Let's Race!

Forza 2 is much like its predecessor from two years ago. However Turn 10 has made some improvements and removals. First off, point-to-point racing is gone. No more uphill or downhill races. Some tracks from the first Forza are also gone too. Aside from those removals, Forza 2 has been revamped and improved on.

Like with the first Forza , each car is divided into a class based on its performance, handling, speed, etc. Turn 10 has gone ahead and improved the class rating system by adding a three-digit number along with the class letter. What this shows is a more definite and visible definition of the car’s performance within its own class. Now you will know if your opponent’s car out-performs yours based on that number, but it is always down to the driver.

The physics of Forza 2 has also been improved. In order to maintain a true life-like simulation of driving, Turn 10 has made the game engine render physics at 320 frames per second. This makes the driving more realistic and also more challenging. For everyone, this is a very good thing.

Forza 2 has your standard arcade and career modes. Arcade lets you just jump right into racing without owning the car or tuning it unless you wish to use one from your garage from career mode. Some cars and tracks are still locked and in order to unlock them you must complete the races in arcade mode. This is almost like a mini-career but without the need of buying cars, tuning it to compete in its class and so on.

The real meat and potatoes however are with the career mode. From here you select the region you wish to originate from. This affects how expensive cars are to you. For example if your region is North America, a Chevy Cobalt SS is going to be cheaper for you than if you were from the European region.

As you compete in career mode, you gain credits to buy cars to compete in other competitions. Races can range from short two or three laps to endurance races, which make you rely on pit strategy. Competitions are restricted by class; some by class of your car or even weight. As you race more and more, your driver "levels up" to get into new competitions, dealerships or even whole cars. Your car can level up as well to earn discounts off parts, which help as you move into more and more competitive racers.

As you gain more and more credits you can buy upgrades for your car, which range from types of tires to superchargers, roll bar kits and even custom body kits. These upgrades may even bump your car into a new class. Don’t be surprised to see an Eagle Talon mixing it up with Ferrari’s or a Sprinter Trueno making a Viper driver look twice.

Your offline opponents will be your AI, which Turn 10 has also worked on to the point of being near human. As you up the difficulty, the AI will race better and generally treat you as a real opponent, not as an empty threat. In fact, each AI has their own name now to help you pinpoint which driver is racing what. You may find one racer to be more aggressive or another to be cautious.

Now since nobody is really a perfect driver, accidents can and will happen on the track. Depending on the difficulty level, crashes can cause cosmetic, limited or simulation amount of damage. With the simulation damage on, slamming into cars and walls will affect your car in more ways than one. Your transmission can start slipping, your engine can lose power or your brakes and shocks could not function. The amount of varied damage makes for a challenge to drive if you can’t get to the pits fast enough.

Racing in Motion

Graphically Forza 2 is just beautiful. From the smooth lines of an Enzo Ferrari to the rugged and beefy look of a Dodge Charger, Forza 2 captures the look of each car wonderfully. Reflections of the track can be seen on the cars as they drive by and even shine with the sun. There were some jagged lines here and there but the solid 60 frames per second that is locked in without any problems can forgive that.

Crashes will put nicks and scrapes on your car or completely bust out windows and fenders. After a few laps your car will get dirty and if you brake hard and fast, your rotors will glow a bright red.

Forza had a pretty well-done paint editor to design your cars with flashy paint jobs and stickers. Forza 2 takes it up a notch by increasing the amount of allowed layers into the thousands. Along with some incredible new design patterns and stickers, you can truly make every car unique. I’ve seen some designs that were totally off the wall in terms of creation and skill to make. From Metal Gear Solid themes to seeing Psyduck on the side of a Mazda Sport you’ll run into varied designs online that are created by other drivers. If you fancy yourself an artist and want to make some more in-game cash, make a unique design and put it up for auction in the auction house. It is there in the auction house that not only can you bid on cars, but also cars with unique designs and rare cars.

Vroom Vroom!

No one wants to hear a wimpy car sound, not even wimps. When you’re at the wheel of a V-12 monster, you want to hear the power, you want to hear the squeal of the tires and you sure as heck want to hear the crowd cheering for you as you blow the competition away. Luckily Turn 10 did not take the wimpy road to Sound Town, no, they took Awesome Avenue in a giant monster truck is what they did.

Each car sounds unique, from four cylinder ricers to throaty V-8’s and 12’s. Now slap on parts such as exhaust, intake, superchargers, etc and your car will sing a different tune. There is nothing more thrilling then hearing the whine of a supercharger or the squealing of tires off the starting line. Of course, you will be hearing what your opponents will be sporting too.

I was also happy to see that the soundtrack wasn’t as boring as it was in the first Forza. This time Turn 10 put in more upbeat songs, as well some remixes to familiar tracks. Overall the song list is fantastic, but unfortunately you can’t play it while racing or select to hear them individually in the menu.

Online Fun

The online portion of Forza 2 is definitely where a lot of the fun is to be had. AI opponents are nothing like human opponents, such in ways of making mistakes and unique driving styles. You and up to seven other drivers can compete in exhibition races, which don’t count towards your TrueSkill rating or give you credits, to tournaments that can involve numerous racers that put in best lap times to compete in heats and brackets to win big money. While you will definitely have your share of bad apples, there are options to make cars ghosts or only when they are stopped or going the wrong way, preventing any problems with evil drivers. The added fun of racing online is that you can see other driver’s paintjobs or easily share tips over the mic. Unfortunately, there is no way to modify your car’s performance parts (such as removing exhaust to put in a lower class) while in room for the race, so be sure to plan ahead.

Plasmafactor Time!

The paint editor is what really makes Forza 2 a blast to play. I mean where else can I see The Nightmare Before Christmas theme on a car? The editor alone will give you hours and hours of designing, painting and selling them on auctions. It’s like a mini-game within Forza 2 itself.

A Must-Have For Racers

Forza Motorsport 2 is definite must-have for gamers who are into racing simulators. Great graphics, sound and a robust and extensive paint editor and a deep tuning system for your cars will have you spending hours and hours racing to collect all the cars and tune them to their best performance for each track.

released
05/29/2007
platform
XBOX360
genre
Racing Simulation
players
1-8
publisher
Microsoft Game Studios
developer
Microsoft Game Studios / Turn 10 Studios
esrb
E for Everyone

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