I'll sit there for an hour or more, and it'll end up basic...just watch.

9.3 at TeamXbox. :)

No one is gong to complain about Forza Motorsport 2’s ambition and final scale; this game is huge, and attempts to compact every aspect of [road racing] car culture onto a single, silvery disc. It’s actually hard to find anything in Forza Motorsport 2 to complain about at all, in fact. The user interface is sheer genius regardless of its subject matter. The physics, handling and damage systems are as realistic as can be, with a clever difficulty structure staving off the common “F this game!” response from the less patient. Online functionality has not only been painstakingly integrated into the offline experience, but it also has features like a real auction section and spectator mode that fans of the original game pushed for. It’s also apparent after some time with Forza Motorsport 2 that the A.I. wasn’t merely pulled from the leftover parts bin and thrown on to keep development time in check. A.I. that can make a human gamer positively respond with emotion is hardly an accident. And, while the Xbox 360 Wireless wheel may not be the ultimate motorsports peripheral, Turn 10 did take the time to include myriad setup options such as steering, braking and accelerator dead zones.


A page from Forza Motorsport 2’s sexy car editor.

The major gripes of Forza Motorsport 2 boil down to presentation items really, which is counterintuitive to what we’ve come to expect in the next generation. Usually the graphics and audio run at a high clip in full-budget 360 games, but it’s hard to consider Forza Motorsport 2 pretty visually or aurally. It’s no dog in either department, but certainly sacrifices were made to keep the sim intricacies intact, or so we can assume. Yes, force-feedback is finally a reality in your Xbox 360 sim racing experience.

Car and track models are spot-on of course, and telemetry, HUD readouts and general vehicle animations are solid. The 60fps rate is a reality too, and does help to make Forza Motorsport 2 buttery-smooth. Livery-edited cars also look excellent in the gallery and also in any Photo Mode vignettes. But playing Forza Motorsport 2 from the third person cams is visually disappointing for sure. Maybe its due to the lack of post-prod work (again, probably left off to keep the framerate stratospheric) or the techniques implemented in the skinning and lighting/shadowing departments. Whatever the case may be, Forza Motorsport 2 looks flat and uninteresting on many occasions. Even during replays.

The sound effects are a bit drab as well for such a high-end racer. The engine and exhaust notes sound realistic, but rarely do they seem to pop off of the speaker drivers. The ambitious car lineup also means that many cars tend to sound the same, when in reality- compared back-to-back- they would sound quite different. And even with a revamped soundtrack, you’ll want to mute it as soon as possible. To Forza Motorsport 2’s soundtrack’s defense, you shouldn’t have the radio on while driving if you’re a serious gearhead anyways.

Now bring on the optimized Forza 3!

June 8th in Europe.. Antoher week of torture waiting while the rest of the world already plays it.. :(

Japan was last week somewhere, and US releasedate is today I think..

If you drive properly there shouldn't be any screeching.