Forza Motorsport 3 Review

The Xbox as a brand has always had two racers: Project Gotham and Forza. PGR concentrated on the arcade side of the gameplay, offering style points and different vehicles to race with. Forza on the other hand wanted to impress realistically. Stuff like tuning options and long endurance races that you win or lose based on your talent and timing. The series had always been in fierce competition with the GT series on the Playstation platform, and both GT5 and Forza 3 were supposed to face off during this specific time of the year. GT5 missed the party and will arrive later in 2010. Luckily for us though, Forza 3 is here and ready to go.

Nothing against the casual gamer, especially those that drove the sales of the Wii sky high, but simple games truly suck. You know exactly what we are talking about, those half assed games that offer nothing new and are pretty simple to complete. But we never knew that a game that can be both simple and realistic in the same time even existed. The developers behind Forza 3 decided to make this a game for everyone. Not just the hardcore fan or the causal gamer, but for everyone. The first thing the game throws at you is a test lap. Drive around a gorgeous looking track in a fine car to see how good your driving skills are. Based on how well you do, the game will then set your difficulty level automatically.

Now this is what makes Forza 3 playable by anyone that can hold a controller: The difficult level. Here you can set nearly every little detail to fit the game right into your style and mood. Are you in for just a simple drive? Crank down the difficultly level and enjoy the breezy weather. Or are you after a challenge? Crack those options up and let’s see if you are all talk or not. The game on easy assist your direction and breaking, meaning any kid can grab this game and win a race or two. On harder difficulties the game will go against you and challenge you in every turn and slide.  The majority of these options have to do with your own driving. For the AI competition, all you can pick is easy, medium or hard as a difficulty level while driving. Considering all the options on hand for individual assists, that was pretty disappointing.

Moving on from the test lap and after setting the difficulty around your comfort zone, it’s time to get your career going. First things first, the menu is so clean we actually noticed some dots on the corner of our screen that we need to clean up. The white colour of the background assisted by the authentic car manufactures logos makes navigating this game’s menu a real joy.

The season starts off easier and in a way simpler compared to other racing games. You pick your cheap car, and go hunting for a race. The season mode is split into 6 seasons with each season longer than the one before. During the season you compete in one weekly competition on weekends and another competition of your choice during the weekdays. The developers clearly went for a fresh idea here. Instead of confusing you with a menu full of races, where you will feel overwhelmed and lost, you have a simple menu showing you the next race this month. Simple and fun and you actually can concentrate on your game rather then worrying about picking the right race.

Each race and competition have a certain number of XP points you and your car can gain. When your car gains a level you are rewarded with a discount for parts by the car’s manufacture.  Each level the driver gains though is rewarded with a brand new car. This is one of the reasons why we love this game. You can also use your hard earned game cash to buy a car or bid on other people’s cars to make them yours.