Forza Motorsport Update

Forza Motorsport is the upcoming addition to the Xbox's robust racing catalog that promises to round out the already appealing selection of racers for the system. While the Project Gotham and Rallisport franchises are superb ways for racing fans to test their skills, the one subgenre not represented in Microsoft's stable of first-party racers is the racing sim. Forza is being poised to fill that gap, thanks to a lengthy development period and a team made up of vets who love their racing games. We recently had the chance to get an updated look at a work-in-progress version of the game to see how it's coming together.

The demo we were given showed off a more polished version of the E3 version of the game, and it provided a look at the intricate physics system that has been custom made for Forza. The team's passion for racing has resulted in a system that sweats the little details--everything from the suspension reacting to the tuning of your car's cambers to the effect the different wings has on your car's performance and handling. The system will complement what the team considers to be the "evolution" of your engine. As with any sim, you'll be improving your car's engine as you progress, but the team views the changes that you'll make as more of an evolution than a general performance upgrade.

The game's roster of cars, over 200 from 15 manufacturers, is a virtual car lot that should satisfy any car aficionado. One of Forza's fresh twists includes the way your access roster ties into your profile, which, in turn, ties in with the game's replayability. You'll start off the game by creating your profile, which begins with choosing a region, such as North America, Asia, or Europe. Your choice of region will affect which cars you'll be interacting with in the game. For example, a North American profile will include a bevy of cars found in the States, therefore making Asian and European cars rare for your profile. This system gives the game a hint of Pokemania, as using your profile in a friend's game will let you access different cars and vice versa.

In addition to the polish and tweaks shown off in the demo, the team let us have a look at a rough version of the livery editing feature that will offer a truly impressive level of customization for your cars. You'll be able to tweak the appearance of your car in several ways, including: adjusting the paint hue, adding vinyl, and moving, resizing, spinning, and tilting the decals (which include text) in any way you like. The customization process will have you adding these various elements in layers, and Forza's system features a staggering amount of layers for you to play with.

For example, you'll have about 100 layers to tinker with, for a grand total of 600 layers per car. Cool? Yes. A little insane? Probably. However, the team is clearly making its obsessive-compulsive tendencies work for it--so we can't complain. The robust customization feature will ensure that you will be able to have a one-of-a-kind set of wheels when taking on friends. This feature should also come in handy when you're online; although, as chatty as the gang was about the livery editor, inquiries about specifics on Forza's online functionality were ignored. The best we could gather was that the team might be thinking it would be logical for them to follow Microsoft in its creation of online options with first-party racers.

The graphics continue to look sharp, as they are being crafted to take advantage of the Xbox's capabilities. The cars are being modeled with a high number of polygons that are enhanced by several effects. Detailed textures, specular highlights, real-time reflection mapping, and multipass rendering will help bring the cars and tracks to life. HDTV owners will be treated to a widescreen mode and 480p support to help the visuals shine. While the effects are fine showcases for the Xbox hardware, they also play an important part in the gameplay. Visual cues, such as tire marks on the track, will alert you to the best racing line to stick to and when you'll need to prepare to brake.

The audio in the game is being tailored with sensibility and will feature authentic car sounds that will be ably pumped out in Dolby 5.1 to offer an immersive experience. Like the visuals, Forza's audio will contain audio cues to help you manage your driving.

As it stands now, Forza is shaping up nicely and should be just what the doctor ordered for racing fans looking for a meaty sim experience. While Forza appears to be covering all the modes you'd expect out of a sim-style racer, the team is also working to ensure that the game is more than just a "me too" experience. We're pleased to see that there's some thought going into the modes to give them a unique feel. It's also good to see that, despite the game's hardcore sim leanings, the team is working to offer enough assists and general hints to keep it accessible to players who won't be spending an inordinate amount of time fine-tuning their car's setup and appearance. Forza Motorsport is currently slated to ship this November for the Xbox. Look for more on the game in the coming months.