Forza Motorsport

Forza Motorsport is a racing simulator video game developed by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox gaming system. Since its release it has been heralded as one of the most realistic racing simulators for any of the popular gaming consoles. It was shipped to stores on May 3, 2005.

Many people were confused when Forza was first announced because Microsoft already had a flagship racing game in the form of Project Gotham Racing. The primary difference between the two is that Forza aims to be a very accurate simulation whereas PGR has much more of an arcade feel. Forza is circuit-based while PGR is mainly city-based (although some of the tracks in Forza are present).

Forza is also notable for its ability to model damage to cars, from both a cosmetic standpoint and from a performance standpoint. This changes the way the game is played, in contrast to the Gran Turismo series, as collisions with barriers and other cars will alter the car's handling and acceleration. More noticeably, spoilers and bumpers can be knocked off cars, paint can be scraped off and windows can be shattered. Microsoft did not, however, get permission from car manufacturers to depict cars rolling over.

Cars

Circuits

Forza contains a mix of licenced, street and original circuits. The licenced tracks include Silverstone, Laguna Seca, and Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Upgrading and tuning

Like Gran Turismo, each car can be upgraded and tuned with a large number of extras and parts.

Customization

One feature is the ability to change the look of your car, from changing the color to applying decals. Using the somewhat unwieldy but very powerful toolset you can create some very striking designs.

Though Microsoft may not have intended it, the community surrounding the game has allowed the decal feature to take on another level of complexity. Through the use of various open-source tools written and made available on the Internet, a user can edit the "decals.bin" file that ships with the game, and insert their own custom decal and vinyls, allowing almost infinite customizability. However, this requires the user to own an Xbox that has either been mod-chipped or softmodded, along with the game being copied onto another media, preferably the Xbox's own internal hard drive.

Physics Engine

One of Forza Motorsport's prime features is its advanced physics engine. Unlike most driving and racing games, Forza Motorsport calculates a car's performance in real time using physical data (for example, the weight of a car's engine, its drag coefficient, etc.). The result is a highly-realistic driving simulator which matches closely with real life. In 2005, Popular Science magazine tested this effect by inviting a professional race-car driver and an amateur car enthusiast to drive identical cars on an identical track in both Forza Motorsport and the real world. Each driver's track times matched closely from his performance on the real track and in virtual reality. ^*

Reaction

Much like Sony's Gran Turismo, Forza Motorsports' debut was both a commercial and critical success. It sold more than 2 million copies worldwide(both stand-alone and through forced console bundling) and it received rave reviews from such media outlets like 1UP.com, IGN, Eurogamer and more.

Game Review Scores

1UP.com: 10 out of 10 (100%)
GamePro: 5 out of 5 (100%)
GameBiz.com: 10 out of 10 (100%)
GamePlanet.co.nz: 5 out of 5 (100%)
Electronic Gaming Monthly: 9.83 out of 10 (98.3%)
Xbox.IGN.com: 9.5 out of 10 (95%)
GameSpot.com: 9.2 out of 10 (92%)
GameSpy.com: 4.5 out of 5 (90%)
EuroGamer.net: 9 out of 10 (90%)

Forza Motorsport 2

Shane Kim, one of Microsoft Game Studios' executives, confirmed that all of their first-party game franchises will definitely have sequels on the Xbox 360 console. Considering Kim's confirmation along with the rave reviews and big sales Forza Motorsport received, there is no reason why a Forza sequel would not be made.

After Microsoft's Press Conference at this year's E3 expo, a CG, non game-play trailer was shown proving that a sequel is in fact in the works. Forza franchise’s lead game designer Dan Greenawalt has been quoted the they have a "commitment to creating motorsports mastery under a strenuous Holiday 2006 release deadline." showing a hopeful launch window on Q4 06 (Team Xbox) Dan has stated that "(Forza 2) have a dedicated graphical framerate of around 60fps, without combining the physics frequency in with this figure. Expect a physics refresh in the several hundreds, which, when combined with a high graphical framerate, equates to a very complex and smooth running experience." This can be compared with other racing simulators like GT4, which ran at 60fps/60physic refreshes per second, or Forza 1 30fps/ 240 physic refreshes per second.

External links

2005 computer and video games | Racing simulators | Xbox games