Capitalising on prior success, Forza 3 tries to be, and very nearly is, a game of epic proportions.
Forza 2, predecessor to the new Forza 3, was such a game. Accumulating a truly massive fan base, and a living community which thrived until even now.
Forza 3 assumed to build on that foundation. Thus, we were treated to stunning previews and marvelled at the chosen flagship of the game. We 'oohed' and 'aahed' at the new environments, drooled at the new physics and innocently assumed that all that made Forza 2 brilliant would be added to to make Forza 3 absolutely amazing.
Unfortunately, the gaming community has been duped.
Yes, there are spectacular new environments, and the cars selected and played are beautiful in their artwork and physics.
The handling has increased accessibility to the casual gamer and the new experience system allows you to develop your skills and your garage at an equal rate.
Kudos must also be given for a lovely upgrade system for the modding impaired and the overall style of the game is suitably impressive.
But every new feature and each design boon is one more reminder that this game does not deliver on some pretty important levels.
The multiplayer system has come under much fire in the early days of the release, requiring no less than an Xbox Live Gold membership to compete against your friends in the same room.
The system link, which was a mainstay of both previous iterations is gone. The multiplayer system does not allow customisation of races (except to choose class and car) and limits races to A class cars and up.
So, if you are one of those unfortunate gamers outside of Microsoft's Circle of Trust (i.e. countries with access to Xbox Live) you are not going to be able to multiplay this game.
Assuming you do have access to Xbox Live, you and your friends will be required to have Live Gold in order to compete.
This is a severe restriction when one considers the implications it has on replayability.
Another very disappointing development is the scaling down of difficulty for this game. New static barriers such as indestructible side walls and barriers mean that punishment for going off a track is little more than a slap on the wrist. Indeed the sheer number of these static barriers on the newer tracks makes it a simple matter to 'pinball' your way through the circuit.
Certainly, you can make life tougher by choosing to engage the 'simulation damage' option, but it still should not be so easy to walk away from slamming into a wall and then remaining in the lead of the race.
The AI is aggressive, and while the (predictable) dynamic mistakes it can make are a welcome addition (no one enjoys racing against a robot) the fact that they will happily slam you into a sand trap or against a wall to get past takes some of the verisimilitude out of the game. Certainly some 'rubbing' is more than expected, but nobody expects to do it every time do they? After all, this is a racing SIMULATOR not a racing ARCADE game (such as most Need For Speed's).
In short, while Forza 3 is recommended to anyone who enjoys long walks on the beach and decent conversations, it is simply not cut out to be touted as the 'next best thing since Forza 2'.
Forza 3 is great for the casual gamer, even the racing enthusiast, but it is not recommended to anyone who so thoroughly enjoyed online competitions and weekend race days with buddies, where skill and nerve where valued above 'pedal to the metal and walls be damned' attitudes.