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A complete and unexpected disappointment compared to GT4

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 18
Date: July 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I cannot believe what a hunk of junk this game is compared to GT4. My level of disappointment far exceeds the whopping $50 I spent of this game. Let's be specific. Here are quantitatively some of deficiences of this game compared to GT4:

1) Engine sound is absolutely muted and unrealistic. A porsche and a Ferrari sounds remarkably similar. I have no good sense of how fast I'm going by the engine revs, unlike GT4 where I can clearly hear the demarcation of when the engine is approaching the redline
2) The car visuals are completely 2-dimensional. One of the greatest innovations in GT4 is the car dipping that occurs when you slam on the breaks. This really gives you a wonderful sense of how fast you are going on a track and how hard you are breaking. I get none that with this piece of crap Forza game.
3) The road texture in Forza is completely non-distinguishing as a function of speed. In GT4 the road texture becomes rich and more detailed when you're at slow speeds, and becomes more blurred and smoothened out at the higher speeds. Just like R.E.A.L.I.T.Y. Again, this gives you a wonderful sense of how fast you're going. In Forza the texture is pretty much the same no matter how fast you're going... so again, you have no feel for how fast the car is going.
4) The gravel in Forza is ridiculously unrealistic. When you hit the gravel sections your speed drops ridiculously abruptly... which makes no sense. Also, in GT4, when you hit the gravel, your car bounces around like your traveling over... gravel! There is none of that bumpiness in Forza
5) The scenary in Forza, although better detail than GT4, looks completely CARTOONISH. Looks like something out of a Japanese animation movie. There is absolutely no sense of being immersed in a real environment, like in GT4.
6) The controller feedback vibrations in Forza is, for one nearly non-existent. Going over a candy-cane is about the same as getting into the gravel areas. In GT4, the feedback when you hit the canes is so in tune with the visual feedback of "bumpiness" and the auditory feedback of tires running over those canes. Forza has none of that, again, giving you no sense of speed, excess of speed and a general feeling of how the car is handling the road.

Overall, even without the GT4 comparisons, this was a highly unsatisfying and unenjoyable experience. After a number of hours playing this game, not only did I find myself not ever wanting to master any of the tracks, I found myself never wanting to drive any of these tracks nor any of the cars again. When I fired up my PS2 and ran GT4, I can't describe in words the exhilaration I felt when my passion and interest for driving simulation games was instanteously restored...

Save your money and your frustation. Pass on Forza, and get yourself GT4.

Disappointed, especially after all the glowing reviews

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 11
Date: July 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I bought this games after reading excellent reviews on Amazon.com and other places. Never have I felt so disconnected from - and disappointed by - most of the reviews.

I have played many racing games on the PS2, PC and the Xbox, including Gotham Racing 1 and 2, GT2, GT3, GT4, etc., and I really feel that this is NOT the best racing game ever, not even close. I highly recommend anyone considering this game to rent it first and decide for himself/herself instead of trusting all those glowing reviews.

The biggest problem with Forza is that it is not very immersive, due to flaws in visual and tactile feedback. Specifically
1) No tactile or visual feedback from dips and bumps in the road, especially during braking, so the sensation of speed is extremely lacking. In GT4, traveling at high speeds on many of the roads will shake the controller and the screen noticeably, especially on short wheelbase cars like the Lotus Elise. Also, in GT4, the screen tilts when one side of your car gets on a curb, dips when you brake, and lifts when you accelerate.
2) Although scenery and cars are very detailed, the lighting and reflections on the cars are not, making the cars look highly unrealistic. In GT4, the reflections on the cars and their glass windows are so good that you can get a good sense of the curvature of the car bodies and windows, which, together with the excellent details of the cars, make them look extremely realistic.
In short, I am really disappointed with this "driving simulator". If I could do it over again I would not buy this game.

Nice, but Gran Turismo or Project Gotham 3 is better.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: March 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Forza is a decent game but I can't help but compare it to Gran Turismo 3 for PS2 or Project Gotham 3 for xbox 360. Mainly because of the fact that it doesn't have an inside (cockpit) view. I hope Forza 2 coming out for the 360 will have this option. For a true simulator, like what Forza claims to be, an inside view is essential. It's just not realistic seeing only the road in front of you.

NOTE: I'm playing Forza which was originally developed for regular Xbox on an Xbox 360 console. I was able to download an update as soon as I loaded the game, but there are still glitches. Mainly the car's sound that I'm driving dissappears (but not the other cars) on most of the harder tracks. This is rather annoying as I rely a lot on the sound of my engine when I'm racing.

Almost Famous

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 10
Date: July 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'll tell you what I hated first. You dont have access to all cars in the game. You have to progress deeper and deeper and unlock cars. It doesn't matter if you have 57million bucks in your account, you still cant buy the cars you really want until you progress further. 2nd, I hated the difficulty settings. I would play some races on easy and destroy the competition and then I'd play a different race on easy and get my buttocks whipped seriously. EASY is EASY. It shouldn't matter. 3rd, the races were too long for my attention span. I would be doing fine in a race and then 10 minutes in I would screw up and have to start all over. That pissed me off. Okay, there's some good in here somwhere. The cars look pretty good and sound awesome. When you upgrade your engine the sound changes. The turbo sounds on this game are the best I've heard. You can actually hear the turbo sucking in air, not just the blow-off valve like most games. But all that wont matter if a game isn't fun to play. This game is not exhilarating and you won't be rushing home to play it. Rent this one before you buy it.

