When it comes to realistic racing games one title always seems to come to mind. Gran Turismo. At one point Polyphony Digital seemed to have cornered the market when it came to racing simulators. Very few developers have been able to achieve the same fan base Gran Turismo has. Then along came Microsoft and the Forza franchise. Microsoft clearly proved there was room for another great racing sim in the market, as Forza Motorsport 2 kicked some serious ass on the Xbox 360. But can Microsoft top it’s sophomore entry into the racing franchise with a third installment? You bet it can!
The Story
Like most racing sims, Forza Motorsport 3 doesn’t really have a story line per say. The idea behind the game is straight forward. You race, and you race to win. The more races you win, the more vehicles and parts you unlock to advance your racing career.
You career will take you around the globe to more than 100 real world tracks, putting you behind the wheel of more than 400 true to life cars.
The Game Play
Forza 3 is split up into two basic modes, Free Play and Career mode. If you just want to pick up a controller and race, Free Play is for you. You will be able to choose your track, your vehicle and away you go. There are no restrictions on cars or tracks. All 400+ vehicles and 100+ tracks are available from the start!
Choose between career and free play modes
Career mode is where most people will spend the vast majority of their time. Career mode is much deeper than Free Play. And when I say deep, I mean deep. The options on career mode are overwhelming. Almost everything can be customized! It will take some time before you start feeling comfortable with all the options.
When you first begin career mode, you start with only a handful of vehicles at your disposal. With each race you win, you will gain experience points, or XP. As mentioned earlier, XP points will allow you to earn new vehicles or upgrade your current vehicles. The upgrades are incredible. You can choose to upgrade almost anything in your vehicle. Ignition system, oil and cooling, add anti-roll bars, change the paint color, add decals, you name it! You can choose to auto upgrade before a race, allowing the Xbox 360 to choose your upgrades for you, or you can do it manually. Those who are not into cars may find this option intimidating, but car fanatics will love it!
The Rewind Button
You’re on the last lap in a 15 minute race! You’re rounding the final corner and…you slam into the wall. Three cars pass you and you end up coming in 4th. One careless mistake and you’re forced to start the entire race all over again. Not in Forza 3! Microsoft has now included a rewind feature allowing you to rewind time and reply difficult sections of track. Pressing the back button on your controller will rewind time 5 seconds. Hit it again and another 5 seconds are taken back. The new rewind feature takes the frustration out of racing games! Now one bad move won’t ruin your entire race. Some may call it cheating, and if that’s the case my advice is simply don’t use it. But you will use it. Trust me…you will. It’s the perfect feature for a racing game!
The Controls
You have two control schemes available to you. You can use a steering wheel (sold separately) or the Xbox 360 controller. I played the game with the latter of the two and found it to be just fine. The analog stick worked well for steering, as do the use of trigger buttons to accelerate and brake. I can see how using a steering wheel peripheral could really enhance the experience, but if you don’t own one don’t panic. The controller makes a fine substitute.
The Graphics
Forza Motorsport 3 is mouth dropping gorgeous. From the cars themselves to the tracks and backdrops. The cars are all modeled after the real deal. Even the under bodies are full representations of the original vehicles. Microsoft and Turn 10 spared no expense recreating the vehicles. That being said, you can also watch your vehicles acquire physical damage as they round the track and smash into things. This is a feature missing in many racers with licensed vehicles.
All tracks are replicas are real race tracks around the world
The racetracks are also replicas of real tracks, and the detail is amazing. The sun reflects off the asphalt, and even the fans move in the stands. Each course is beautifully detailed. Unfortunately you will be too busy keeping your eyes on the road to enjoy the scenery, but take it from me, pure eye candy.
The Extras
Where to begin! Forza 3 has so many extra features it’s hard to mention all of them in this review. Don’t feel like driving a track yourself? Hire a driver to race for you. Just be prepared to give up some XP. Proud of the vehicle you designed? Place it in your store front and sell it online. You can create videos and upload them to the Forza website for others to watch, or snap a picture in photo mode and share it with friends. There are so many extras in this game racing enthusiasts will be hard pressed getting bored.
Some of the extra features are clearly for new drivers. You have the option of turning off or on features like anti-lock brakes, auto-braking, even adding a guide line to the course to show what path you should be taking and when you should brake and accelerate. As you become a better racer you can start turning these features off, giving you more XP for each race you complete.
The Downsides
I love the rewind feature in Forza 3 but I don’t care for the way it was executed. Every time you press the back button your race rewinds 5 seconds. I wanted it to act more like the rewind feature in Prince of Persia where the game rewinds as long as you hold down a button. It just makes the gameplay feel smoother. Rewinding in 5 second intervals became annoying, especially when you only want to go back 6 seconds instead of 10. You get used to Forza’s rewind feature, but it just felt like it could have been executed differently.
Some may be intimidated by the high level of customization in Forza Motorsport 3
While Forza is very user friendly some gamers who are not into racers may feel a bit intimidated once they throw the disc into their machine. The upgrades are insane, and the driving options ridiculous (and I don’t mean that in a bad way). Some novice racing fans may feel like the experience is too much to handle and may pass on this title before they give it a chance. Stick it out folks, you get the hang of it fairly quick!
The Bottom Line
Racing enthusiasts, your game has arrived! Forza is so chock full of cars, tracks, features and extras you just can’t ignore this title. The graphics are beautiful, the controls solid, and the features incredible. It’s up to you how difficult or easy you want the game to be. That’s what makes Forza so good. If you prefer to play Forza 3 as an arcade style racer, you can do that. But if you want a true racing simulator, that option is there for you as well. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never played a racing game before, its easy to sink your teeth into Forza 3
Microsoft said its goal with Forza Motorsport 3 was to turn car enthusiasts into gamers and gamers into car enthusiasts, and it has accomplished just that. Forza 3 is a strong racer with high replay value. Microsoft has set the bar high for future racing titles. Move over Gran Turismo, Forza Motorsport 3 has arrived.
The Good
More than 400 cars and 100 tracks
Jaw dropping graphics
Heavy customization
Loaded with extra features
High replay value
The Bad
Rewind feature should be tweaked
Customizations may intimidate novice gamers
9.5/10