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Highly Recommended

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 27 / 30
Date: June 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

If you're looking for a great racing sim along the lines of the Gran Turismo series, with the in-depth customization aspects of your car's appearance found in the NFS: Underground series, and the online options of the PGR series...then Forza 2 comes highly recommended. It really is a nice combo of those games(ironically, i don't know how well it compares with its direct sibling Forza 1 cause i never played it).

Anyway, the graphics are quite good and more importantly the framerates are 60fps-smooth, which are very important for racing games(esp racers where you drive in a pack). The customization options are extensive and it has been amazing going to websites and seeing what everyone has accomplished by using these comprehensive tools to enhance their cars visually. By itself, this aspect of the game could keep you busy for hrs on end at a time (esp if you have an artistic touch). As for the racing, it's easy to get into as it allows you to customize the difficulty level at anytime during the game which makes it a more pick-up-and-play game than most other racing sims i would think. You can make the game as challenging or as easy as you want, but either way you can earn/access stuff pretty quickly.

Overall, i'm not much into the "GT vs PGR vs Forza" wars or "PS3 vs 360" battle, but if you enjoy racing sims(esp with all the options mentioned above and more) then i highly recommend you at least give Forza 2 a shot. It might not make you forget about all other racing sims, but it will definitely keep you busy in the long haul. All i know is i bought it, playing it quite a bit, and enjoying it quite a lot. (4 1/2 stars)

The NEW Racing Standard

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 22 / 30
Date: June 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Up until this point, I had always considered Gran Turismo the best racing game on the market. Forza 2 has taken the crown.

There are alot of features I like about this game, I'll limit them to five:

- Simple controls
- Damage system (something Gran Turismo has never had)
- Brilliant UI
- Online features (career, auction house, car gifting)
- Car customization

Currently, I only have two minor issues with the game. One, it's pretty easy to upgrade your car to A Class or S Class after a few races while the computer continues to race D/C Classes. The other issue is that the tracks themselves are a little bland (of course, this is a tradeoff in order to create highly detailed car models and run at 60 fps).

Buy this game. Then buy a GTI and upgrade it to 700HP. Good stuff.

Excellent Racing Sim

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 21
Date: May 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

approximately 300 licensed cars. a wide variety of playable tracks. Some of the best graphics seen in a racing game. The most realistic racing gameplay ever. very realistic damaging. This is the most impressive racing game ive ever seen.

Good - but this is not going to bowl over PGR-3 players

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 18 / 23
Date: July 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'm reviewing this from the perspective of an experienced PGR-3 player who is looking for another racing game to buy. Honestly this was a bit of a disappointment. Forza-2 is a good game, but it didn't live up to the hype for me.

There is a lot to like about Forza-2:

* Instant race restart - no more waiting for ages just because you blew the start.
* Good feel on a force feedback wheel (takes a bit of getting used to, but the improvement when straightening out while exiting a corner is worth it)
* Well designed and customizable HUD.
* Tuning the cars is a lot of fun - you can drive a replica of your own car, tricked up to blow away the competition.
* Telemetry details are extensive and interesting
* Gear ratios and acceleration times are spot on when I compare my own car to the game.
* "penalties" so you can't do track jumping tricks that just wreck the PGR-3 "fastest lap time" lists.

But... Way over-hyped "realism".

* The weather and time of day is always the same.
* I don't care if the physics engine models tire temperature to within 0.1 F every 0.001s, when you can crash a car at 150 mph into a wall and can still drive it (and win).
* No clutch.
* All gear shifts are sequential. You can't even start off in 2nd.
* Car modifications are hit-or-miss in representation. Sure a spoiler will appear on your tail if you add one, but select the weight reduction package - and all the seats stay in the car, and no roll bars appear.
* Since when did Jaguar "give you" an E-type when you can barely drive round the track. The manufacturer simulation is simply not "believable".
* Engine noise simulation for cars I've driven is way off. For example, the S4 V-8 sounds *nothing like* my real one.

Graphically, it's just not that impressive.

