Quick Review: Forza 3 Demo (360)
After a solid week of playtime I feel the Forza 3 Demo is ready for review. I’d like to start off with the bad because I want this review will be generally positive and free of bias.
The Bad:
- The graphics have not been upgraded at all from Forza 2. In fact I had to double check and make sure I didn’t download the Forza 2 demo by mistake.
- The UI is actually worse in Forza 3 as it’s much, much more cumbersome and takes awhile to get used to.
- The driving model is far more arcadey than I’d like for a sim game and it felt very stiff and sluggish. Imagine playing Rad Racer for the NES but all the cars were underwater and it looked like a Saturday morning cartoon.
- The much hyped “tire physics” left a lot to be desired. And by “a lot to be desired” i mean non-existent.
- Only 8 cars on screen all of which have very, very low polygon counts.
- Aliasing and shimmering across the board. Think Forza 2 but with a more stale color palette.
- Sounds are muddled and not realistic at all.
The Good:
+ It was free.
The Conclusion:
Perhaps the final game will come with an entirely new graphics, physics and sound engine before it’s released. If not, Turn 10 has still built a very competent Xbox 1-era sim racer but I’m not sure if that’s enough anymore. With GT5:Prologue (PS3) and NFS:Shift (PS3) out right now it’s hard to even justify the free download.
SDF Score: 1/10
Huh?!
You used to be more original SDF. Now you just straight lie. Pathetic really.
Did you really test is? I don’t know do you have enough money to buy Xbox360. I think you just said all things about GT5 Prologue and wanted to be lazy and write as it was Forza 3 demo you have been playing.
Yeah, I think they just scribbled out “GT5″ and wrote “Forza 3″.
The readers DEMAND to know.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2480/3962248174_6a333aa2e0_o.jpg
How come there are 2D cutout on-lookers in the GT5 screens?
I’m not sure if you realize this SDF, but having the one positive be “it’s free” does not make you unbiased. In fact insinuation about it being crap, but no loss, actually makes you even MORE biased.
Furthermore were you unbiased you would post the screenshot of the game sans the ridiculous cartoon characters to drive home your insipid point about it’s alleged “cartoonieness”. Were you unbiased you would post the picture as it was supposed to be and let the reader form their own opinion regarding it’s graphical quality.
SDF 1.5 fanturds must really be desparate for this all out attack against Forza 3! Desparate times call for desparate measures! Sorry Phony fanboys, another loser for $ony.
I want to challenge everybody here. For the most part, everyone who comments on this seems to have a bias towards one system or the other. So how many of you actually OWN all three systems? (or at least the PS3/360). And if you do, prove it. Take some pictures. Prove they are actually of you by including your username in some of the shots. I’ll start. These are from my cell phone.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3488/3977678732_059906f69d_b.jpg
Explanation:
Upper Left: Overview of my gaming room in the basement. 42″ Phillips LCD (1080p), Onkyo 7.1 Surround
Upper Right: Center speaker, Wii, SNES, Time Warner DVR
Middle Left: Xbox, Xbox 360, Dreamcast games, N64 games, Genesis games, water bottle from Red Hat, Cherry Bawls I got from QuakeCon 2008, sentimental Mickey Mouse clock I’ve had since I was 3.
Middle Right: PS3, GameCube, N64. Dreamcast is below the N64.
Bottom Left: Disc-based game collection plus Blu-Ray movies.
Bottom Right: PS3 with my username so you know this is not BS.
I challenge any of you to do the same.
@tendonut
Yo I got all three consoles and hell I will send you a pic over live.
@InfraredChimera
I know you have them. You’ve added me as your friend on both XBL and PSN.
@tendonut
did you get code that was attached to one of the pics?
http://www.destructoid.com/fact-ps3-fanboys-are-the-worst-149259.phtml SO true.
Also, the SDF is really afraid of this game.
They NEVER post this much about any game.
They are scared shitless of Forza 3, and with good reason. GT PSP failed miserably.
i would have to be paid to download this free demo
And why do we have to prove that we have more than one system then? I can only imagine that Tendonut is one of the people who think that it is impossible to both own a PS3 and realize it’s flaws.
@erik
You claim to have played all these highly rated games and say the suck, so you must own the systems in order to play them enough to have your own opinion. I just want to make sure you aren’t talking out of your ass.
@InfraredChimera
You are totally in the clear, but you seem to have a fairly neutral stance on the systems, so I never really doubted you.
