Forza Motorsport 2

"Runs Smoothly, With A Few Bumps In The Road"

Forza Motorsport 2: Runs Smoothly, With A Few Bumps In The Road

Over two years before the release of the sequel, the original Forza Motorsport was released on the Xbox. It targeted gamers that were passionate about cars and featured groundbreaking physics. Forza Motorsport 2 follows this pattern and is a solid follow up to the original racing sim.

Gameplay 9/10

As with the first game, Forza 2 features incredibly realistic physics that will blow you away. Unlike other racing simulators, every car in the game feels and races a little bit different then the others. The Microsoft Wireless Racing Wheel works flawlessly with this game. Even if you have already played this game, adding the wheel is an entirely new experience. The real fun of the game is in upgrading your cars so they can race better. Nothing is more satisfying then buying a Scion tC and upgrading it so that it rivals Ferraris and Lamborghinis. A challenging factor in Career mode is the addition of driver regions. When you begin your career, you must choose from 3 regions; North America, Europe, and Asia. Each region has around the same amount of dealerships. Which region you choose determines which cars you can more easily obtain. For example, if you choose Europe as your region, you can easily obtain a Ferrari or a BMW early in your career, but you will have to work harder to get a Corvette or any other car outside of your region. Upgrading your Driver Level by completing tournaments unlocks cars. Generally, dealerships outside of your region will have more locked cars to begin with then dealerships within your region.

Graphics and Sounds 8/10

The graphics in Forza 2 are astounding. The cars look beautiful and extremely realistic. The focus in Forza 2 is the cars that you race. Because of this, other aspects of the game suffer. While the cars are spectacular, races can only take place during the day and under perfect weather conditions. Also, while driving down a straight-away, you can look around the horizon and occasionally you can see pixilated sky and clouds. Not a big deal, but something to be aware of. Another disappointment is the lack of a dashboard camera, possibly the best view that a racing sim can offer. The sounds are what you'd expect from a racing sim. Different cars sound different, and an upgraded version of a car sounds different then a stock version of the same car. There is no soundtrack in the game, which is not too big a deal considering you can play music through the guide button. Unlike other sims, there is no “nature sounds” or other ambience. All you can hear are the cars and your heartbeat in your ears.

Play Time/Replay Ability 10/10

Expect to devote at least 40 hours to the career mode. Even more time may be spent depending on your skill level. The Xbox Live community is alive and flourishing, an indeterminate amount of time can be spent racing against other members of Xbox Live. The replay ability is great, career mode can theoretically be completed three times, once for each region available.

In closing, Forza Motorsport 2 is a great racing simulator for the Xbox 360. It is definitely worth buying if you can look past the underdeveloped scenery and enjoy the all out focus on the cars. From the first time you pop the disk in, you can tell that the game is devoted to the love of the cars, and if you share that love of cars, it is easy to look past the games flaws. Rent this game if you are unsure that you will be able to look past these flaws.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/31/07

Game Release: Forza Motorsport 2 (US, 05/29/07)