* PGR-3's track models are in a different league. I'm sorry, but if you have played PGR3 and stopped in front of a Burger King, you can read the price of a cheeseburger. I've lived in London and New York, visited Tokyo and Vegas, and the details are spot on - you can go into photo mode and produce snapshots that look uncannily like ones you took for real. In Forza most of the tracks are fictitious, and the small New York circuit is unconvincing.
* Video replay is horrible, you can't watch it rewind then hit play. It blacks out the screen and makes you wait.
* No interior car view. PGR3 had this down pat with incredible details down to air vents and simulated instruments.

And my main disappointment - Plain fun of the gameplay.

* 12 tracks, all circuits. Simply not enough variation. No point-to-point.
* You can drive all the cars immediately. Once you've driven the Audi R8, and yes, it's fast and handles great, you lose the incentive to plow through the levels to unlock it in career mode. I can't be the only one who had a blast unlocking the supercar concept in PGR3 and going back to the track to get major kudos.
* Upgrades are way too easy to get a low end sedan up to "A class".

For me it's only going to serve as a diversion while I wait for PGR-4. It's simply not blown me away.

The true gearhead's simulator

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: June 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Why?

1) The car simulation is very true to life. Different car designs play true to their characteristics. And if you invest in better stuff, it shows. And then there is the car's set up. Still not convinced? Try doing donuts in a 330 Ferrari from 1967! OMG. Convinced that lots of power is all you need? Try wrestling a Lingerfelter Vette in New York!

2) The crash modelling is just a killer app and sets it apart from GT4. No more pinball racing! You crash and you spin and you burn! Just try simulation setting, and you will be limping around the track with bent suspention or even a dying engine that will spew smoke out the pipes! So much so, that you wonder how the pro's can manage to finish a race with all the rubbing going on! Or you can go out and play Crash Derby and watch what it's like to hit a Enzo doing 180!

3) The tracks, although lacking in variety (I really miss Monaco!) are very well modelled, including detail like differentiated behaviour as you hit sand traps, gravel traps, or spin your tyres on grass or dirt. Amazing. The Sebring track even has the irregular pattern of the concrete slabs, and tyres actually sound different over them and the car behaves like a pool with wheels.

4) The opposing AI is just fiendishly realistic. Set it in hard and they will go out to get you! If you rub someone off track, you better keep ahead or else he will come at you and push you out at the nearest curve.

5) The car hop up program is similar to GT but takes it a step further. There is more detail, and you can even do engine swaps with models that allow it (not all of them)

6)The controls are great as the triggers offer ample modulation. I am still struggling with my GT habit of all ON or OFF.

7) Finally, if all this is not enough, you can get artistic and pimp your ride with an incredible array of art. A game inside the game.

And did I mention that you just plug in your MP3 to the Xbox and listen to your fev tracks.

Well Done, Gran Turismo has Serious Competition

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: August 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Being the only simulation racing game on the Xbox 360 and the closest thing to GT4 since 2004 it is going to be difficult to compare this game to anything currently played. Because of this I will compare it to the game it is quite obviously trying to steal fans from. Forza 2 is unique from any other racing game currently on the 360 simply because it is well executed. It has most of the features of GT4 and none of the problems that franchise had.

The actual racing is very simplistic in its approach. Making the car drive how you want it to is not, especially at the higher levels. At the beginning you can win without tuning the car hardly at all. Go and drive fast and you'll most likely win...on the standard difficulty setting. The difficulty setting unlike the driving is fairly complex and adds another dimension to the game. One is able to toggle on and off the traction control, ABS system and active stability management. Difficulty of the opponents is adjustable three ways. Also available is a suggested driving line which tells when to brake, let off the brake or hit the accelerator. This is adjustable as well. I really like this feature because it really eases you into the racing instead of making you take those ridiculous license tests from GT. Everyone remembers these; they are frustrating and time consuming. What prevents you from getting to the higher level races in Forza is your driver level which you level up by winning the purses from the races.