And about the code, awesome! Thanks man. I wanted something to do this weekend besides Kingdom Hearts 2 and Final Fantasy Tactics (PSOne Classic I downloaded). I beat Lost Odyssey for the most part and don’t have much to play until Forza 3.
I am curious if this works the other way. If I would have a positive opinion regarding the tepid Tomb Raider knockoff would I have to prove anything to you? Or does this only matter if my opinion differs from yours?
@erik
I don’t care if you don’t like the game. I have plenty of gripes about the first one myself…PLENTY…But I want to make sure you say you don’t like it because you played it and not because it’s on the PS3. There is a common theme with games you hate. They are all on the PS3.
You’ve already demonstrated that you have most likely never played it and clearly don’t own a PS3, but I was just making sure it got out there so your opinions can be ignored.
@tendonut
“But I want to make sure you say you don’t like it because you played it and not because it’s on the PS3.”
I don’t like it because I played it. It being on the PS3 is just a bonus.
“You’ve already demonstrated that you have most likely never played it and clearly don’t own a PS3, but I was just making sure it got out there so your opinions can be ignored.”
Based on what exactly? Seemingly your only evidence is that I loathe a game you like.
And another thing. How does SDF get off saying that the UI in Forza 3 is more cumbersome than that of Forza 2? Looking at the screenshots that those buffoons themselves posted it is easy to see that on top of the elements being smaller than their Forza 2 counterparts, there is also a greater deal of transparency to those elements.
So just how is a smaller and more transparent UI “much much more cumbersome”?
I played the Forza 3 demo, I flipped my car, and it righted itself. Looks like the SDF lies once again! I think this new SDF team should be held accountable for when they post flat out lies. What’s wrong SDF 1.5? Can’t be bothered to show your face when called out?
Here is my opinion on Uncharted; its what the Tomb Raider series should have evolved into. Granted there is problems with the first game, but in whole with time I think the TR series could reclaim its former glory (maybe).
As for Forza vs Gran Turismo; as similar they are there is also a different empathesis on what the game actually is. Too me Forza has always been about the cars and the customization of them, wheres GT was always more about the racing and the technique involved.
@erik
Because SDF are mostly idiots. Don’t you know that the more shit is on the screen the better, damn I thought you knew that (end sarcasm). Personally the less crap on the screen when it comes too giving you information, the better. If it can be shown graphically or with sound or even woven into the gameplay, that’s a plus in my book.
And here’s why you shouldn’t have high hopes for GT5.
http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/psp/granturismo4mobile?q=gran%20turismo
PSP is basically a hand held PS2. PD developed this game, it wasn’t handed off to some outsourced dev!
If PD has lost their touch on making a portable PS2 equivalent of the GT franchise, they are NOT up to snuff anymore.
@seven2s
That’s pretty bad logic. The PSP version sucked because it suffered from what every PSP developer does. Tries to make a console game on a portable system. It is just never going to work. This is why the DS is destroying the PSP in sales. Developers realize it’s a portable system and don’t try porting console games to it. It’s destined for failure. I think GT5 will do just fine. PD/Sony just has to come to terms with the fact that they have actual competition now. No one was REALLY competing with the GT franchise until Forza came around. The first one was mediocre, the second was getting really close and I honestly think Forza 3 will finally be Microsoft’s answer to Gran Turismo. I am counting down the days until I can play something besides the demo.
@erik
I still don’t see any proof you’ve played these games. You are just hating because it’s a PS3 exclusive. Stop talking out of your ass. If you’ve played it for an extended period of time, and still don’t like it, you are definitely in the minority. So lets just say “I don’t like the game, but the majority of the world does”
Does anyone besides me find it funny that this article is a review for a one stage, 3 lap, 8 car demo that barely shows off what the game offers!?! This is just as idiotic like giving your opinion on a game that you haven’t even played or won’t even play, and then using skepticism to back up your argument.
@InfaredChimera
“This is just as idiotic like giving your opinion on a game that you haven’t even played or won’t even play, and then using skepticism to back up your argument.”
You can talk shit about gathering information and forming a hypothesis based on what you’ve learned (which got our ancestors out of the caves and into creating society), but it has served me well. Really I only played Killzone 2 to humor you. A shitty company made a sequel on a shit system based on a shit game. I knew that I would hate it and lo’ and behold, I hated it!
