Forza 2
Forza Motorsport started something fantastic for racing sim enthusiasts. Especially those who couldn't afford both a PlayStation and an Xbox, since Gran Turismo -the only other major racing sim at the time, was a Sony exclusive. It was really nice to see a racing sim built from someone other than Polyphony Digital; a real fresh take on the genre. One that as far as I'm concerned, does a much better job in the end.
The Forza series also filled the Gran Turismo gap for me. the time it took Sony to release a proper GT game for the PlayStation 3, a length of 5 years between GT4 for the PS2 and GT5 for the PS3 and a length of 9 years between Gran Turismo 3 and 5, since I actually skipped on GT4. Sony spent forever to release a proper 'next generation' Gran Turismo, teasing us with GT:Prologue and GT:HD, during which time I spend in Forza instead.
Forza 2 was phenomenal. It really was a huge jump up in graphical quality from the original Forza Motorsport on the Xbox and though at first it didn't feel that way, (It wasn't as flashy as Project Gotham Racing 4.) the car response and race quality really stuck with me. Not to mention the car selection, which not only included a wide range of high-end track cars, but also a huge list of stock road cars including two cars I had owned at the time; a Honda Civic Si and an Acura RSX-S. There's nothing cooler than being able to whip around a track with no consequence in a car you're used to driving on the road daily. Especially in the case of Forza, where the game is tuned quite well to properly represent each car's real-life handling.
Forza 2 also featured a fantastic livery editing system. You could really go far customizing your paint job, including a variety of vinyl shapes, symbols and manufacture decals. Sometimes half the fun was spending an hour painting your favorite car to get it just right. It also had a in-game camera system for taking rendered photos of your cars in the garage or at the track. And although it wasn't as nice as the one in Project Gotham 4, it was still very good for showing off all the work you did.
I put in a ton of hours with Forza 2. Much more than the first one. The only things that kept me from putting in more time was getting stuck at a level of racing events that required you put in 30 minutes to an hour for one race. One race that you could loose at the last second and have to do all over again. I think it was Forza 3 that first included the 'rewind' system where if you made a mistake you could back the game up a few seconds. This would have been really handy in a case like this.
There is something really special about the kind of place this game takes me. Unlike any other racer, where you can make mistakes and still win, it takes a lot to recover from a slip-up in Forza. If you want to win, you have to really learn proper racing technique. You have to ride the line, learn to brake properly and accelerate with care. In fact, Forza is one of the only games where I take full advantage of the analog trigger button for the throttle. It's tough, but the payoff is fantastic. Especially when you know you can win simply because both you and the AI are playing by the rules and you won because you were legitimately better.
Forza Motorsport started something fantastic for racing sim enthusiasts. Especially those who couldn't afford both a PlayStation and an Xbox, since Gran Turismo -the only other major racing sim at the time, was a Sony exclusive. It was really nice to see a racing sim built from someone other than Polyphony Digital; a real fresh take on the genre. One that as far as I'm concerned, does a much better job in the end.The Forza series also filled the Gran Turismo gap for me. the time it took Sony to release a proper GT game for the PlayStation 3, a length of 5 years between GT4 for the PS2 and GT5 for the PS3 and a length of 9 years between Gran Turismo 3 and 5, since I actually skipped on GT4. Sony spent forever to release a proper 'next generation' Gran Turismo, teasing us with GT:Prologue and GT:HD, during which time I spend in Forza instead.
Forza 2 was phenomenal. It really was a huge jump up in graphical quality from the original Forza Motorsport on the Xbox and though at first it didn't feel that way, (It wasn't as flashy as Project Gotham Racing 4.) the car response and race quality really stuck with me. Not to mention the car selection, which not only included a wide range of high-end track cars, but also a huge list of stock road cars including two cars I had owned at the time; a Honda Civic Si and an Acura RSX-S. There's nothing cooler than being able to whip around a track with no consequence in a car you're used to driving on the road daily. Especially in the case of Forza, where the game is tuned quite well to properly represent each car's real-life handling.
Forza 2 also featured a fantastic livery editing system. You could really go far customizing your paint job, including a variety of vinyl shapes, symbols and manufacture decals. Sometimes half the fun was spending an hour painting your favorite car to get it just right. It also had a in-game camera system for taking rendered photos of your cars in the garage or at the track. And although it wasn't as nice as the one in Project Gotham 4, it was still very good for showing off all the work you did.
I put in a ton of hours with Forza 2. Much more than the first one. The only things that kept me from putting in more time was getting stuck at a level of racing events that required you put in 30 minutes to an hour for one race. One race that you could loose at the last second and have to do all over again. I think it was Forza 3 that first included the 'rewind' system where if you made a mistake you could back the game up a few seconds. This would have been really handy in a case like this.
There is something really special about the kind of place this game takes me. Unlike any other racer, where you can make mistakes and still win, it takes a lot to recover from a slip-up in Forza. If you want to win, you have to really learn proper racing technique. You have to ride the line, learn to brake properly and accelerate with care. In fact, Forza is one of the only games where I take full advantage of the analog trigger button for the throttle. It's tough, but the payoff is fantastic. Especially when you know you can win simply because both you and the AI are playing by the rules and you won because you were legitimately better.
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