Arcade Race vs. Career Mode

By "Ace" Mason

Forza Motorsport™ is a diverse game with an insane variety of races. Playing offline, you can choose two different ways to enjoy the game: Arcade Race mode or Career mode. Arcade Race mode caters to more casual race game fans or players just looking to jump in for a quick game. Career mode is aimed at racing simulation fans. However, both modes are equally fun and should appeal to casual and die-hard racing fans alike.

Arcade Race Mode
The Arcade Race mode is a quick-and-dirty overview of the game, with 31 tracks and more than 120 cars. Select Arcade Race, pick a track, pick a car, and start racing. Arcade Race tracks are unlocked in blocks of two or three as you win races.

For each race, there is a wide variety of cars from which to choose, just in case you want to experience a track on a different set of wheels. Arcade racing provides a quick tour of the game, perfect for drivers looking to experiment with wildly different cars on different tracks. You can spend a whole evening racing without worrying about adjustments, fine-tuning, or upgrades. It's also an excellent way to warm up with a few quick matches before signing onto Xbox Live™ and driving up your online stats.

Career Mode
Career mode is a more extensive approach to Forza Motorsport, one in which collecting and modifying cars for specific races (or a series championship) adds more complexity to the game. Career mode offers a variety of Amateur Circuit Races, Professional Circuit Races, Point-to-Point Races, Endurance Races, and so on. Winning races in Career mode earns credits, and the game keeps track of your total. That total advances your level in the game, unlocking new tracks, new cars, or a new racing series. The first few races are open to Level 0 drivers. New races and opportunities unlock as you progress, opening up greater challenges and tougher competition.

Some races in Career mode require you to drive certain types of cars. For instance, you might be limited to cars from one region (European cars), specific manufacturers (Mitsubishi Eclipse vs. Subaru Impreza), a specific configuration (front-wheel drive, front engine), or a time period (American muscle cars made before 1970). This is where winning, buying, and collecting cars is important. When you win a race series (by placing first in every race of the series), you are awarded a car. Some of these vehicles are well-suited to specific types of races. You can buy cars with credits at any time, and additional cars are unlocked for purchase for every five levels advanced in the game. It's good to have a variety of cars in various classes for different competitions as you progress through the game.

Career mode players will probably spend a fair amount of time in The Garage, where you can use credits to customize and upgrade your cars. Upgrades modify the car's performance characteristics, such as torque, power, weight, spring stiffness, and so on. These changes are expressed in terms of five major attributes (Speed, Acceleration, Brake, Corner, and Rarity), and may also affect performance in subtler ways, like changing the amount of time it takes to shift gears, for example.

Show Some Class
Cars are organized by the Forza Motorsport Class system, which measures each car by the power of its engine, tire grip, weight, and other factors. Some changes are purely cosmetic, like tinted windows, wheel rims, and other bits of flash.

In both Arcade Race and Career modes, you generally compete against cars from the same Class, with the exception of the Amateur Races in Career mode, which have comparatively few restrictions. These amateur races allow you to bring a Bazooka to a knife fight. It's wise to upgrade cars to the top of their Class, giving them an edge against similar cars. For example, if you want to be competitive in B-Class races, upgrade a B4-Class car to a B1-Class car.

Bring on the Drivatar
The Arcade and Career modes in Forza Motorsport aren't the only ways to play. Time Trials are good practice for mastering tracks. Free Runs let you focus on driving without competition or testing.

You can also train a Drivatar, a computer-controlled driver that will compete in races for you. Training a Drivatar consists of completing a series of laps on multiple race tracks. Each test provides metrics for performance on different turn conditions, showing you where you can improve. The game then builds an A.I. representation that mirrors your driving skills. When you're done, your Drivatar can race for you in Career mode and win both credits and cars if it performs well, although the Drivatar takes a hefty three-fourths of the race winnings. Drivatars can be continually trained and improved after creation, and you can even compete against your own (or multiple) Drivatars.

The Arcade Race mode is the quickest way to progress through the basics of Forza Motorsport, presenting many gameplay options without slowing the action for any adjustments. Career mode, on the other hand, offers enough depth to satisfy serious racing simulation fans. While playing Career mode offline, you can also win more cars for racing online. The next time you log on to Xbox Live, you may have a few—or a dozen—or more cars ready to race. Adjust, customize, and fine-tune your collection to prepare cars for specific types of races. The result is a deep racing game in which you can explore and experiment with different tracks, races, vehicles, and modifications.

It's an open road. Drive wherever you want!

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