The graphics in Forza 2 are average at best. The cars look very dimensionally correct but everything just has that game feel to it. Not once would you confuse this for reality. In fact I'd say it is only about one step up from GT4 in graphics. With the capability of these 7th generation systems you should be able to create a real sense of awe. What most likely happened is spending so much time making sure the dimensions of the car were incredibly detailed they ran out of time to really enhance the visual aspects of the metal and the backgrounds. It is almost like the lines are too sharp to make it seem real. This is quite a dissapointment for a game that took five years to create. I can only say that racing simulation games have to be the most time consuming expensive type of game to produce. What other type of game do you have to purchase the rights of 300 different products, numerous tracks and make them mesh together. For true gamers that are concerned with the essence of the game, the graphics will be an afterthought. I have to admit, I wouldn't mind having an HD version of Forza 2 in the future.

Cars in Forza 2 are literally the crowning achievement of the game. You will have a difficult time finding two cars that drive the same. Much like real life this is true. I, myself have not driven anywhere near the caliber or number of cars on this game. However common sense says: the 1969 Camaro is going to have a considerable amount of over-steer, the AWD vehicles have amazing grip, the Elise handles like a go-cart and the Lamborghinis as always are faster than the speed of light. You would expect this type of behavior in most racing sim games, but in Forza 2 every single car has a signature driving style, engine sound, braking ability and overall feel. In fact mechanical and aerodynamic engineers were hired to make sure the physics were correct to real life.

A big step that Forza 2 took was having real damage on the vehicles. This can be adjusted for the level of damage you want. Cosmetic-gives only cosmetic damage and no mechanical or electrical parts can be damaged. Partial Damage-body and suspension can be damaged and the car may pull to one side as well as reduced braking performance. Simulation-full blown damage as close to real life as it gets. Here you can damage the body, suspension parts and even lose power in the engine and transmission. However, if needed you can go to the pit area and all the damage except cosmetic can be fixed. This step of realism really adds another dimension to the game. Bravo.

Customization is a very large part of the experience in Forza 2. My favorite feature is the fact that you don't have to pay to change the color and there are about 150 regular colors, 150 metallic colors and probably 50 special iridescent colors. You are able to add hundred of vinyl shapes in any color and any size. Body kits and spoilers which actually improve the cars ability are able to be purchased and even adjusted. Mechanical parts on the car that can be upgraded are: brakes, all suspension components, plugs, intake, super or turbochargers, complete engine swaps, tires, wheels, engine, ignition, transmission and a few other things. You get the point. All the things that really were annoying with GT4 were remedied. Also upgrade parts can be resold back for half price.

Another amazing aspect of the game is the sheer amount of information available. I really enjoy this because while not being quite as technical in scope as GT4 it doesn't inundate you a lot of esoteric specs. I say available because you are not forced into viewing all of it all the time, but it can be accessed. A really nice feature is the "benchmark" which gives you various datum on the car you are currently in before you drive it. This includes 0-60 times, 60-0 times, skid pad, top speed etc. When purchasing a car you can find out horsepower, torque, weight etc. Detailed information on the car more so that this can be found as well. While racing you are able to view advanced telemetry such as lateral and vertical g's, tire heat, vehicle damage, engine and transmission running characteristics, shock damping amounts as well as a few other things. Later on in the game this technical information will really help out in determining how to tune your car. Tuning in Forza 2 is very close to GT4 in that the same things can be adjusted here. The difference here is when parts are adjusted it is much more noticeable, especially when combining multiple parts to be tuned. For example, when two or three parts are adjusted you get a synergistic effect. There isn't really much else to say about the tuning - a necessary part of a racing sim.

