Arguably the best racing game you could get today.
"What are we searching in videogames?" someone asked me. I'm pretty sure Perfection, Fun and Satisfaction is the answer. Going by the saying, Forza 3 is not perfect, but it's surely gets very close to it.
I've been amazed by Forza 3 ever since i don't have a 360. It looks damn fun. So by the time I finally bought my 360... This is number one on my list. I may have compared it to some other games in this review.
Good Points:
>Graphically, it's gorgeous for a game that have some 20+ racing environments, 400+ cars and came on 2 DVD (And some DLCs of course). Environments and cars are very detailed, although the 'Different' car model system (You see one car with lots of polys in the showcase area and play with a car with a lot less polys) is a bit annoying. I know it's hard to maintain a stable 60fps with all cars being detailed to the smallest bolt, but does the Polygon Diet really needs to be that much?
>As previously mentioned, the variation of cars and tracks that are available to play. It's a huge list and whilst not nearing a thousand cars by much. All cars have cockpit views, exterior upgrades, internal upgrades and BRAKE UPGRADES. Of course, i'm not comparing it to another game. Okay i lied.
>The environment are much more detailed than a "Certain PS3 exclusive game that were developed by polyphony digital, have a thousand cars but only 200 of them have cockpit views which title i shall not shout out loud but it's definitely NOT gran turismo five". That's my opinion of course. If you think otherwise, feel free to say it somewhere.
>The livery editor is the easiest to use and best everywhere. I've tried using the livery editor in Midnight Club L.A and NFS ShiFt 1 and 2, and it's no match. Especially the one on shift (Both games). Want to paint a famous livery to your car? Fake widebody kits, carbon fibre, intakes or write your name on it? All can do for it.I think nothing is much of a challenge for this game's robust vinyl editor. That is, as long as you can replicate it. Not easy, but showing it off online after hours hard work should worth it.
>Visual and mechanical damages that actually works! And it's available on all 470+ cars.
>The online features are just superb. Nothing has been more varied than Forza's online modes. Whilst the online races are hell a lot more varied than the one in the single player, it's the Storefront and Auction House that catches my attention. Putting up your tunes, paintjobs or logos and selling them to people (Or if you're feeling generous give them out for free) Or put your car to a very low price in the auction house. Of all my 30 days on XBL, i spent most time on this game.
>The menu musics are catchy. It's some sort of electronic music i believe? Whilst it's not the type of beat you may hear in clubs or what came out of Daft Punk's speakers during their concert, It certainly deserve thumbs up.
>Ridiculous amount of upgrades. Whilst i always put the most expensive part on all my cars (Which turns out to be so damn expensive). Engine swaps, aspiration swaps, drivetrain conversion it's all there. Transform your ford fiesta into a fire breathing dragon? You can't do it literally here, but if that means turning your Fiesta into a Hot Rod, You can! It still won't spit out fires sadly
>The basic features of racing itself is fun and as i believe, quite realistic. Can't really make sure because the cars i've driven IRL are not in the game (Then again it's some old suzuki 4x4. Won't expect it anyway, so...)
>Engine sounds have been properly recreated. They sounds like real engine rather than Vacuum cleaners and blenders. I got my eyes on you, Polyphony Digital.....
Minor bad bits:
>Very minor, but every single imperfection counts. You can't paint your rims white. If you choose white on the palette, it'll turn grey.
Major bad bits.
>A.I is pretty bad. Whilst they're quite smart (or sometimes not. Perhaps "Realistic" is more correct. They still make mistakes) by not only driving in a pre-determined rail, they can be annoying when you change the difficulty. There's easy (child's play. Good if you don't want much of a challenge), Medium (Near perfect. A.I bit more aggressive), and Hard (don't think about winning)
>Some A.I's have their "Aggression metre" set above rabid pitbull. And whilst i said "Some A.i's", i am talking about you, l'infâme M. Rossi.
>Body kit customization can be a bit limited. Whilst ricers can have more of them (No surprises there.) whilst exotic car maker seems to prevent anyone from ruining the look of their cars with tuner bodykits and 21" DUBs. Okay the 21" Dubs are possible. But i don't recommend it. I mean, Porsche have RUF and Gemballa as tuning companies. You don't even have any RUF/Gemballa body parts for Porsches. (I own a 997, Flying Lizard 911 and a '82 3.3 911 Turbo)
>Some cars have vinyl glitches. The Flying Lizard 911 (R3 Class) for example. the locations are not where's it supposed to be on the right part of the car. So then i turned to the left side. It's normal. Then, i mirrored it to the right part. All of the vinyls became deformed. I put a frog on the left side (Yes, a frog) and then it became a frog on the right side. After it's been ran over by a truck. Poor frog....
>The singleplayer events need more variation. Maybe drifting, RALLYING, night racing, demolition derby, 24 Hours of Le-Mans Endurance race (like the one in GRID)
>Later races are damn right exhausting and being such a bloody drag. You may waste 15 or more minutes on one race. And that wasn't the insane endurance races...
>I've said that the main menu music were great earlier in the review. The race music however, is not that great. The songs were great, but some of them are not very good for driving fast.
Forza Motorsport 3 is not that perfect by any means. A few defects. But it certainly has raised the standard on racing games around the world.
And with Forza 4 coming out in less than a month, we could only expect it to be more polished (in some part, even literally). If you don't have Forza 3 yet, It's still worth to get it now.
I am *Name is not important* and as a veteran Forza player who has devoted 500+ hours of his life to this, i recommend this game more than any other game on the shelves today.