Forza Motorsport 3 Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 6th November 2009

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Forzing it's way to chequered flag!

Forza Motorsport 3 Details:

	Racing
	Xbox 360
	Turn 10 Studios
	Microsoft

Out Now

1-4

Turn 10 produced one of the best racing games to grace Microsoft's Xbox 360 and now they've followed it up with what is said to be the definitive racing game on the platform. I am of course talking about Forza Motorsport 3 but with rival titles such as Need for Speed seemingly getting better can Forza 3 put the competition behind it and take the chequered flag as the number one racing game?

If we’re honest Forza was already well established as the definitive racing game on the Xbox 360 with its extensive options for customisation, upgrades and tuning that allow gamers to squeeze every last ounce of power from some of the worlds most exotic cars.

The first thing you’ll likely notice about Forza Motorsport 3 is that the game is presented in a much classier style then previous versions. Menu’s are slick and better arranged allowing you to view available events, cars and perform upgrades with ease. Forza 3 seems to have been more of a refining exercise rather than an overall of a game that was near perfect in the first place. Of course the refinements are more then simply a new lick of paint for the menus as the game seems to have had a general spruce up. Graphics in general look sharper with great looking tracks and cars that show the true beauty of some of the world’s finest automobiles. However, some of the vehicle models do look strangely squashed when viewed from some side angles.

Strangely though whilst the vehicle customisation options also sees to have been refined by including more shapes, manufacturer logos and allowing you to create designs on a blank canvas’ it seems Turn 10 have completely removed the option to spruce up your cars brake callipers. Whilst this may sound like a petty squabble it is a little irritating when you’re trying to create the perfect ride. Despite this though Forza Motorsport 3 does feature all new features to get your design noticed and its clear from certain features that Turn 10 have thought about the franchises loyal fan base by introducing some great new community features, mainly the storefront. The storefront allows players to trade designs, tuning setups and decal group’s for credits, but more importantly it includes an Auction house that allows gamers to put up cars they no longer want or require for auction in order to accumulate more credits. This is a brilliant new feature that allows players to get hold of vehicles at bargain prices whilst giving more advanced users extra credits to spend on the games more desirable cars, or upgrades they desperately need in order to compete.

The new community features in Forza 3 are probably the biggest single enhancement as the game in general seems to have been more about refining the formula of the past games, rather than introducing major new features. The core of the game – actual racing has also benefited from this refining process. It’s now more then likely that you will spin off when taking a corner too fast losing precious seconds as your rivals close the gap on you. Braking late can also prove to be beneficial giving you an extra yard of pace on another diver that allows you to pass them, albeit braking too late can also prove costly and can result in you inflicting huge damage on your ride. To counter any frustration gamers may garner from these new driving physics Turn 10 has introduced a new rewind feature! Much like the one used in Codemasters GRID or Dirt 2 allowing you to rewind time and go back and correct any mistakes you made. Whilst this is useful and eliminates the need to restart races and so on it does seem to have had an adverse effect on the challenge on offer in Forza 3, due to the fact you can use it without limits. This really takes some of the edge off the racing action as you know that if you make a mistake it ultimately doesn’t prove to be too costly and ultimately winning races becomes a very common habit.

The challenge on offer in Forza Motorsport 3 isn’t the only area in which the game falls short! The damage system focuses mainly on degrading the handling and performance of your car and this works without fault but the cosmetics of the games damage system are beginning to look a little tired. The way paint scratches and degrades isn’t the best, lacking detail and ultimately has a strange blotchy look to it. Panels also seem to just fall of rather then cracking or denting! Whilst it may sound like petty nitpicking, it is something that really bugged me about the games visuals especially when considering what so called lesser games have achieved with their damage systems. It’s not just the games visuals that are a little disappointing but also its sound design. Some of the cars that you would expect deep roars from seem to give out nothing more than a little whimper in comparison to its real world counterparts. That’s not to say sound design in the game is bad though as its far from it and the whirls of a supercharger or turbo are very authentic. Its just another of a the little disappointments within the game as its fails to capture the essence of certain cars.

Whilst my nitpicking may make it sound like Forza Motorsport 3 is a bad game it’s far from it but they do ultimately stop it being the perfect racing title many petrol heads such as myself crave and expected from Turn 10. The new features are mainly a welcome addition to the game most notably the community features and the sheer number of cars, tracks and customisation options mean that Forza Motorsport 3 is a worth while follow-up! Despite a number of small disappointments, Forza Motorsport 3 is definitely the definitive racing title on Xbox 360.