Forza 2 - 360 Classic (Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360))

Member Name: MattyBoosh

Product:	Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360)
Date:	12/09/09 (21 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good variety of tracks, tons of cars, huge variety of different leagues and a solid physics engine

Disadvantages: Can sometimes get boring after lengthy play

The only driving simulator worthy to make the claim 'simulator', Forza 2 is an old game nowadays, but easily the best racing game on the XBOX 360.

To start with, the most obvious comparison to Forza is PlayStation's Gran Turismo series. I played the originals on the PS and then the PS2 and found the games to be an absolute blast. Unfortunately, since playing Forza 2, I look back at GT and can only view it as Forza's younger, less cool, brother.

Lets talk physics. I don't drive, so I sure as hell have no idea how a car should feel, let alone how a Ford GT screaming down a back straight doing 200 MPH should feel, but Forza 2 gives me a pretty good idea. The car twitches if breaking too hard, will wobble if hitting the rumble strips too quickly, and touching the grass around the Nürburgring is the only ingredient needed for crash-pie. The damage physics are also top notch, not only in place for eye candy, but also affecting the performance of the car (should you crank the difficulty up enough). You can't rough and tumble your way through the pack and clipping other cars while cornering can be deadly and race-ending. This makes for a much more challenging game, as you can't just bounce from car to car and off the barrier like you could in GT.

The selection of cars on offer is also impressive, with all the major manufacturers being represented. The game breaks the cars into categories, ranging from the D-Class (Mini, Ford Focus SVT), C, B, A, S and U, which are the supercars. Beyond this is the R-series, four levels of race tuned speed machines. All of the cars (bar the R-series) are customisable to such an extreme it will give you a nosebleed. Personally, I found a lot of the tuning options to be an overkill, but the upgrades you can get for your car is perfectly done, ranging from changing tyres and spoilers, to full engine swaps. This gives the game a great deal of depth, as any car you own could end up taking a completely different modification path to somebody else with the same car.

Which leads me onto an aspect of the game that has certain fans going absolutely bonkers for - the customisation of a vehicles paint work. A quick Google search for Forza 2 paint jobs will give you a plethora of mind boggling designs. How people manage to create amazing works of art using nothing but simple shapes still astounds me. If its something you're into, then this will give you as much entertainment as the game itself. If you're like me though, then putting a monkey's face on the front of your car is about as far as it will get.

The range of different race types is also extremely impressive. You can find a full list on Gamefaqs, but they broadly range from the amateur league (slow cars, easy tracks to ease you in) to leagues that limit the power of your car, the band that it falls in (C, A etc), factory spec cars only, as well as leagues dedicated to the creme de la creme of racing machines. Each league caters for a different type of car, so you will need to get used to the full selection of vehicles on offer - you won't be able to cruise through using the same car each time.

Tracks consist of real world and a couple of fictitious circuits. Included in the mix are Laguna Seca, Silverstone and the infamous Nürburgring, all of which are beautifully detailed and exact replica's of the real thing. Mastering all the courses will take time, and with 47 total different configurations (source: Wikipedia) there is a lot of racing to be had.

Online, and the game still has a solid following and you shouldn't have any problems finding somebody to race against (however, it has been a few months since I last played online). There is an arcade mode, but, holding my hands up, I have not touched this as I have been totally engrossed in the main game mode.

My only criticism is that with all the different race types on offer, the game can tend to get a bit boring at times, as you churn through race after race. I have been playing through the game for about a year, and still haven't completed it. This isn't due to getting stuck on certain races, for instance, but at times I just need to put the game down for a while and have a go at something a bit different.

Regardless of my final comments, this is still, in my opinion, the best racer on the 360 and being just over 2 years old now will be a steal for anybody who doesn't own it yet.

Summary: The best racer on the 360, in my opinion. Get a copy yesterday!