Decent...but overhyped

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 13
Date: May 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I definetly looked forward to this game, but after 2 years of Project Gotham 2, I can't seem to accept what "seems" like a game that was created before PGR2.

The graphics are by FAR a letdown. GT4 blows it away, and PGR2 is must crisper also.

Game play is decent...sure its more realistic, harder to drive, turn, less acceleration, but it's NOT AS FUN!!

If you are a GT4 fan, this may be for you. But if you want instant XBOX live racing with a more "fun' factor...then look to PGR2.

Don't Believe All These 5 Star Ratings...Simply Hype Fueled

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 11
Date: June 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game isn't bad, but it has serious problems:

1) No replays unless you quit a race! Makes it tough to learn by watching a turn or 2 in replay, but still be able to continue racing afterwards.
2) If you quit a race to watch a replay, the controls for replays are terrible. You can't do any seeking, fast forwarding, rewinding and you can't manipulate the camera besides a paltry 4 not so good views. Makes replays tedious to use and not all that impressive since you can't move the camera to get cool images of race events.
3) You have to drive from one of 4 bad vantage points. Either 2 harldy different views with you floating above your car, or else 2 hardly different views from you riding with your nose scraping on the pavement. No first person view where you see the cockpit / dashboard! I know there are a lot of cars so that might have been hard, but driving as a disembodied floating viewpoint makes this feel less like driving and more like moving a camera around the track.
4) The braking is terrible. Way too sensitive with no way to adjust it! There is a hair trigger on locking up your wheels - push too little on the left trigger and you don't get much braking force at all, push too much and you come to a screeching halt. Way too fine a line (and I'm a veteran of virtual racing for 15 years of driving on PC / Xbox. I know how to do it!).
5) No weather effects.
6) Why do I have to play and play and play to unlock stuff I paid for? Can't they offer a mode where I can play any car, on any track!!! It is maddening to have so few choices initially and be trapped into having to play so many races in so many cars I'm not interested in just to get to cars and tracks I want.
7) I've played for several hours already, and the longest race offered is 3 laps! One mistake and you can't really win. That's way too short. Races should be long enough that you can bide your time, pass when appropriate, and recover from small driving errors. With 3 laps, you basically are done just when you feel like you are getting warmed up. And like I said above, who knows how long you have to play this game before it lets you drive longer races. After several hours, I still can't!
8) Game is very impersonal. There is very little personality in this game. Feels very bland playing it. Looks good, but it is ultimately very sterile and isn't totally immersive like other racing games have been for me. Even the name - what the heck?
9) There does not appear to be any weight transfer / body roll happening with regards to the vehicles. The game seems to model suspension in this manner - but on all the replays I've watched the car bodies never seem to react in response to weight transfer. That either means the physics aren't as great as claimed, or they are disconnected from the visual simulation and either way that's bad.
10) Bad interface screens. Navigating around this game isn't easy or intuitive. You have to go in and out of many layers of menus to do things, and in and out of actual races as well meaning you ares sitting through loading screens longer than you should be. In general, the whole front end of this game (what you do before you are finally on the track racing) is burdensome.

Everyone is hyping this game. Everyone wants it to be great. Me too. I love the Xbox and I want it to have a GT4 killer. But GT4 has some of these problems too. Developers have innovated some (drivatar and dynamic racing line), but stayed too formulaic and emulative of the GT games. This game was in development a long time with a big team. Should have had more flair, better visual representation of physics, way better interfaces / menus, better music, better camera views / controls, better game saving (not even sure if you can - I've never yet been in a compelling enough race to care to try), weather, and more.

It looks good. It can wow your friends. You'll play it thinking there is more too it for a few hours, but I think it will turn out to be one of those 'good' games that really just sits on your shelf after a week or 2 with it. Not nearly exciting enough to play, and with serious critical flaws related to camera, interface.

Disappointed

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 5
Date: May 31, 2005
Author: Amazon User

After all thy hype I expected much more for my $50 bucks. the graphics were alright, x-box live was horrible as i kept getting booted and had a hard time finding matches and the lack of adjustment for controller sensitivity to help vehicle control made for less than expected gameplay. i'll stick with colin mcrae until microsoft gets this one right.

no problems

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Everything was just the way is supposed to be.....

no problems with anything

thanks

This isn't Grand Turismo for sure!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Graphics are OK, the "feel" isn't nearly as good as many racing games I've played. I often found myself braking too late. Who knows, maybe this game is more realistic than most, but it sure doesn't feel like it.

Stylish and Challenging

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 31, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Forza Motorsport is a stylish and challenging game that is easily one of the best racers on the Xbox, if not the best. There are more than 230 cars from 60 manufacturers and a track list that, if not extensive, at least features a nice mix of tight street courses, real race tracks from all over the world, and challenging fictional environments. If you don't have the slightest clue about entry points into turns or when to step on the brakes, Forza has a handy "suggested line" feature that is one of the slickest innovations in racing games to come along in a long time.
Forza places a huge emphasis on every car's individuality through features such as the rarity rating and powerful customization tools, which let you paint your car and/or add a massive number of vinyls and decals, creating, with a little patience, a car that will be unique and unlike any others. That individuality can be further celebrated by pitting your car against other players' cars online. The fun doesn't stop there, however, as Forza also lets you buy and sell cars in online trading sessions with friends and strangers alike. By setting up a "buy and sell" session, you can browse the collections of up to eight other players who agree to enter the lobby with you.
Forza may well be remembered as a title that, through its mix of challenge and control, introduced an entirely new set of fans to the beauty and power of driving games.

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