Forza Motorsport 2 Review

Let me begin by professing my love for racing games. The first game I ever owned was Excitebike for the NES (Yes, even before Mario Bros.) and I was hooked ever since. While there is always a special place in my heart for games such as Mario Kart and other arcade-style racers, the introduction of Gran Tourismo for the Playstation got me hooked on simulation racing. After playing Gran Tourismo for almost ten years, Forza Motorsport 2 is my first departure from Sony’s flagship title. Gran Tourismo’s Polyphony Digital changed racing games forever but Turn 10’s Forza Motorsport 2 brings its own car to the track. Start your engines!

Arcade Mode has three options: Exhibition, Time Trial, and Free Run. Placing in Exhibition unlocks cars and whichever track the player is on. Time Trial unlocks the specific car for each challenge. These unlocked cars can be used in either Arcade Mode or Multiplayer. Free Run allows the player to use any arcade or customized car on any track. But nobody really cares about Arcade Mode; it’s all about the Career Mode.

Career Mode is where the pedal hits the metal. Here you will find over 300 cars to collect and tune in order to build your racing empire. When you start a career you will be prompted to choose a region. The player can claim America, Asia, or Europe as their home and depending on which region you choose largely affects what will be filling your garage in the initial stages of the game. For example, if the player chooses Europe as his region he will receive discounts and access to European cars like BWM, Ferrari, and Audi early on in the game. The catch is that he will have to shell out more cash and work his way through career mode to get his hands on high-performance American and Asian vehicles. Choose wisely as this initial crossroads determines how the rest of the game will unfold.

As the player wins races he earns not only credits to purchase new cars and upgrades, but also experience points. Depending on how well a race is ran and what place the player earns, he will increase his Driver Level. As the Driver Level increases, rewards such as discounts on home region cars, new vehicles at dealerships, and new race venues will become unlocked. Along with Driver Experience the player gets Vehicle Experience for whichever brand of car he is driving. Vehicle Experience earns you discounts on specific upgrades such as drive train, brakes, weight reduction, etc.

Customization in Forza 2 is almost endless. There are all the performance upgrades you could want such as Engine & Power (exhaust, ignition, fuel systems, turbo), Platform & Handling (brakes, shocks, transmission, weight reduction), Tires & Rims, and Body & Aero. Each individual upgrade has three options: Street, Sport, and Race. So a Street Intake Kit will be the cheapest with the least performance increase and a Race Intake Kit will be the most expensive with a major performance increase. Players can even swap out whole drive train types turning a rear-wheel drive into a four-wheel drive or anything else you desire.

Before customization:

There are nine categories that can be specifically tuned even further by the player to find that perfect combination for his driving style. These are Tires, Gearing, Alignment, Anti-roll Bars, Springs, Damping, Aero, Braking, and Differential. With multiple areas in each category available for tweaking, this is a car enthusiast’s dream.

The paint editor is a whole other monster unto itself. There are almost endless possibilities here as well. Each car is split up into six panels. With over 950 shapes, patterns, letters, and manufacturer decals and over 4,000 layers to play with, dedicated artists will have a field day with this detailed and easy to use editor. I have spent almost half my time with Forza 2 just in making my cars look the part.

After customization (this took about 10 minutes):


Turn 10 and partners Toyo Tires did major research for the newest Forza. They wanted to make sure that the interaction between the car and asphalt was as realistic as possible. While the game runs at a lovely 60 fps, the physics are calculated at a blistering 360 fps. This data can be viewed at any time by pressing up on the D-Pad. Cycling through these menus shows the player everything from tire friction, suspension changes, body weight distribution, tire temperature, damage, and more; all in real-time. It is insane how much information is being processed at once and real gear-heads will be able to use this info to help fine-tune their rides even more.

While the framerate and physics are phenomenal, this meant that something had to take a hit and it was the graphics. Car models are excellent but they suffer from aliasing issues. The tracks got the worst end of the deal. They are bland and boring, there are only daytime races, and never is there a change in weather conditions. Personally I would rather have authentic feeling cars than gorgeous tracks but one can’t help and notice that Forza 2 could have looked much better.

There are damage effects that add to the simulation experience not only visually but through gameplay as well. If you smash into a wall not only will your bumper be lying on the ground, but damaged shocks will affect steering and engine damage will result in performance hits. Take enough damage and your car won’t even be able to continue the race.

The online community that Forza 2 has set up is very solid but it is going to be the users who determine its success. Ranked and Non-Ranked matches are available if the player wants to jump in a race. Your specific tuned cars from Career Mode can be raced online to see how they match up to the competition. Microsoft also hosts weekly tournaments with up to 256 entrants whom must go through qualifying stages to get into the tournament, and then progress through a bracket system to reach the championship race. There is an auction house where players can buy/sell vehicles and skins from/to other players. Even saved photos of your cars can be uploaded to the Forza 2 website to share with your friends!

Forza 2 is a simulation and certain cars are going to be more difficult to handle than others. Difficulty options cater to both noobies and pros alike. Assists such as anti-lock braking, traction control, stability control, damage, tire wear, etc. can be turned on or off depending on the player’s skill level. For the ultimate experience turn every assist off and get rewarded not only with the most authentic representation of the car in the game, but also more credits for being such a badass.

I have had a blast with Forza Motorsport 2. From creating dream cars to building my garage to painting and playing online, Forza 2 is THE game for racing fans. I would have liked more tracks and track variations as playing the same ones over and over left me wanting more. Turn 10 has put a lot of hard work into making this game feel authentic as hell and they delivered.

And now for the paintjob I created last weekend after the A’s swept the Giants. Enjoy!