Fun Sim or Sim Fun?
By Mickah Wallace
Serious car-modding fans are drooling over Forza Motorsport™. Microsoft® Game Studio's worldwide racing challenge is resetting the bar in terms of gameplay depth, with more than 200 licensed cars, 400 authentic tracks, and thousands of after-market parts for performance and cosmetic upgrades.
The game also features cutting-edge race physics and realistic damage modeling that dramatically impacts the car's handling during races. Every skid, bump, and scrape takes seconds off your time, as it also takes its toll on performance and takes money from your pocket.
With all the professional-driver demands and realism, you might think this game wouldn't appeal to fans of the wilder, more arcade-y style of racing that we've recently seen in games likeBurnout® 3: Takedown™ or OutRun™ 2. But, whileForza Motorsport doesn't encourage long drifts or reward you with nitrous boosts for wrecking other cars, it does offer a different kind of driving excitement that is every bit as pulse-pounding as those other rubber-burning, gear-grinding adrenaline fests.
Win on the road, not by running them off it.
Customize to Your Heart's Content
Forza Motorsport provides an amazing amount of control over how your vehicles look and drive, and once you begin playing through the extensive single-player career, you're sure to become addicted to your cars' smooth controls and slick style. If not, you can always unlock more tracks, cars, and parts that will allow you to customize the racing mobile of your dream. Just don't get too antsy or impatient during the initial phase of your Forza Motorsport career. The longer you play, the faster (and more successfully) you can drive, unlocking more of the goodies you desire.
Keep Up Your Speed
The first and most important thing for an arcade racing fan to unlearn is drifting—that is, braking and turning on turns, so that you skid around them without losing too much momentum. This is not something you want to do very often in Forza Motorsport. If your tires aren't gripping the road, then you're simply not getting the best speed or control. In fact, even a slight skid will slow you down and force you to spend the next half-mile struggling with fishtails. Likewise for incidental contact with other cars or the boundaries of the track. Anything but your tires touching anything but road is going to cost you speed and maneuverability, giving cleaner drivers a chance to pass you.
Ride the green line to victory.
Follow That Line
The arcade racer's best friend in Forza Motorsport is the Suggested Line. This optional graphical element follows the optimum path through the entire course. It even changes from green to yellow around curves if you're in danger of losing control, and from yellow to red if you're definitely not going to make it. Turning off this feature gives a 15-percent bump to your difficulty bonus, but it's perfect for beginners who are looking to get a feel for the game's superior physics and learn to gauge their speed against the weight of the car and lay of the track.
The Suggested Line is also useful for those of us who like to live a little dangerously. It highlights the quickest way to catch up or pull ahead, sure, but it also lets you maintain as much speed as you dare throughout every inch of the race. You still have to slow down to make sharper turns, but the Suggested Line gives you a visual warning of upcoming hazards and helps you gauge just how fast you can go to still make it through intact. If the upcoming turn is red, tap the brake slightly until it turns yellow, then drive on.
It's not any more effective than learning to drive cleanly or taking each turn as professionally as possible, but it does make for a more exciting run. All you need to do is keep it floored and watch the green line as well as the road itself—that way you always slow down as little as possible to maintain control while keeping you in contention.
Work those turns.
Jockey Wisely
One thing arcade fans will find familiar is the way that A.I. drivers jockey for position. The A.I. drivers in Forza Motorsport are not belligerent, but they are aggressive. You will not be able to psyche them or intimidate them out of position. Instead, you simply have to out-drive them. But, of course, there's nothing wrong with a little nudge or scrape here and there—especially if you're fighting for the lead and the other car is just as hampered by the impact as you are.
Also, if you start a race in the middle or at the back of the pack, you'll almost certainly run into a snarled log-jam of customized machinery at the first sharp turn. Don't try to bully your way through because it will only slow you down. Ease up on the throttle and navigate around the tangled machines. More than one important Driving Career mode race has been restarted because of a six-car pile-up right off the line.
Superior graphics and incredible depth make Forza Motorsport a treat for any driving enthusiast. And, arcade fans should not be intimidated by the game's extensive strategic customization. Forza Motorsport has what it takes to test the speed and skills of the most die-hard action-loving driver.
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