Forza Motorsport 2 - X360

[Tetsuo_Shima]

I thought I'd made a thread about this already, oh well maybe not.

Anyway, soon us X360 owners will be graced with the presence of the second best driving game ever - Forza 2 (the best being Gran Turismo). The game has been perpetually delayed and delayed and delayed, from November 06 to December, to January, Febuary ... but the developers have finally thrown up a concrete date - some time ... in May :/ But anyway, that aside, it promises to be the most complete racing experience ever. Involving a career mode in the Gran Turismo stylee - with loads of cars and plenty of opportunity for modding - as well as a comprehensive car customization mechanic and decent multiplayer, this could well be the finest game we've seen on the 360 to date! From some of the videos and pictures I've seen, it certainly looks the part! Here Ill share the stuff with you in chronological order.

1. The first Forza 2 trailer, from E3. Nissan 350Z

2. Forza 2 customization trailer. Nissan 350Z again

3. Physics and handling trailer. Yet more Nissan 350Z - I wonder how much Nissan are paying them?

IGN's look at some of the many hundreds of cars ... 2 of them. Enzo Ferrari and Maserati MC12. Look great!

Well there you go, will be sure to keep you posted!

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

Here is the Forza 2 Developer's Blog on IGN

Now, I hate blogs, but this one is quite interesting. I'd like to draw your attention to the racing game A.I. interview that starts about halfway down the page. I reiterate - cannot wait for this game to come out.

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

Bumpitty Bump!

Forza Motorsport 2 is looking crazily good, take a look at the 'Detroit Muscle' video on this page. Amazing! Mugello Circuit video is really nice as well, itching to try this game!

The bad news is, it's been delayed again, this time to 'some point in June', which probably means early July. Doesn't bother me, if its going to be June then I hope it is delayed back into July so i don't have to wait til i come back from holiday to play it!

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

Quad bump! Oh, that felt good.

IGN have released a review of Forza Motorsport 2, here it is:

Forza 2 Review

It recieved an 8.9 score, which is very respectable, but I couldn't but think that IGN were excessively negative in their review. I reckon it'll be a blast and exactly what anyone would have been looking for, to claim that it was supposed to fill the gaps left by Burnout, PGR and Forza 1 (which the Forza 2 team never claimed at all) is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. I reckon there's a bit of an anti-Microsoft (or perhaps just anti-Forza, I dunno) mentality in there. Apart from all these depressing words like 'disappointment' and 'bland' and 'by the book', it really looks like a cracking game - few games have managed to blend both the performance tuning (GT's forte) and the aesthetic tuning (NFSU:U's forte) aspects into one, but it looks like Forza 2 manages it with ease. I can't wait to buy a Subaru Impreza, deck it out in WRC colours and then crack a twin turbo under the bonnet, and I think that is exactly what the Forza 2 developers were hoping for.

Another gripe the IGN team seem to find is that it is riddled with jaggies (AA issues there, apprently) and that the racing tracks are bland and ordinary - well, for a start, they exclaimed that PGR3 was a beautiful game and yet that had more jags than John Prescott - a bit weird don't you think? And bland racing tracks? Come on, you can't have rollercoasters and ferris wheels and neon signs on racing tracks, they're bland in real life and that's how they are in Forza 2. Even all that put aside, you can't moan when the game provides one of the most realistic physics engines ever seen and yet still manages to pump out a constant 60fps. Personally, I'll take the 60fps over absolute perfect edge filtering and excessively lively racetracks thanks very much.

It looks to me like they've done a great job. Can't wait to get stuck into this, but I'll have to wait til after holiday since my 360 still needs repaired

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

If anyone is at all interested, theres new downloadable content on Xbox Live:

1. A new track, Road America (re-incarnated from Forza 1) for 100 points

2. A very nice new car pack, mostly exotic themed, including:

• Audi R8
• Audi Sport Quattro
• BMW Motorsport M3 E30
• Ferrari FXX
• Koenigsegg CCGT
• Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera
• Pontiac Trans Am SD
• Ferrari 599GTB Fiorano
• Porsche 911 GT1 (996)
• Renault 5 Turbo
• Renault Clio Renaultsport 197

all for 400 points.
The Renaultsport Clio is available for free, if you want.

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

Another new car pack came out on March 19th, all of these lovelies for 400 MS points:

• 1999 Ferrari F50 GT
• 1989 Ferrari F40 Competizione
• 2006 Maserati MC12 Corsa
• 2007 Lamborghini Murcielago LP640
• 2008 Porsche 911 GT2 (997)
• 2007 Ferrari 430 Scuderia
• 2007 #1 Peugeot 207 Super 2000
• 2008 BMW Motorsport M3 E92
• 2008 Maserati GranTurismo
• 2007 Audi S5
• 2008 Mitsubishi Evo X GSR
• 2007 Audi TT Coupe S-Line
• 1971 BMW Motorsport 3.0 CSL

or if you don't fancy all that, you can always download the #1 Peugeot 207 Super 2000 for free.

There's some more information available on each individual car (along with some nice photos) here. Advance to the next car using the hyperlinks at the bottom of each page.

That's one nice car list there, standouts being the awe-inspiring Ferrari F50 GT, Murcielago LP640, the new 911 GT2, the new BMW M3, the new Mitsubishi Evo and the R8 lookalike TT. Mmmmmm!


There is also a high quality preview video available here.