Forza Motorsport 3 - Xbox 360

I read a lot of the reviews before I bought this game, and thought I'd add my opinion to the mix.I've played Grant Turismo 3 and Project Gotham before, and recently bought a cheap used copy of Grid, so these are the games I can make comparisons to.Recently I decided to get the Racing Wheel and this game to get a new experience out of my 360. The short review is that I really like the wheel, and the game is good too.Graphics - are good. The mountain scenes where you look in the distance are detailed. The cars look good, and the light shifts on the hood (which actually messes me up somtimes since I use the view with just the hood)Physics - awesome. I really feel the difference in the cars. They all drive differently.Gameplay - The game is beautifully designed, but as some people have mentioned, the feel of the game can be a little sterile at times. Granted, I knew this going in, but it lacks some of the excitement of a more arcade style game like Grid, where the cars are all over the place.AI - One thing that is a little different in this game are your AI opponents. I remember in GT3, how the cars raced perfectly and never deviated from their path one inch. If I cut in front of them, they politely braked and let me pass. This game, however, is the complete opposite. The cars are constantly spinning me out and merging into me on curves. It's a little frustrating to be next to a car on a turn, and they just keep creeping at you forcing you into the grass. Another thing I've noticed is that if I'm ahead going into a sharp turn, and hit the brakes, there's always a car riding my a$$, and I assume I'm taking the turn too slow, let off the brake, and proceed to take the turn too hard and end up in the grass. It's confusing; the AI seem to be able to take corners at a lot more speed than me. I do like how the AI plays cat and mouse with you, coming up behind you, or not letting you pass.Upgrades - I know some people like going into the garagae and making upgrades to their cars, but I could care less. All I want to do is race, and the game will automatically do this for you which is nice.Cheats - I don't like most of the cheats and have turned most of them off. It doesn't feel like you're really driving if the computer is doing your braking for you, but for some people who aren't that good, I could see these cheats making the game more approachable. I do have to agree with one of the reviews about the XP though. If you play with the cheats on, you win and get more XP which gives you points to upgrade your cars, but if you turn them off, you lose more and can't upgrade your cars before races.Difficulty - I've been playing on Medium, which is about right for me. I briefly turned it to Hard, and was left in the dust. I kind of wish there was a setting somewhere between these two though. On Medium, I've spun out, hit walls etc. and still have come from way behind to win the race, which is kind of a hollow victory in a way. On Hard, the cars are near perfection, and after braking too much going into a curve, I fall to last place and am never able to catch up again.Licenses etc. - Some people mentioned that they miss driving for licenses that allow you to enter races. In GT3, it got a little tedious being stuck at one point in the game until you passed the license test. I like improving as I go along, however, doing something different like obstacle courses is a fun diversion at times. Maybe they should put some sort of side mission in the game where you can go to driving school if you want to.Crashing - I always go into a driving game saying I'm going to play it right, but soon start crashing it up in order to win. Since the AI is always crashing into me, I've gotten into the bad habit of using them as a cushion on a sharp curve because they're going to crash into me anyway. I wish the AI was a little more careful, and then I would be too.Online - I haven't played online, so I can't say if it's good or bad. The game comes with a free month of XBOX Live if you need it.The Second Disc - Someone's review complained that there was a second disc. It's true that it eats up about 4 GB of your HDD, but I think it shows that the developers put a lot of effort into the game since they needed a second disc filled with tracks and cars.Four Screens - If you have the money and inclination, you can set up 4 screens for this game for the front, two side views and rear view mirror. That's awesome.Forza vs. Gran Turismo - This game is good, and I'm sure the next Gran Turismo will be good too. What's the argument? I don't understand.

I played Forza MS 2 and I loved that game, but 3 is just incredible. I'm really impressed by the accuracy of the physics and modeling, and how great the game plays. But I'm absolutely floored by how much you can do to your car. The performance upgrades go deep, and it's amazing how Turn 10 managed to really map out the options for every car. Tuning also goes deep, however depending on which upgrades you've performed you might be limited to what you can tune. Igntion, fuel manaement, intake, valves, pistons. You can overbore cylinders. You can do even do an entire engine swap or drivetrain conversion! Different engines also have different aspiration conversion options, and you can go from single chargers to dual with certain engines.And it all changes the numbers. Every option changes how your car runs.The AI is really challenging, and you're actually racing against profiled drivers that have their own characteristics. In many games they just have names and a difficulty, but no real logic.The scoring (credits) system rewards you for higher difficulty. For the best experience I've turned off all assists except for ABS, set AI to medium (they get tough on HARD), automatic transmission (racing with a controller here) recommended driving line to Brake Only (the line shows up only for braking), and physics to simulation. This amounts to a 50% bonus on credits earned for racing, which is a great way to pay for more upgrades.If there's a flaw to be found it's that body options are limited. Front and rear bumpers, side skirts, hoods, spoilers, and rims is about it. And with the exception of rims there's only a few manufacturers to chose from. I do give Turn 10 major props for how the Weight Reduction and Chasis Reinforcement performance upgrades do change the insides of the car. You can also change your ride height (through upgrades to the suspension system as well as tuning).And of course there's the cars. LOTS OF CARS. Every manufacturer I can think of is represented (save Kia I believe).So here's the breakdown:+Plenty of cars and tracks, with many track options+Jaw dropping detail to every car and track+Unrivaled physics simulation+Challenging AI and gameplay+Truly incredible depth of performance optionsThe distinctive leading franchise in online multiplayer racing, all wrapped up in what is my opinion THE CLEANEST MENU INTERFACE OF ANY RACING GAME EVER!So there it is. Forza Motorsport 3 is just the racing game to have this gen, good job Turn 10. And whoops...um 4 (with Kinect support) is just around the corner! I got 3 'til then :D

Best consoles ever AND one of the best games