Forza Motorsport 2 puts you in the driver’s seat of the world’s fastest cars.By Shaun Inguanzo
TO CALL Forza Motorsport 2 (FM2) the king of all video game driving simulations is to underestimate its greatness. It is the Messiah – something far greater than merely ‘the king’.
It is the Mecca for driving enthusiasts who, despite their video game console alliances, should embark on a pilgrimage to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and worship this new driving simulation from head to toe.
FM2 takes real life cars, places them on real life tracks and encourages gamers to test their driving ability against both hard-nosed, ultra-intelligent computer opponents and against other gamers from around the globe in the game’s online mode.
It does so in stunning style, battering the senses with the finest combined visual, aural and gameplay experience in a driving game yet.
While the premise sounds similar to other racing games, FM2 is unique in its attention to detail. The driving model is the closest gamers will come to racing Ferraris, Lamborghinis, souped-up street cars and professional racing cars.
The Xbox 360 controller pales in comparison to using the official Xbox 360 steering wheel, but both methods still accurately recreate every bump in the road via their rumble support, avoiding the feeling that one’s car is floating instead of driving.
Forza 2 allows gamers to upgrade their cars – and although the upgrades are limited compared to the Gran Turismo series, gamers can then tweak their cars to perfection or, in an unprecedented move, intricately paint their road warrior in the colours and designs of their choice.
So comprehensive is the paint mode that e-talk spent hours recreating the emblem of its favourite football team to plaster proudly on the side of a 2006 VW Golf Gti.
The final effect was delightful, not only because the car is a pleasure to look at but because we could then take it online and show it off to racers from around the world.
The paint mode gives gamers a unique feeling of identity that is previously unseen in racing games.
The career mode has an exhaustive number of competitions to enter and in most cases the player has to purchase or win various types of cars to participate in the different classes of competition. FM2 also has a regional element built into the career mode. This means that drivers choose from Europe, America or Asia at the beginning of their career, with their choice influencing the range of cars available, their pricing, and rarity.
This is not to say the game is perfect. Despite the photorealistic car models, some of the tracks they race on lack the sexiness seen in other racing games.
The effect is similar to placing a real person in a cartoon world. Fortunately, gamers will spend more time focusing on driving in FM2 than admiring the scenery.
