Forza MotorSport?

[Leon Retro]

Forza is supposed to be out soon. Play has it down for 29th April and Amazon 13th May. Does anyone know which date is correct?

I never buy Xbox magazines- has the game got any reviews or extenstive new previews. Most people said the demo was crap, so I never bothered to get it.

The game still appeals to me though, and all the extra development time is hopefully making the game more solid.

Any news on this appreciated- post stuff as you get it up until the launch!

Cheers!

[ThoseOfTheUnlight]

Definitely at least the 13th May now...

[Kotatsu Neko]

There is a demo of it on the Jade Empire disc. Not sure if it's the same demo that did the rounds back ages ago as I never played that one.

I'm not totally against circuit racers as I did enjoy Gotham 1 back in the day, but this one... so desperately dull. And 30fps too, which makes it far, far uglier than it needed to be.

I wouldn't waste my time on GT4 either, but Forza is miles behind polyphony's effort, even with the online play and the token addition of some very minor car damage.

[Leon Retro]

I know the demo was crap, but there is still hope the full game is much better. They have had a few more months to optimise the code and iron-out the flaws. From what I read in GamesTM, it seems the demo was very early with a lot of bugs and other indications there was a lot of polishing to be done.

The game has a negative cloud over it after the demo, but I still have hopes for what could and should be better than GT4. Microsoft will have a lot of egg on their faces if this does turn-out to be as bad as people suspect.

With regards to GT4- its basically GT3 with slightly better visuals and not much else. I bought the gaming owing to the magnificent( ridiculous ) screen shots I had been seeing and was more than gutted to find a game that highlights how old and decrepit the PS2 is. Don't get me wrong, it is a nice game and probably the best console semi-sim around, but it leaves me cold.

[Kotatsu Neko]

The 60fps vs 30fps thing to my eyes means Forza simply cannot look better than GT4. Even it was 60fps it has a flat, lifeless look to it which is just not as pretty as GT4.

And if you're tired of GT4 for being just GT3 with a few new cars, then I don't know how Forza will be any different. It's just GT3 with half the frame rate and online play. The latter is nice, but it's hardly earth shattering.

I just think MS are shooting themselves in the foot with Forza. Maybe they just don't care this late in the day, but everyone believes Xbox to be more powerful than PS2. It *IS* more powerful, so to run forza at 30frames... it just hurts to see it limping along like that.

[tonyk100]

I had a quick go on the GT4 demo pod on Toys r Us yesterday and picked a Suberu and Laguna Seca, and no matter which camera position I picked it felt very pedestrian. I kept skidding off the track as I didn't _feel_ like I was motoring. I know a demo pod isn't the best place to judge but could it have been an effect of the spralling openness of the track and surroundings, PGR2 always seemd fast but that might have been due to the trackside barriers and buildings etc.

Anyway I think the 30fps/60fps arguement has been done before

[Hodge]

Having seen the latest vids of Forza it has really started to shape up in the later stages and the demo is nothing but a bad representation for the game. Here`s some links of the latest vids

Mclaren F1 round nuremburg

http://rmjv.net/vi/forzagp6.wmv Replay

http://rmjv.net/vi/forzagp5.wmv ingame

2 Laps + Replay at Maple Valley II with a #5 Seat Cupra GT Prototype against KI
http://rmjv.net/vi/forzagp2.wmv

2 Laps + Replay at Silverstone II with a #12 Nissan Calsonic IMPUL GT-R (JGTC) against KI
http://rmjv.net/vi/forzagp3.wmv

2 Laps + Replay at Alpine Ring with a modified Audi TT against KI
http://rmjv.net/vi/forzagp4.wmv

1 Lap + Replay at Road America with a Porsche 911 (993) GT2 doing some Time Attack
http://rmjv.net/vi/forzagp7.wmv

Having played the demo i would of said GT4 was superior but now i would say forza looks the better texture, lighting wise and appears less boxey than Gt4 aswell. At the end of the day, if the handling is done right, 30 vs 60fps doesn`t make any difference and pgr2 is testament to that. 60 would be nice of course and makes things run smoother but, if the game is good and the handling is right it doesn`t bother me.

[Kotatsu Neko]

Anyway I think the 30fps/60fps arguement has been done before

Of course, but that doesn't mean it suddenty is no longer a huge factor.

I just play OutRun 2 and think that there is no excuse for a racer not to run 60fps. Especially as OutRun 2 is far more beautiful than Forza!

Just watched a few of the vids above. It's certainly a lot prettier now, they've pulled back the whole drab grey colour theme of the demo. I hope the music is just some garbage a videogame site guy put in...!

[Hodge]

And if you're tired of GT4 for being just GT3 with a few new cars, then I don't know how Forza will be any different. It's just GT3 with half the frame rate and online play. The latter is nice, but it's hardly earth shattering.

Perhaps AI that offers a challenge instead of every race turning into a snore fest.

Online play is a big deal if done right as thats where many hours of play will be for most, competing against real life opposition on the same level as you.

Customisation is a nice touch and will be neat adding real life body kits to alter the look of your cars.

even though it isn`t a big deal, damage to the cars is now included and microsoft have all the big licenses to go along with that aswell.

Some of the reasons why people might go for it imo.

[nonny]

Judging this game by the demo is really unfair... That demo build was absolute muck.

There have been plenty of comparison shots to the near final version and the difference is day/night. It would have been better if they hadnt shown it at all IMO.

I'll reserve judgement myself until I've played the final version online as that is where this game should flourish. If it still handles like a dog, well MS will only have themselves to blame.

[Stroker Ace]

Mclaren F1 round nuremburg.

Nuremburg? Not so much a 'race', then - more of a 'rally'.

[Richard.John]

What level of customisation does it offer? Is it as in depth as the GT series? I have always thought that beauty of PGR2 was in the fact that everyone has an equal chance of winning due to the cars being the same.

[Hodge]

Thats the millon dollar question peanuts. If they dont add some sort of bhp limitation or arcade mode for the online side, you really aint gonna get competative races and you will end up with the racing field being fully spreadout. Having played sega GT online, this is what happened in that game, that you were getting people racing with 400-500bhp cars, tuned/not tuned cars and there was no way to lock down these catergories and the races just ended up being boring. I`m sure the forza team will have this sorted though.

[Leon Retro]

Thanks for the vid links Hodge!

The graphics are looking good- great scenery and other peripheral stuff- car models could be the best ever, and it just looks very impressive.

The only negative thing I noticed was the clunkiness of the physics and obvious lack of total smoothness in control owing to the 30fps.

My hopes for this have been raised though- hopefully not long to wait!