Understandably the game is not perfect. First off the load times are amazingly long for a system that has four processors-probably 30 seconds on average. Along with that is the time it take just to get to a race from starting up the Xbox. It is at the very least 60 seconds if you have the car you are going to drive ready. I'd say you'd be closer to two full minutes just to get into a race. Once you reach the upper levels of the game you notice one serious downside - the tracks. What I mean is the selection of tracks really goes down from fifteen or twenty to basically five. You have Mugello, Laguna Seca, Silverstone, Suzuka and The Nurburgring. These are all really interesting and real circuits. However, when you've raced them literally 30-40 times previously it ruins the experience. The game becomes monotonous. There are fake/synthetic tracks if you will that I find to be pretty exciting to drive including the King Cobra. The King Cobra is an amalgamation of hairpin turns, zig-zags and just downright malicious driving conditions. There must be four times the number of turns in this track as in any other track other than the Nurburgring. My belated point is for some reason the Forza programmers felt these fake tracks unfit for the professional races. Bad idea in my opinion. The only other real problem I had with the game is that there were not any F1 or open wheel cars in the game. I cannot fault them too heavily however because I imagine the rights to the other 300 vehicles were expensive enough to get. The driving conditions also never change. These faults are fairly easy to overlook if you really love racing sims however.

Graphics 5/10
Features 10/10
Gameplay 10/10
Difficulty 5/10 (on default settings)
Music 5/10 just a bunch of rave music
Replay Value 7/10
Overall 8/10

Gear up for some insane driving action !

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: May 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Forza Motorsport for the xbox really was one of the best driving games for that system and todate still looks decent.

Well now the Xbox 360 has had a few other decent car games each with there own little twist on the action . So now Forza Motorsport 2 has been released for the xbox 360 . Let me say if you been holding off on getting a car game for the xbox360 the wait is over !

Just like with the first forza motorsport game the graphics for the 360 really put the player more into the game . Whatever kind of tv you got hooked up to the 360 , you would almost think you was watching real cars racing ! The graphics do honestly look that great , all the little details as well the areas your in look verry well done. It seems they took there time working on this . All there hard work on this Forza Motorsport 2 has made this a must have title for most any xbox 360 owner.

The controls for the game is like any other , little time for learning what does this or that but overall most players will be able to start the game and just go at it .

The audio to me seems to fit well with the game . I have my 360 hooked up to a 1000w sony theater system and the crashes, and all the other sounds come out great . The game still sounds verry good off tv speakers , but most tv speakers have got alot better compared to tv's of the past .

Also Forza Motorsport 2 is loaded with about 300 cars of different makes. This is verry cool also , because it gives you a chance to drive some of those cool cars. Another thing is personalize and tune , I think most everybody likes to tweak things to make it go faster or whatever. It sounds kind of cool to tweak a car that would go from 300mph to 330mph or more after tweaking . Just check out all you can do with this feature , it adds a good amount of replay value as well .

Final thought about Forza Motorsport 2 - The game has a good amount of replay time to it as well the fun factor . If your looking for a great game that will keep you busy with all it offers . I would say Forza Motorsport 2 is well worth the price where ever you get it at.

Good luck and Please remember to drive safely :)

The Most Misunderstood Game of 2007

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: June 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I believe this game may be one of the most misunderstood games to be reviewed by both the players and online reviewers (IGN). I am about 8 hours into playtime and it is definitely the best racer I ever experienced. I have never played any GT games, but I played most other famous racers like the Burnouts, PGR2 and 3 and NFS. I would like to address some perceptions to help the potential buyer make an informed decision.

Sensation of Speed - Give the game time to build up your collection of cars. Once you are awarded the high-end cars, the sensation of speed is undeniable, especially at 60 frames per second. One can't really compare this game to the Burnout titles which give a totally different and arcade-like feel.

Graphics - There are complaints out there that the game has "jaggies". I just don't see them. The graphics and especially the modeling of the cars are the best I have seen in a racer with not a single frame-drop ever. I do have an HD set and perhaps the game doesn't look good on a 480i set. I couldn't tell you.

Sound -Although the music is B- rated at best, the sound where it counts, in the cars and ambient sound, is excellent.

Tracks - This is where I agree with most in that the variety of tracks is definitely lacking. Also, the tracks are quite plain. That may be the sacrifice the design yields from sticking to 60 FPS.

