Forza Motorsport
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Forza Motorsport | |
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| Developer(s) | Microsoft Game Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Microsoft |
| Release date(s) |  May 3, 2005 May 12, 2005 May 13, 2005 |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone (E) |
| Platform(s) | Xbox |
Forza Motorsport is a racing simulator video game developed by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox gaming system. Since its release it has been heralded as one of the most realistic racing simulators for any of the popular gaming consoles. It was shipped to stores on May 3, 2005. The name Forza means "force" in Italian.
Many people were confused when Forza was first announced because Microsoft already had a flagship racing game in the form of Project Gotham Racing. The primary difference between the two is that Forza aims to be a very accurate simulation whereas PGR has much more of an arcade feel. Forza is circuit-based while PGR is mainly city-based (although some of the tracks in Forza are present).
Forza is also notable for its ability to model damage to cars, from both a cosmetic standpoint and from a performance standpoint. This changes the way the game is played, in contrast to the Gran Turismo series, as collisions with barriers and other cars will alter the car's handling, top speed and acceleration. More noticeably, spoilers and bumpers can be knocked off cars, paint can be scraped off and windows can be smashed (the front can only be shattered, not knocked out fully). Microsoft did not, however, get permission from car manufacturers to depict cars rolling over.
The cover art features a tuned Acura NSX racing against a tuned Nissan 350Z.
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[edit] Cars
There are about 230 cars in Forza Motorsport ranging from a Honda Civic to supercars such as the Enzo Ferrari and Le Mans race prototypes such as the Audi R8. The cars are separated into 6 classes D, C, B, A, S and R.
- Class D: Standard production vehicles such as the Ford Focus
- Class C: Sports cars such as the Honda S2000
- Class B: Performance cars such as the Subaru STI and Lancer Evo VIII
- Class A: High performance cars such as the TVR Tuscan S
- Class S: Super Cars such as the Enzo Ferrari, Koenigsegg CC8S and Porsche Carrera GT
- Class R: Racing only cars (non-production vehicles)
Each class, except class R, has 4 subclasses with 1 being higher and 4 being lower rated . Upgrading by tuning or buying new parts can move cars between classes except class R (no car can enter or leave class R). There are 3 subcategories of class R:
- R-GT: Racing Cars (Grand Touring) such as the Dodge Viper Competition Coupe
- R-GTS: Higher performance Race cars such as the Saleen S7R (a racing variant of the S7)
- R-P1: Racing Prototypes, mostly LMP's these cars weigh around 900kg with roughly 450kW examples include the Bentley Speed 8 and the BMW McLaren F1 GTR
[edit] Circuits
Forza contains a mix of licenced, street, point to point (P2P) and original circuits. The licenced tracks include Road Atlanta, Silverstone, Laguna Seca, Tsukuba and Nürburgring Nordschleife.
[edit] Upgrading and tuning
Like Gran Turismo, each car can be upgraded and tuned with a large number of extras and parts. Upgrades are separated into 3 categories; engine/power, appearance/aerodynamics and chassis/drivetrain. There is a wide range of tuning available including tire pressure (which changes during races due to temperature), down force, gear ratios and limited slip differential.
[edit] Customization
One feature is the ability to change the look of your car, from changing the color to applying decals. Using the somewhat unwieldy but very powerful tool set you can create some very striking designs.
Though Microsoft may not have intended it, the community surrounding the game has allowed the decal feature to take on another level of complexity. Through the use of various open-source tools written and made available on the Internet, a user can edit the "decals.bin" file that ships with the game, and insert their own custom decal and vinyls, allowing almost infinite customizability. However, this requires the user to own an Xbox that has either been mod-chipped or softmodded, along with the game being copied onto another media, preferably the Xbox's own internal hard drive.
[edit] Physics Engine
One of Forza Motorsport's prime features is its advanced physics engine. Unlike most driving and racing games, Forza Motorsport calculates a car's performance in real time using physical data (for example, the weight of a car's engine, its drag coefficient, etc.). The result is a highly-realistic driving simulator which matches closely with real life. In 2005, Popular Science magazine tested this effect by inviting a professional race-car driver and an amateur car enthusiast to drive identical cars on an identical track in both Forza Motorsport and the real world. Each driver's track times matched closely from his performance on the real track and in virtual reality. [1]
[edit] Reaction
Much like Sony's Gran Turismo, Forza Motorsports' debut was both a commercial and critical success. It sold more than 2 million copies worldwide[citation needed](both stand-alone and through console bundling) and it received rave reviews from such media outlets like 1UP.com, IGN, Eurogamer and more.
[edit] Game Review Scores
- 1UP.com: 10 out of 10 (100%)
- GamePro: 5 out of 5 (100%)
- GameBiz.com: 10 out of 10 (100%)
- GamePlanet.co.nz: 5 out of 5 (100%)
- Electronic Gaming Monthly: 9.83 out of 10 (98.3%)
- Xbox.IGN.com: 9.5 out of 10 (95%)
- GameSpot.com: 9.2 out of 10 (92%)
- GameSpy.com: 4.5 out of 5 (90%)
- EuroGamer.net: 9 out of 10 (90%)
The game was also featured in the June 2004 issue of Popular Science.
[edit] Forza Motorsport 2
Shane Kim, one of Microsoft Game Studios' executives, confirmed that all of their first-party game franchises will definitely have sequels on the Xbox 360 console. Considering Kim's confirmation along with the rave reviews and big sales Forza Motorsport received, there is no reason why a Forza sequel would not be made.
After Microsoft's Press Conference at this year's E3 expo, a CG, non game-play trailer was shown proving that a sequel is in fact in the works. Forza franchise’s lead game designer Dan Greenawalt has been quoted the they have a "commitment to creating motor sports mastery under a strenuous Holiday 2006 release deadline." showing a hopeful launch window on Q4 06 (Team Xbox) Dan has stated that "(Forza 2) have a dedicated graphical framerate of around 60fps, without combining the physics frequency in with this figure. Expect a physics refresh in the several hundreds, which, when combined with a high graphical framerate, equates to a very complex and smooth running experience."
They have since announced that Forza 2 will be released in Quarter 1 of 2007
