Forza Motorsport : Games : Web Wombat

There I was, tired and dishevelled after a torrid journey on a filthy germ-filled bus, lost in an urban maze of disgustingly trendy clothes shops, juice bars, mobile phone vendors and unhealthy health food outlets.

It was almost enough to make snap and begin unleashing my own brand of "justice" on the vapid consumers.

But my journey was almost complete. The Microsoft offices were near - I could almost smell their minty freshness - and I knew Forza Motorsport, the game I and many other Xbox fanatics have been waiting so patiently for, was nigh.

As I approached the lifts that would allow me to bypass the 'mall' and access the offices above, safely sealed away from the psychopathic 'mall' gangs whose negative attitudes are the result of their yearning for affection their fathers never gave them, I was accosted by a giant Koala.

This androgynous tree-dweller was holding some sort of bucket filled with coins, and began shaking it mercilessly in my general direction. "Sh-shinkk. Sh-shinkk-shinkk."

Having had all I could cope with that fateful morn, the abrasive noise lit an emotional fuse within me and I lost control. I slammed the marsupial's head through an Electronics Boutique shop front, glass shards, second hand videogames and Star Wars Episode III propaganda peppering the shiny floor outside the shop, and then I did a quick johnny run to the lifts, stealthily making my escape.

Ka-ching!! After bargaining with the Microsoft reps (the giant Koala's money bucket was well stocked - he was a scientologist) I secured my very own copy of Forza Motorsport, deciding to take the stairs and then exit Ninja Turtle-style via the sewer system.

Finally I arrived back at HQ covered in faecal matter but largely buoyed by my successful mission, and after we all had a chuckle about the impudent Koala (Wombats rule, okay?) I plugged in Forza and set about fiddling with the options, setting the speedo to kilometres and creating a profile.

After just a few races and some minor upgrades, one thing dawned on me - this is a brilliant game - I had a grin on my face all day - and more than worthy of the hype it has been generating.

In the simplest of terms, Forza Motorsport is the Xbox's answer to the Playstation's hugely successful Gran Turismo series, and in particular Gran Turismo 4.

There's 223 cars to unlock from more than 60 car manufacturers (including Ferrari, which Gran Turismo 4 was too pov to license), 31 tracks and a high end audio-visual feast with support for Dolby 5.1 surround sound and 480p progressive scan right out of the box.

The trusty Mitsubishi Evolution VIII is a great
vehicle to tune up thanks to its turboed nature

The aim of the game is to race cars around tracks and tarmac rally stages, upgrade your collection of cars, customise them, tweak them, make them go faster, paint them and generally fawn over them like they're your biological offspring.

I've played Gran Turismo 4 and I've played Forza Motorsport, and I like the Xbox game better. In my humble and somewhat warped opinion [Ed - somewhat?!] it's got better graphics, more customisation options, better tracks and is a more rewarding drive. But more on the comparisons later...

The most important facet of any racing title is the game engine, the feel of the cars on the road, and this relates directly to the physics engine. And thankfully, Microsoft has done its homework (or at least paid someone else a lot of money to do it for them).

A good way to test the realism of the physics is to drive around a track you know well, in my case Laguna Seca and the giant German road-track Nürburgring, in a car you know, in my case a 1979 Australian-made Ford Falcon.

Sadly such a legendary and robust vehicle isn't included in Forza, so I opted for the Mitsubishi Evo VIII, and was more than impressed with the way the car put its power to the ground, how it handled neutrally, under acceleration and also under brakes. I've sat-by-side with the Motoring Channel Editor, Feann Torr, in the Evo VIII during some pretty hairy manoeuvres, so I can honestly attest to the games authenticity.

It's more than a match for Gran Turismo 4, and anyone who says it's not can come round to my house any night of the week and have a civilised chat/punch up to sort out what's what and who's who.

Seriously though, the gameplay is awesome, and very rewarding too, and some of this reward comes directly from the track design. Some are real tracks; some are not. Yet there are few circuits and point-to-point road races in there fail to both challenge and excite, and as the game progresses and you become more familiar with them, your fondness will grow.

According to Microsoft, "experienced programmers" teamed up with "top automotive engineers" to create an authentic physics engine, and that it is, complete with parameters such as tyre wear (plus heat and pressure variables), zonal-based damage, weight transfer modelling and heaps more stuff that serious car nerds and motorsports fans will love.

And it all comes to together so seamlessly. Playing Forza is a lot of fun, but remember that it is also a simulation, and to my way of thinking this makes it even more addictive. That said, you can switch on a whole bunch of driving aids, such as traction and stability control, that help take some of the difficulty out of the game, so crap gamers with no co-ordination can also have fun.

The 1969 Chevy Camaro SS Coupe
has a profusion of power and torque

But in a very mature and well thought out twist, switching off all the aids, one of which includes a handy-dandy racing line superimposed over the bitumen surface, will result in higher earnings from races.

On the topic of progression, the main career mode is a doozy, and really well executed and compelling enough that you'll want to beat it all - which takes a considerable amount of time.

You begin the game with set amount of cash and must choose a home region - American, Europe or Asia. The cars you can purchase from the outset are directly related to your chosen country, as are some rewards later on the game, but it's not a hugely important decision.

After this you may have a few kablingies left over from your car purchase, which you can spend on a plethora of upgrades. There's cosmetic upgrades, such as decals (stickers), two-tone paint jobs and whatnot, plus a myriad other performance upgrades.

