Forza Motorsport Hands-On Impressions

During a recent visit to Microsoft's E3 booth, we took the opportunity to get hands-on with its recently announced Xbox racing game, Forza Motorsport. The E3 demo offered only a handful of options, and the time we had to spend with it was limited. Nevertheless we're pleased to report that it's looking very promising indeed.

The E3 demo version of Forza Racing allowed us to choose from around a dozen different licensed vehicles (including a Ferrari and a Porsche) and then race it on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, at Laguna Seca, or at the Blue Mountain Raceway. We eventually opted to take a TVR Tuscan Speed Six for a spin on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, and it wasn't long before we were able to check out the game's damage models firsthand.

If there's one thing you can be sure of in a racing game that's touted as being "ultrarealistic" it's that you'll need to brake nice and early for the corners and will rarely get away with sliding around them--particularly the first time you play. This is certainly true of Forza Racing, which caught us out on more than one occasion, resulting in damage to the car's paintwork and one or two dented panels. In our defense, the E3 build of the game really wasn't conveying the sensation of speed as well as it might, and it was only when we started taking the time to glance down at our speedometer occasionally that we realized we were approaching corners at speeds that were less than sensible and began to employ the brake button accordingly--although not after we'd confirmed that the cars in Forza Motorsport can be flipped.

Aside from the fact that the environment mapping on the cars was struggling to keep up with the frame rate that the rest of the game was running at, Forza Motorsport's visuals were difficult to fault. The car models on offer were what you've come to expect from the likes of Project Gotham Racing 2, and having seen the quality of the environments in the game, we wouldn't mind wagering that there's barely a stone out of place.

Forza Motorsport is currently scheduled for release toward the end of this year. We'll bring you more information on the game as soon as it becomes available.