Forza Motorsport 2 (Demo)

[dc-arena]

Played it for an hour or so today, and I am surprised to say I really like it. A lot.

The handling is beautiful and feels very right and natural when powering through corners and chicanes. You can gently powerslide through a corner and kick the back end out, and it feels right. Push too hard and you spin out. Simple.

Graphically the game is lovely because of the 60fps display, it was definetly the right choice to make for the game, its very smooth and the sense of speed is fantastic. The game is simple in other areas; solid but not stunning, with decent lighting in places (the sky and tarmac), but average in others (the cars themselves).

Replays are cool, with stupid amounts of information at hand. They run at 30fps because of the post-processing. Personally I would of ditched that and stuck with 60fps, you can really tell the difference.

The cars all feel different from each other, and the speed/feel of the top class stuff is truely insane. Turn OFF everything for a proper simulation feel, it plays superbly.

Finally the wheel. Forza 2 plays nicely with it, they have done a good job and you can nicely chuck cars and catch them as you'd want to. Being able to hang on through a corner is great, although a bit more feel for the first 20 or so degrees would of been nice - there is a lot of nothingness between that rnage, and considering the triggers are mapped so tightly I would of expected the same for the steering. Just a shame the MS Xbox 360 wheel is so, so poor. After using the Logitech G25 or even GT Pro wheel, the 360 one is like a toy.

Anyway, this is most certanly on my to buy list. I am very pleased about this game.

[Rick]

Good to know

Do the Engines actually sound like they should? and is there a definate power band with the engines?

[dc-arena]

Yes and Yes. The engines sound outstanding, and with the rest of the grid around you its very impressive. My only gripe is that the other cars can drown out your own car. However, this is easily fixed by going into the options and turning down their volumes

Thats another thing, the amount of options in the HUD and Audio menus is impressive. You can have the HUD off completley, or select each and every one how you like. I have all on, with the horrid analogue rev/speedomoeter switched to digital - I hate how it looks as its too big and in the middle of the bottom part of the screen. Switch to digital and its in the corner and it's much nicer.

[andrewfee]

I was a bit unsure at first, but after spending some time with it, I'm really starting to enjoy this too. As DC says, the handling is fantastic.

The framerate / sense of speed is particularly good here - everything feels so fluid. I have noticed the odd stutter here and there though, but it's very minor. I suspect it's due to the supposed dynamic anti-aliasing they're using. (though I must say I've not really noticed any)

Definitely going to be picking this up now.

Some pics for those of you at work:

[Uli]

tested the BMW M3 E36, Porsche 911GT1 and the Corvette C6R and it's pretty much what i expected: overall decent handling and pad controls, nice car models with slightly improved textures. visually the game is accomplished but still far from any wow-effect. most of all the sound is a little disappointing, especially if compared to the beefy engine noises and turbo whistle of Forza. also there's still no wind howling like in GT4.

i hope they got day and night cycles in there now - like in Les Mans 24h. or at least some night races to fully admire the bright glowing break discs of a... ehm... BMW M3?

guess i wait and rent the game first before i make a buying decision. i don't see myself spending fullprice on a Forza 1.X - even though the Porsche 997 has made it in.

[elkatas]

Hmh, how's the damage modelling? Any major changes on it?

[charlesr]

Wheel Vs Pad please? I'm guessing a lot of people are interested in the wheel performance before buying. And does it give any advantage over pad in terms of lap times?

[Astra]

the damage is pretty cool although certain cars cant lose certain parts etc, i.e u cant smash off the bumpers on the ferrari f430 and z06 vette, although you can dent the cars pretty impressively, when messing with the z06 i dented the rear quarter panel so that the wheel stuck out alot further than the arch.

The sound is amazing, once you've messed with the audio sliders and cranked the volume up that is, they seem to have pretty much nailed the flat four engine note on the legacy or at least come closer to it than any other driving game ive played has done. The SLR sounds awesome, using bumper cam you can hear the supercharger whine. Most impressive for me at least is the range of sound, start an A Class race and park up just before the last corner and wait till the pack goes past then just listern to the lambo gallardo (which sounds spot on btw) you can still hear it when its at the other end of the track.

[vanpeebles]

at last a game that does the dodge viper justice, its like driving a proper wall of sound. superb!

[Yoshimax]

guess i wait and rent the game first before i make a buying decision. i don't see myself spending fullprice on a Forza 1.X - even though the Porsche 997 has made it in.

Forza1.X ? Is that 1.1 ? 1.5 ? 1.9 ? Quite a lot of range in there.

Can you clarify please what it would have required to elevate it to a bona-fide Forza 2 (in your eyes) cos I'd love to hear it ?

[dvdmike]

tested the BMW M3 E36, Porsche 911GT1 and the Corvette C6R and it's pretty much what i expected: overall decent handling and pad controls, nice car models with slightly improved textures. visually the game is accomplished but still far from any wow-effect. most of all the sound is a little disappointing, especially if compared to the beefy engine noises and turbo whistle of Forza. also there's still no wind howling like in GT4.

i hope they got day and night cycles in there now - like in Les Mans 24h. or at least some night races to fully admire the bright glowing break discs of a... ehm... BMW M3?

guess i wait and rent the game first before i make a buying decision. i don't see myself spending fullprice on a Forza 1.X - even though the Porsche 997 has made it in.

That sums up my feelings for the game so far also

[1P_King]

Here is my indepth opinion - its a bit meh.

Over Live with some music playin would make it alot better mind.

[copperband]

Just went to buy a wheel on the way home from work, picked it up had a look, thought how will I attach it and then put it back!

Got home and downloaded the game (took no more than 10mins)

Had a race with each car class, have to say it feels really nice, the lower class cars (as always) are much better as I prefer driving more familiar "everyday" cars than the exotics and they are easier to handle and get used to.

The graphics don't appear to me to be as sharp as PGR3 and there is nothin like the detail around th racetrack but I'm sure that will come with the other tracks?

The game does run really smoothly, noticably faster on the bumper view but then games always do. There is a very noticable array of jaggies accross lines of spoilers,etc but then I guess there is always some trade off?

Can someone tell me how great this is with the wheel as I need to be convinced it's going to be worth paying ?80 for?

[dc-arena]

Wheel Vs Pad please? I'm guessing a lot of people are interested in the wheel performance before buying. And does it give any advantage over pad in terms of lap times?

Like I said..

Finally the wheel. Forza 2 plays nicely with it, they have done a good job and you can nicely chuck cars and catch them as you'd want to. Being able to hang on through a corner is great, although a bit more feel for the first 20 or so degrees would of been nice - there is a lot of nothingness within that range, and considering the triggers are mapped so tightly I would of expected the same for the steering wheel. Just a shame the MS Xbox 360 wheel is so, so poor. After using the Logitech G25 or even GT Pro wheel, the 360 one is like a toy.

[copperband]

Like I said..

Finally the wheel. Forza 2 plays nicely with it, they have done a good job and you can nicely chuck cars and catch them as you'd want to. Being able to hang on through a corner is great, although a bit more feel for the first 20 or so degrees would of been nice - there is a lot of nothingness within that range, and considering the triggers are mapped so tightly I would of expected the same for the steering wheel. Just a shame the MS Xbox 360 wheel is so, so poor. After using the Logitech G25 or even GT Pro wheel, the 360 one is like a toy.

I'm a bit confused dc, so you're saying the M$ wheel is rubbish and better to buy the cheaper Logitech? I had read it was the other way around.
Have you played with both wheel and Pad and does the wheel + Pedals really enhance the driving experience?