If I was to list each and every one, we'd be here a while, but the usual turbo/supercharger, engine tuning, suspension, brakes, clutch, transmission, wheel and tyre upgrades are in there, and each can be further tuned once purchased, making for an endless amount of possible vehicular creations.

There's also a number of cosmetic upgrades you can make to some cars, such as the Toyota Supra twin turbo, Audi TT and Honda NSX Type-R.

Adding a rear wing will increase traction over the rear wheels, and a deep front apron will make the car turn in better and improve cornering abilities, but some upgrades, such as side skirts or new brake lights may only reduce weight or sometimes be purely superficial.

The amount of time you can spend upgrading and fine tuning any given car is astronomical, and when you start fiddling around in the paint shop, adding decals, different paint schemes and what not you can kiss goodbye to your (anti)social life.

As well as the career mode, where you pass levels by earning specific monetary targets, which in turn unlock new races and challenges, there's an arcade mode, plus time trials, free run, online play and the enigmatic, but strangely alluring drivatars.

Drivatars are AI drones that you 'train' in a series of tests and are scored with percentages, like an 83% efficiency in hairpin corners. Once given enough training (they need several hours to be any good), you can send your drivatars out to race for you - for a small fee- and if they win you get the cash, and don't have to play the game, only watch if you want to.

While this neat little addition may sound a little odd at first, it's not, because the replays are bloody brilliant and watching Forza's cars crank around visually stunning race tracks at full tilt is as exciting as watching the best Touring Car series in the world.

The drivatars also come in handy for endurance races. When you can't be assed to sit down and concentrate through a 60 lap race, hand over the reigns to your drivatar and hope the car finishes the race without too many scars.

There's also the online aspect of Forza Motorsport, a feature that Microsoft is very keen to flaunt because Gran Turismo 4 doesn't have online support. That in itself would be just a tad spiteful if the online mode was nothing more than a steamy-but-compact pile of freshly laid feline crap, but it ain't, so the spitefulness is warranted. Take that Sony.

The McLaren F1 Le Mans racer (top) hard on
the brakes, while the 350Z (above) has been
taken from factory standard, tuned, upgraded
and given a full bodykit. Also click here for the
full list of 200+ car featured in Forza Motorsport

Not only can you hook up with strangers and anonymous corporate fats cats and race your own freakishly modified cars against them, but you can even form car clubs with presidents and general members, and get this: you can even complete the entire career mode online against real people.

Yep, it's true, and it's fantastic. The servers will sort out who's a close match for your cars specifications and class and away you go!

It's sheer madness racing online, and if you can find a decent server (living on the massive island of New Holland doesn't help - Americans have it better) you'll be in seventh heaven, and up to eight players can compete at once. And for those who don't like physically socialising in places like, say, a shopping mall, the virtual social aspect is really quite eye opening.

The audio in the game is quite well executed, with engine and tyre screeching sounds above average for this type of game, the latter of which letting you know when to lay off the throttle.

The big V8 engines still don't meaty enough for my liking, but inline fours, rotaries and inline six-cylinder engines do sound quite faithful to their real life counterparts.

You can also add custom soundtracks you've ripped from CDs to play while you race or during the menus, which is always a welcome touch.

And then there were the graphics... The cars look beautiful, the draw-in range on the tracks is immense and the detail both in texture quality and general background effects is stunning.

Watch the replays to truly appreciate the work that's gone into the graphics engine, and that reminds me of all the telemetry you can view in the replays as well, such as real time gravitational forces, real time tyre pressures and temperatures, real time torque and power output, revs, speed - the list goes on. It's an extraordinarily comprehensive game this one.

In my mind, Forza fails in two areas when compared directly with the PS2's Gran Turismo 4. The amount (but not quality) of cars and tracks - GT4 has about 700 cars, Forza has 223 - and the graphics.

Don't get me wrong, this is probably the best looking racing sim to ever cobble together an immeasurable amount of ones and zeroes on the Xbox, but it's not quite as sharp as the focussed GT4, which is a bit surprising seeing as the PS2's graphics processor can be compared to a rotting fish carcass. And that's being kind.

But it's no big deal, really. Forza is almost as pretty and just as smooth as GT4 with a great sensation of speed, and the car count is a moot point because half the cars in GT4 are not worth driving - ask anyone, even the rozzers! - and there's no Ferrari or Porsche either, which is a big deal for lame-wads like me. It's got awesome artificial intelligence (AI) that doesn't mind a bit of argy-bargy too, and it becomes increasingly harder and meaner as the career mode progresses, keeping the game challenging.

All in all, I reckon the hype is justified. Forza Motorsport is a racing simulation of gigantic proportions, one that will provide most gamers many months of enjoyment. And I can wholeheartedly say my torrid bus sojourn, giant marsupial encounters and acts of vandalism, assault and property destruction were more than worth doing in order to play this game. And hey, I do it for you guys; I just want to tell the real Forza story, no vested interests, no ulterior motives. I'm just a good bloke, no more, no less.

Forza Motorsport is certainly a grand achievement for Microsoft Game Studios, turning out a game this good - first time, with impeccable online capability - when Gran Turismo has been honing its franchise since 1998. Highly recommended.

Game: Forza Motorsport
System: Xbox
Players: 1-8
Online: Yes
Developer: Microsoft Game Studios
Distributor: Microsoft

Rating: 95%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)

Forza Motorsport is on the shelves now.

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