Ah, wonderful. And now for each of the seven categories I will be granting a 1-to-10 rating basis on, 1 being the most foul and 10 being the most brilliant. These go as follows:
Gameplay
Storyline
Graphics
Sound
Value
Multiplayer (if applicable)
Bonus (in case I feel it incorporates something that just doesn’t fit in with the above categories)
So, just for you guys, I’ve raced against many opponents down the fierce tracks and raceways behind many-a-stickshift cars in Forza Motorsport 2 just to bring you the following review, courtesy of hours upon hours of my own personal playtime as well as (yet again) M80’s kind donation.
So let’s get on with the review, shall we?
Gameplay
Right off the bat, I have no reason to hide the fact that racing simulations are far, far from my cup of tea. But, when I was offered the chance to playtest it, I decided to go ahead and give it a shot – and, surprisingly, was in for quite a shock. While other racing games I’ve experienced, be it import racers, NASCAR sims, or et cetera, never quite captivated me and just seemed like just another long, boring clone of all the other hundreds of racing games that came before the one I had played, zipping around an ovular or sometimes wickedly-shaped racetrack, asphalt or dirt, for 100 to 200 laps just for “fun”, Forza Motorsport was quite different.
I don’t even know if I could even properly catalogue how many hours I’ve spent playing that thing and how many nights of spent up till 4 in the morning with the XBOX 360 controller in hand (along with a cup of nice n’ hot cappuccino) just telling myself “beat this last, final circuit!” Hell, I haven’t been this addicted to a game since, perhaps, Neverwinter Nights 2 or World of Warcraft, because, in case you couldn’t tell, I’m usually much fonder of the occasionally well-written shooter or classically-presented RPG. So far, I’ve reached Driver Level 27 and, I must say, while the tracks can get repetitive after awhile, using different cars to race on them is always a new and challenging experience.
For the rookies who aren’t used to a good racing simulation (such as myself,) there’s the braking line that shows you where to break in corners and when the appropriate time to accelerate out of that corner might be. Don’t get confused: this isn’t like Burnout or some other mindless racing sim you’ve played – you can’t just skid around corners, drift around turns, and slam into other cars. There’s actually some mind-twisting thought put into this game. You gun it too soon, you’re out in the sandtraps. You sit there and don’t hit the gas fast enough, your opponents come up from behind you and grant you a pretty rude awakening. It’s intense. Trust me.
The gameplay’s amazingly pleasing and keeps you entertained for hours … so many hours, in fact, that you’ll forget what time it is and end up playing until morning much like I did. Trust me; I guess it happens to the best of us. I give Forza Motorsport 2 a 10 out of 10 in the gameplay category.
Storyline
This category can become quite confusing to explain in any sort of racing game that doesn’t have some official racing league’s brand stamped across it (i.e. NASCAR & Indy), but it is doable. From what I can gather, you start off as a driver that chooses one of three regions to start off from, choosing what the more native cars to your area will be – do you prefer the Asia-regional cars, the Ferraris and sportcars of Europe, or the down-home classics of North America? Choose one and dive right in: choose your starting car and get racing!
The more races you beat, the more credits you earn and the more cars you can earn. You can buy more cars or even buy some new upgrades. Do what you like. This freedom and customization is what sets this game apart from others out there.
Not to mention there are the driver levels, which grant you certain discounts (and even some carmakers send you sample / test cars! [Porsches, even!!]) and the car levels, which produce certain discounts pertaining to that type of car or similar models n’ makes.
And that’s what you do. Race until you can race no longer.
Since there technically isn’t really a storyline, I suppose I’ll have to wind up making this category void. The rating system for this section is void.
Graphics
Only one major gripe here: the cars look completely amazing. Authentic, even. They are detailed in such high resolution that you’ll sometimes question whether the cars are rendered or real. The problem that arises is the backgrounds – the bystanders, buildings, and other off-road models (perhaps even spots of the ground you’re racing on in some parts) could’ve probably used some touching up. This isn’t much of an issue, though, for if you’re racing as fast as you should be, the backgrounds are a blur anyway and don’t detract from the experience.
Besides, if you’re getting so close to the sandtraps and grass off the track to realize that they’re not rendered in quite as high detail as the car you’re driving, I think the problem might be more your driving and less the poly-count of the models of the tirewall you’re piledriving into.
In the graphics department, I grant Forza Motorsport 2 a 9 out of 10.
Value
There isn’t quite so much replay value in this game as there is the longevity of just a single playthrough. You have the auction house, where you can buy, sell, and trade cars with other players over XBOX Live, all the cars to unlock through all of the track playthroughs, and many driver and car levels to master and expert.
And that’s only career mode.
Then you have arcade mode. Plus all the achievements. That’s so much of a task that I doubt it’s even possible to do a speedrun of. Based on the longevity of the game alone, Forza passes the value test with flying colors and emerges with a perfect 10 out of 10.
Multiplayer
To tell you the truth, the first thing I did was grab a friend and tackle a quick few games of split-screen multiplayer before I even began to delve into the depths of its career mode. And, to tell you the truth, I was enthralled by the beginning – the way that the splitscreen mode was presented gave both players an equal chance at experiencing the track the same way … and, since it was our first time playing (for either of us), it also raised some pretty interesting conversations.
“What the hell do those red arrows do?”
“How the hell should I know?”
*crash into a tirewall*
XBOX Live also ran without a hitch for me. Which made me quite happy. Speechless, really. Flawless.
For having such outstanding multiplayer value, I grant FM2 a near-perfect 9 out of 10.
Bonus
The primary bonus of this game is simply the astounding length of the entire thing. And, since I’ve unfortunately already discussed the length of the game and referenced it in the sections above, it wouldn’t be fair for me to add it again to the bonus. So, for the first time ever, there is no bonus for this game.
Overall, Forza Motorsport 2 has scored a near-perfect score of 9.5, proudly claiming its victory as the Gears of War for the racing universe, not just for the XB360 but across all platforms.
Whoo! And that’s that, once again. Yet another review I can tuck under my belt as experience. I had an extremely fun time and, much like a crack fiend and his crack dealer, I must give many thanks to Nico of M80 Teams for fueling my addiction even once more!
Hoo-rah!
I’d definitely recommend this game to a fan of any videogame genre anywhere. Even if you don’t think you like racing games, definitely give this one a try. It’s worth it. Bigtime.
And with that I’m off to do some more racing!!
… zoom-zoom, sucka!
--Reaper
