studio, which has been working on this racing game for more than two years, however, knows that there is nothing out there that rivals Polyphony Digital's masterpiece of sim racing, and it is trying, with all due respect to Polyphony, to improve upon the model.


Taking us out again to Laguna Seca, we took dozens of laps with the assists on and off in a Ferrari Moderna, and everything about the game felt and looked good. (There are many more tracks in the game, including Blue Mountains and Tokyo tracks, we just didn't get to them.) Seems to be a theme at Microsoft's booth this year, but it's absolutely true on this game. With basic controls in hands, right trigger to accelerate, left trigger to brake and reverse, players can get right into this speedy, 60 FPS racer. I did. I took baby steps at first, taking the turns slowly and just getting a feel for the road, but even after they took off all the assists, it felt so right. Actually, with the assists off, it felt better! I was able to power into the turns, using controlled drifts to squeeze out power toward the ends of the lines, and accelerate out into the straightaway.

The team, which incidentally is, as a whole, a huge fan of the GT series, loves racing games, and wants more than anything to develop a genuinely realistic racer. This demo proves its hard work was not in vain. Lap after lap I was in heaven, using the consistent sense of control and speed to my advantage. The team has spend years trying to get the specs right from the manufacturers, and each car is tested and tested to the point that the game specs match those of the real-life cars. By the way, in my previous preview, I reported that there were more than 150 cars in the game, and more than 60 manufacturers. Well, that was what I was told, and the number of cars is wrong. There are more than 200-plus cars in Forza Motorsports! Oh God yes!

One of the biggest trends in racing games these days is the ability to customize your car. Forza Motorsports gives you that ability, and it quadruples any other game's customization specs, and then some. To give you a few examples: You can put as many decals, stripes, stickers or what have you on your car. There is no limit. It may not look good after slapping down 200 stickers, layering on top of one another, but hey, you can do it. You have the ability to take a stripe and change its shape and color so that, if you wanted, you could cover the entire car with the single stripe.

Customization doesn't just pertain to make your vehicle look sweet. You can totally tweak the engine, suspension, brakes, add nitro ad nauseum, but what Microsoft has done is to fit your car with what appears to be dozens upon dozens of tires. Tires you say? Yep, they're like walking shoes for people, and they matter more than any game has given them credit for. Apparently, Microsoft is specializing in tires with this game. In an overall sense, each time you upgrade your car, a chart shows the change in the particular parts affect on your car. It's very mathematically realistic, giving you a real accurate sense of change and direction.

In short, Forza Motorsports does indeed follow in the footsteps of a great racing series, but these guys onto something, and the ride today, has me ready for 100 more laps. We'll have more soon."
-- Douglass C. Perry


I am really looking into this game. I have always loved racing games, no matter what you race I love em.

Variation-XBA
06-12-2004, 03:39 PM
Sounds also like Enthousia or whatever, the "GT Killer"

CarGuy
06-12-2004, 05:15 PM
When does it come out?

LiquidX
06-12-2004, 06:40 PM
Ive been anxious to hear more about this game since I read about it in OXM... I love the fact that it's so realistinc that handling is affected by weight shifts when going around corners, aerodymics, and all that other real life stuff. Hopefully the handling wont be like Gran Turismo 4. Whenever I touched the damn stick my car spun out. And dear god, let some of those 200+ cars include some American muscle!

OuFtb
06-12-2004, 06:40 PM
This sounds great, I'm not sure if it will better than the Gran Turismo games but I'm still gonna try and get it when it comes out, probably have to wait for a price drop though.

CarGuy- IGN says Winter 2004

l Maximus l
06-12-2004, 11:16 PM
Honestly, I don't think it will be too tough to dethrone Gran Turismo...

I mean, Gran Turismo probably maxes out the PS2's capabilities...and if Microsoft does the same with the XBox, it will blow Gran Turismo out of the water.

borka105
06-13-2004, 12:35 AM
Honestly, I don't think it will be too tough to dethrone Gran Turismo...

I mean, Gran Turismo probably maxes out the PS2's capabilities...and if Microsoft does the same with the XBox, it will blow Gran Turismo out of the water.

it doesn't matter if it dethrones Gran Tourismo in the graphics department, gameplay department or even the overall fun factor.. In the end, Gran Tourismo will 10X the sales of Forza...



at the end of the day, that's what everyone cares about...


-borka105

bostwick202
06-13-2004, 12:28 PM
Sounds really cool. I hope they have some really awesome cars and sweet XBL support. This thing is definetly gonna dethrone PGR2's crown as best live street racer.

-Natas-
06-13-2004, 01:16 PM
This game sounds sweet and from the few screenshots I've seen looks even sweeter. I am a fan of the GT series but I will still buy this game as it just looks so cool. :)

Unreal
06-13-2004, 01:22 PM
it doesn't matter if it dethrones Gran Tourismo in the graphics department, gameplay department or even the overall fun factor.. In the end, Gran Tourismo will 10X the sales of Forza...
To be honest with you, GT better have better sales. Whats the userbase in North America for the PS2... 20 million or so. So if it doesnt beat Forza in sales, there are some problems.

B.O.T. The game is sounding really cool right now.

Variation-XBA
06-13-2004, 02:14 PM
GT will have better sales, cause unless they start marketting this, no one will know about it.

LTM360
06-14-2004, 12:40 PM
I've never liked Gran Turismo, or any racer for that matter except Mario Kart 64, Cruisin' USA, and Project Gotham Racing 2. Gran Turismo has an insanely large fan-base, probably 85% of the PS2 base likes GT, I wouldn't put money on Forza Motorsports dethrowning GT until Xbox becomes a larger installed base than Playstation 2, I mean I know a few people who don't play their PS2 much anymore, but they are awaiting games like Gran Turismo 4. I wouldn't count on it, but here's to hoping Forza Motorsports does kick a whole lotta arse :cheers:

CrazyCougar
06-15-2004, 06:40 PM
I for one am waiting on BOTH. Gran Turismo cant be "killed'. its already established itself as one of the All time great driving games. What can happen is, the xbox gets an equally excellent game in Forza and then we have an exclusive title to brag about just as the PS2 owners.

BoundBruiser
06-17-2004, 11:05 PM
I don't think it will beat out the Grand Turismo in the sales category but by the looks of it,... it could definitely be the better game!

l Maximus l
06-18-2004, 01:50 AM
I don't think it will beat out the Grand Turismo in the sales category but by the looks of it,... it could definitely be the better game!

That's precisely what I was trying to say...I couldn't agree more