Forza Motorsport 3 Review

Ford Mustang vs. Chevy Camaro; BMW vs. Mercedes Benz; Foyt vs. Andretti; Forza vs. Gran Turismo. The racing world is filled with bitter rivalries, and the world of racing sim games is no exception. Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo have been jockeying for racing simulation supremacy for years, and now they're so alike that they must be defined by their nuances. The truth is, both games offer a truly excellent racing sim experience, with large car and track selections and true to life physics, but as GT has rested on its laurels, Forza has steadily improved, gaining legions of fans tired of waiting for their old king to return.

Much like Forza 2, Forza 3 offers a large number of options for the player to let the game cater to their tastes. Traction control, anti-lock brakes, racing/braking lines, and transmissions are all adjustable, and give racing sim greenhorns a chance to learn the basics without instantly hurling their Ferrari into a wall. Experienced racers, though, will probably want to turn all these options off immediately and go straight to Advanced mode, as all the electronic safety nets and traction nannying can be maddening to a player familiar with real racing physics. Forza 3 also adjusts your experience and prize money according to your difficulty level -- turn off traction control and racing lines, and your driver level and bank account will grow more quickly.

Forza 3's Season Play mode is interesting, as it tunes its sizable event offerings towards the player's individual cars and tastes, as opposed to the usual genre habit of forcing you to waste money on a specific vehicle for a single race you may not care about. Switching your cars around will result in the game altering the events that are presented, which lets you gain driver experience and cash doing races you want, as opposed to races you're forced to. The game does periodically force series races on you, though you can bring any car you want as long as it meets the rank and performance index qualifications.

Forza 3 keeps its predecessor's system of individual car experience, encouraging the player to stick with a single vehicle by upgrading and tuning it to keep it competitive. The player earns discounts on tuning parts and accessories the longer they stick with a single vehicle, and being able to swap out engines, drivetrains and engine aspiration systems goes a long way in keeping even the most pathetic passenger cars competitive. A clever tuner has a lot of tools to work with in Forza 3, and unlike other racing sims, very rarely will they find themselves totally outclassed. Engine upgrades cover gamut from intakes and exhausts, to displacement increases and fuel system re-mappings. But once again, for players not quite as familiar with tuning, the game offers a Quick Tune option that automatically optimizes your car for a race.

The car selection is solid, as well: a total of 400 vehicles ranging from vintage French econoboxes all the way up to Le Mans racecars. Unlike Forza 2, you're not forced to pick a region that affects car rarity, though some will still need to be unlocked via your driver level. In fact, Forza 2's car rarity feature is gone entirely, which is somewhat of a shame, as it rewarded the player for unusual car choices -- a track full of Mitsubishi Evos and Subaru WRXs is always more interesting when there's a plucky engine-swapped Datsun 510 in the mix. There's a number of race cars on offer that seem to be little more than livery swaps of identical models, which may disappoint players expecting additional cars, considering that a player is very unlikely to need four cloned race model Honda NSXes.