How much you enjoy Forza Motorsport 3 entirely depends on the time you have to invest in it. If you’re able to put in the man-hours you’ll find a racing sim that’s a deep as you want it to be, and just as rewarding. If you’re only able to play a few minutes here and there, well, it’s not really the same thing.
The game presents itself as a driving simulator, but one that won’t punish you for not knowing the difference between a carburetor and a CD changer. And, incidentally, you’ll be changing the game disc as soon as you turn it on, for the game’s developer’s, Turn 10, couldn’t fit it all on just one; an optional content install prompts as soon as the game loads. You’ll need approximately 2GB of free space on your hard drive to get the entire FM3 experience.
From there a cheery British announcer guides you through the game—it’s as if you’re playing Top Gear. The standard modes are there, but it’s career mode that shows the game in its best light. You’re granted a low-level car—something that you yourself may well own in real life—then race from event to event, earning credits and plaudits from other car manufacturers along the way. The credits are used to buy upgrades, while after the occasional successful race you’ll get a message along the lines of: “Fiat thinks you’re a good driver, so they’re giving you this brand new car for free!”
Lather, rinse, repeat. You’ll go from Class Z clunker to Class A holy-cow-this-is-fast as you plug along in career mode, which will take some time. Better skip out on Heroes this week if you want to make the most of this game.
The game looks good, yes, but I’m hesitant to call it the best-looking racing game I’ve ever played: that title belongs to Racer Driver: Grid. (Note: I never bought Dirt 2 because rally racing doesn’t appeal to me.) I don’t know, things just look too shiny to me. The best way I can describe it is, remember the first few FIFA games for the PS3/360, and how “shiny” the player models looked? I get the same feeling here.
Not that we’re graphics whores ’round these parts, but I’d be remiss to not mention how the game looks.
To make another comparison to Race Driver: Grid, I do feel that the menus in the game, and just the way the game is presented, is less interesting than Codemasters’ hit. In Grid, menus fly by and spin in circles, you can see people walking about your garage while selecting a new paint scheme, your earned credits fill up in dramatic fashion, slowing down as you approach an upgrade point… It just seems more “next-gen,” more “hmm, now this is different” than FM3, which is very much “well, this isn’t anything special.”
So is the game good? Yes, of course; I dare you not to enjoy it. You will, however, have a much better time if you can sit there for several hours rather than treating it as a quick “hey let me kill 10 minutes” fix.
That’s it.
After reading this article, I’m second guessing my future purchase of this game. During the PS2 days of my gaming career, I’ve always been a fan of the Gran Turismo series and never really gave Forza an after thought. I’m still back and forth on whether to wait for GT5 or give FM3 a chance.
You know, I liked the 2nd one a lot. Never had the chance to play the 1st one, since I found out about #2 first, and kept thinking I will never beat #2. Never did. But now that 3 is out, I’ve played it for a good solid 4 hours and it took a lot in me to stop playing it. More mods, cars, tracks, better graphics, AI, there’s a freaking rewind button… and a drift mode, even a clutch button. Yes, left bumper becomes a clutch button. how sick is that. Everything I wanted in 2 is in 3.
This is in my opinion with out a doubt the best racing game out there. The poster doesn’t know anything about design if he is complaining about the UI. Don’t change your opinion based on this. Find out your self. I have never before been so impressed with a gaming experience.
This game really needs a PC port. I want to play it in 1080P with ultra high-res textures, anti-aliasing and the like.
Forza Motorsport 3 Huh?
First of all, let me say that I have been a gamer since Atari 2600 launched in 1977. My favorite genre is racing, before all others. I Have played Forza 3 for a few hours now, and my initial reaction is that this game is BORING. A good looking game? Sure. Aren’t games supposed to be “fun.” Isn’t that why we play them? Now, this isn’t my final opinion , because I haven’t delved very deeply into this much anticipated title, and I’m hoping that my opinion will be changed. Even my girlfriend commented on the fact that the racing seemed “slow.” When playing Forza 3 you don’t get that spot on sense of speed that other titles have delivered I.e. Project Gotham , Grid, Dirt 2 ,and the very fun NFS : Shift. When I race, I want to feel like I’m being thrust back in the seat of the car, I’m not getting that with this title. The cheesed out British commentary doesn’t add anything either. What stands out as well, is the lack of the “human” element. Will you prove me wrong Turn 10 ? After 2 short days the game is already out of my console, and I’m really wanting to get back to playing NFS : Shift while contemplating why I want to continue playing Forza 3. But I’ll continue to work with it more than likely.
how dare you to compare it to grid