Wheel misperception -Unless you have been racing with a wheel or don't have much experience with racing games using a dual stick controller, I DON'T recommend getting one. I have been playing racing games with a dual stick controller for a long time. I thought too that getting a wheel would improve my experience. I bought a good quality wheel and had to return it because the paradigm shift was too great. Keep in mind all the nuances that your fingers are used to in adjusting the dual stick controllers and triggers for gas and brake. These movements now have to be translated to a wheel and your feet. I winded up returning the wheel because I couldn't keep any car under control and I realized it wasn't the wheel's fault, it was my inability to translate from the sticks to the wheel. Again, that is just me.

Difficulty - Again some people think it is too hard or too easy. I just don't see it. This title has an unprecedented amount of difficulty settings from any video game, not just racers. One has to spend the time to see the many different options available to adjust difficulty from almost arcade-like to extremely difficult with many increments in between those settings.

This is a superb quality title and I highly recommend experiencing it.

Wow! Forza 2 delivers the goods!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 13
Date: June 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I am a nearly life long gamer who enjoys most every genre of games. Having said that, the racing game genre is one that has failed to hold my attention in the past. I have plenty of experience with GT, the NFS series, PGR and most of your run of the mill arcade racers (Daytona, etc.), but the sad truth is, most of those games have failed to hold my interest for more than a few days. Forza 2 is different. I am addicted at this point. The gameplay is excellent, the customization options are unreal (particularly the custom paint jobs that you can apply if you want to expend the time and attention to detail), the choice of cars is astounding......the overall package is fantastic. I have seen people criticize the graphics on other sites.....I disagree. The in-game graphics are very nice, the user interface screens are very appealing and the level of statistics and car detail available is second to none. I highly recommend this game for racing game junkies, or just general game lovers.

Bridging The Gap

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Up until now, I've been sick of racing games-I've only owned one in fact, being Sega GT 2002, which I only bought because it was 99 cents, but I've played numerous, including all the PGR's and Gran Turismo's. Forza Motorsport 2 got me excited enough that I bought it for list price, which, I never do for games, ever.

Was it worth it? Of course. The best part about this game is that it doesn't muddle around in the spectrum of arcade and simulation, no, it is a simulation, it is ultra realistic, but it gives you aids that let you drive it like an arcade until you get the hang of it, including ABS, TCS and Racing Line.

I have a tiny bone to pick with the racing line. It's great, and it does adapt to your car depending on the maneuvering capabilities, but the braking is sometimes off-I find it telling me to brake in occasions where its not necessary or telling me to brake too late, but this is not often, that said, it can be the difference between a podium finish and a busted car.

Speaking of busted car, the damage is superb, but from a purely non-superficial viewpoint-all cars have different sensitivities to damage, and damage actively effects things such as aerodynamics, making your car veer, which could also be because of broken parts around the wheels. The only thing which is disappointing was the the cars get scratched and broken well on the outside, but they do not crumple as cars in real life would, they will only compact a few inches from their original shape even at 150 mph collisions. That said, so far, no racing simulator has pulled this off.

The graphics are very good, and fine detail is not overlooked, for example if you go in the dirt it appears on the front of your car and so on. The only thing is that sometimes everything seems too perfect-by that I mean the cars are always shining and also the weather never changes, which is a negative by my watch. I would have looked forward to trying out the rain in such a realistic game.

The customization is good, but at times can be tricky. I have still not found out how to mirror vinyls. That means that if I want something to look like its coming off of the wheel on one side, so far I haven't found a way to mirror that on the otherside, it stays the same and looks like its coming off the rear wheel. Also, the body kits are limited, and most of them only have body kits supplied by the game itself. Overall though, the possibilities are endless due to the huge amounts of vinyls to work with and the abilities to distort them, not just make them bigger or smaller in proportion.

There is also something else this game does which most racing games seem to be doing less and less. When playing this game, it may almost feel a little spartan in comparison to most other racers, be it Gran Turismo or Toca Race Driver, and that's because it gives you what you need-by that I mean there are no useless functions in the game that don't matter. When customizing your car, the background is white, rather than a garage for a regular feel. Also, the racing modes are only conventional modern races, with a span of production to racing cars, unlike other games which provide everything from Monster Truck Races to races taking place in the early 1900's. In short, they focused on what matters, and because of that, it's simply amazing.

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