Forza Motorsport 3 [Demo]

[TheForce]

The more I play the demo the more impressed I'm by it, graphics are great, sound is good and the handling is very good as well.
Tried it also for a short time with the clutch to change gears, but that doesn't work with the pad for me, it's to hard to get right while carefully braking into a corner.

oh, and it took me 3hours to find out by accident there is a TimeTrail option in there as well !! That should keep me busy for quite some time as for me the leaderboards are interesting with a few very fast guys in my friends list !

ROLL ON OKT 23 !!

I hope when the final game is released we can get some more online races going again !

[Brad]

Looks good. Not GT good, but good. Handles well. I was able to win on my second go in the Audi, on hardest setting by just barging my way through. Very Gran Turismo in many ways I guess..

[yesteryeargames]

been an hourand stillonly 1% downloaded lol,isanyoneelse having trouble?

[Senna]

I played this for an hour or so yesterday evening and was really impressed. The handling is as spot on as usual (god it's difficult to slow some of the cars down without ABS - so much understeer in some places) which is the most important thing for me.

I too will be driving manual gears but without clutch activation because as TheForce said it's too distracting with the joypad. I also thought the load times were quite long, and I don't expect the final game to be any different. The replay option on the HUD was annoying to begin with (too distracting), good to hear that you can choose to switch this off.

Did a few laps with the R3 and A class car and wasn't long until I was able to string a half decent lap together.

I had to laugh though when I looked at the times between TheForce and myself - one tenth apart in both classes! It's like FM2 all over again

Overall impressions are good though - sound and graphics both excellent and a huge step up from FM2; handling is excellent and more importantly fun; presentation is slick. Conclusion - 23 October

[nonny]

Nope.. mine downloaded in under 5 minutes, maybe stop/re-start this.

Im loving this demo. Really like the streamlined menus interjected by gratuitous car pr0n shots. Very slick and makes Forza2 look archaic.

60fps makes a huge difference to this and I personally think it looks gorgeous. GT5 may take the award but this is definitely up there and with everything else Forza3 is offering the graphics are good enough.

Anyone see they've confirmed Fujimi Kaido is back in this now. I actually saw this map for a split second whilst covering the V8 Supercars announcement here in Sydney a few weeks back so I know it's definitely in, but they've confirmed it officially now at TGS. Mountain climb events FTW!

Also note that in the demo one of the info screens mentions online cat & mouse and other team gametypes...

[merf]

i found the 'hidden' timetrial mode on this last night, nice to blast round a track on your own (even if I still think the track is a bit boring).

handling is sublime in this, you really 'feel' the car thru the pad, love the feeling of momentary weightlessness when you crest at high speed and the twitching of the car under heavy braking.

quite happy with my 1m09s with the R8, top 3% last night, though as usual I expect to fall back significantly as people get hold of the demo.

[joe90]

My problem, is that even thou a flawed jem, shift has set some expectations.

1) the in car view is much better (with gear/clutch animations)
2) the noises are far far better in shift (no turbo whistle?)
3) shift had a rawness that this is missing, i felt more of a connection to the car.

Its good, but its a bit smooth and muted.. feels odd.

[prinnysquad]

I like trundling round in the lower spec cars, jostling for position. It's so nice not to have a racing game where the cars are spinning round like crazy the second you enter a corner. Merf is right, the subtleties of the handling system are excellent. I was saying to someone on live last night that you 'feel' the road under the car, and the engine sounds somehow add to this sense of contact and weight with the surface.

I have to say i really like this track - trees, rock outcrops, inclines, declines, cambers, twists, turns - I've played the track a couple of dozen times and never got bored. So much more enjoyable than a typical bland faceless race track.

[merf]

I said much the shame a few pages back, I think the 'simmier' end of the arcade racer has spoilt us a bit recently and led a lot of us into believe they are more sim than they are.

Stepping into a full on sim like this then feels a touch bland and sterile as there aren't any exploding airports or tweaked physics for enhanced playing enjoyment !

More I played this though the more connected and better it felt, just a case of re-adjusting to it having not done sim since Forza 2.

[Nighteyes]

The Audi is a dream to drive! Managed to get into the top 1% last night with a 1m08 time. I need to get my steering wheel back though, this game will be amazing with it.

[Brad]

I switched between the R8 in this and the R8 in GT5p a few times last night. I know they're not the exact same cars. I was using a pad in both cases and in GT5p it felt much twitchier than in F3. Right now I find it easier to drive in F3. I'm not sure what that says about the 'siminess' of each game though.

Whichever game I get I'll be getting a wheel.

EDIT:

What wheels can I use on a 360? As a bonus, are there any wheels that will work on PS3 and 360?
I don't like the official 360 wheel so that's not an option.

[Nighteyes]

Apart from some stupidly expensive wheel with a clutch, I think the only good wheel that offers ff is the official MS wheel... It is a good wheel brad, honest.

[Brad]

I've used it mate. It really isn't. Not compared to the Logitech Driving Force GT anyway.

[Nighteyes]

Oh, ok.

Well, I like it anyway.

[MrMarbles]

3) shift had a rawness that this is missing, i felt more of a connection to the car.

I think this is a great point, and sums up exactly why I'm unable to get into Forza 3 and Gran Turismo - they just feel unnervingly detached from reality, which I find jarring in supposedly realistic racers. Although I can see why the developers would choose to sacrifice visual effects in order to maintain a 60fps framerate, it just makes them lack any kind of atmosphere or soul.

It's the additional effects and peripheral scenery that helps to raise the atmosphere of titles like GRID, DiRT 2 and PGR4 - I find rushing past crowds of roaring flag-wavers, speeding through clouds of smog and exhaust smoke far more immersive and exciting than the jarringly clinical and barren appearance of Forza and GT.

It's not so much of an issue with twitch arcade racers such as Burnout Paradise, Outrun 2 and Wipeout HD (indeed, I think the sterile look works in Wipeout's favour) purely because the gameplay itself is detached from reality. Plus, for these titles, I can definitely agree that stripping back the effects for a higher controller response time is the right thing to do.

But for "real-world" racers, I really do prefer the console's grunt to go towards building up an exciting and immersive atmosphere at a steady 30fps rather than maintaining 60fps in a soulless, staid environment.