Forza Motorsport 3 is probably the only serious rival on the Microsoft Xbox 360 to the incoming Gran Turismo 5 on the Sony PS3. Both will eventually race head-to-head for the driving simulation crown. But with Gran Turismo 5 not out now until March 2010, and Forza arriving pre-Christmas, will that give Forza the edge to beat its bitter rival to the chequered flag? Read our full Forza Motorsport 3 and see.
Forza Motorsport 3 looks better than Jessica Alba washing a Lambo in a bikini on your drive. If you always dreamed of drifting perfectly round an alpine mountain road, the sunlight dappling through the trees into your supercar as your tyres screech a symphony of barely-there grip, then now you can do it – without a) any unwanted Carbinieri attention and b) any real driving skills.
That’s because the key improvement in Forza Motorsport 3 is that its driving aids are better than ever before – allowing even no-thumbed nincompoops a decent turn at the wheel. Best of all is the new rewind time feature (yes, as seen in other racing games). You’re not penalised for any number of cornering calamities rewound and retried. Just rewarded for runs where you don’t re-do anything.
New braking assists and the already existing race line markers etc. also help race newbies feel like they’re Jenson Button, rather than a buffoon. Turn the helpers off, though, and Forza Motorsport 3 remains a true driving simulation – in other words, tough enough even for the most experienced petrolhead.
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Forza has also got more accurate, for those who notice such things. As well as the massively improved visuals, car physics and handling models are also tuned up – you can now even flip and roll your car if you crash badly enough. Whee.
The problem is that drive for realism, which sees it ploughing deep into the “uncanny valley”. The valley is the point at which things look almost real – and therefore, somehow not very real at all. And Forza Motorsport 3 is so unreally real, it’s disconcerting.
Cars look photoreal, the track surroundings and spectators are as if you’re inside Ayrton Senna’s head. Yet the game often feels glassy and bland. This unwanted effect is made worse by the overall presentation.
Driving simulation games like Forza Motorsport 3 and Gran Turismo 5 avoid the flash, sparks-flying arcade adrenaline of series like Burnout and Need For Speed. But that means they really do need to try that bit harder in presentation terms.
In Forza Motorsport 3, bland washed-out menus are complemented by a Sergeant-Major voice-over that’s utterly uninvolving and a race progression system that injects no interest into proceedings. You’re driving through Dullsville – even if Dullsville does happen to be the prettiest town on the planet.
For hardened race-heads, the bland factor won’t matter. What will is the 400 cars, lovingly detailed and all with super-accurate handling. For Sunday drivers? While this is clearly a state-of-the-art driving simulation, probably better to stick to the more instant thrills and spills of arcade driving games.