Wow! Its like being able to use information like a post-neanderthal hominid! I mean if you really want to stick to only realizing the result of things after the fact, like a turkey for instance, then by all means.
@erik
You didn’t play Killzone 2.
I didn’t like it either, but you still didn’t play it.
@erik
Dude don’t use big words like “hypothesis” in the attempts to sound smart it doesn’t fit ya. Like I said back in February about KZ2, I was skeptical about it since I really didn’t care for the first one, but I didn’t let my experience with the first one directly effect what I thought of the second one before it was out. And now post release, I still feel its a welcomed addition to the PS3 in general and a much improved sequel to a very mediocre game.
See erik you remind of the the Left 4 Dead 2 and Super Street Fighter 4 bitchers. You have no idea what is on that disc prior to launch, what upgrades it has received, what has been improved, rebalanced, and etc. So you sit in you throne declaring what is shit and what isn’t without actually playing it at all. So like all the townhall protesters who equate our President to Hitler here is what I will suggest to you; shut the fuck up. If you haven’t played it (and it isn’t out yet) then how can you rationally determine the quality of the game? You can’t. You can be skeptical about a game from the get go, but how can anyone person with a brain rightfully judge something without having any evidence to back up there claims? They can’t.
Still waiting on one of SDF 1.5′s hard hitting “journalists” to answer why the Forza 3 demo is nothing like they described! Also to answer why the cars do flip back onto their wheels, despite that so-called footage they have supposedly showing the contrary.
I guess it’s the same old SDF, with a new coat of paint. Same shit, new wrapper.
@tendonut
PD prides themselves on “perfection”, yet they released what they knew was going to be an inferior product anyway! If they were really about “perfection” they wouldn’t have bothered. The fact that they settled for an “average” title, speaks volumes about how much they care about the quality of future GT titles. GT5 is the new Daikatana.
@InfaredChimera
“Dude don’t use big words like “hypothesis” in the attempts to sound smart it doesn’t fit ya.”
Don’t take an ordinary word like hypothesis and pretend that is a big word to try and make some attempt at a smarmy insult.
“See erik you remind of the the Left 4 Dead 2 and Super Street Fighter 4 bitchers. You have no idea what is on that disc prior to launch, what upgrades it has received, what has been improved, rebalanced, and etc”
Nor do I care.
“So you sit in you throne declaring what is shit and what isn’t without actually playing it at all.”
You forget that I did play that heap. But playing it had zero effect on my opinion of it. Explain that one.
“So like all the townhall protesters who equate our President to Hitler here is what I will suggest to you; shut the fuck up.”
No.
“If you haven’t played it (and it isn’t out yet) then how can you rationally determine the quality of the game?”
Critical thinking. We’ve gone over this. You take what you know and use it in a frame of reference in regards to something that has not happened yet.
So for example taking into account that I’ve had consoles damaged by Nyko merchandise before I will not give a fair shot to any future Nyko products which I have not tried individually.
“You can’t.”
I’m pretty sure I did with Killzone 2 if you recall.
“You can be skeptical about a game from the get go, but how can anyone person with a brain rightfully judge something without having any evidence to back up there claims? They can’t.”
Skepticism is insufficient and indecisive. Because of this wishy-washy attitude it means that you will submissively do something because you lack the spine to do otherwise.
So someone with a bit of decisiveness will listen to their own thought process and decide despite what another person wants.
On the other end of the spectrum an indecisive person would be more akin to: “Well gee. Well I’m positive that I won’t like this. But what I think is unimportant.” This person will come to the same conclusion as the person above. But a robot like state makes them so meek and weak willed that they are unable to connect their thoughts/wants with will.
To elaborate it would be like someone like this walking to the edge of a cliff will be in total fear and terror about what they know will happen once they take that last step off the cliff. But they are more just spectators of whats going on and cannot tell “himself” to stop walking
So with Killzone 2 you seemingly expect me to not have my thoughts dictate my actions.
@seven2s
I really hope you’re wrong, but I see what you are talking about. I don’t own a PSP but I have read all the professional reviews on the GT game for it. This game doesn’t seem to be looking bad at all, but if I remember correctly, neither did the PSP version. It was hyped up and appeared to be a good game but as soon as people got their hands on it, they were disappointed.
It doesn’t even have a CAREER mode.
@seven2s
I was considering buying a PSP because of that $199 deal with Advent Children and Dissidia but I wonder how easy the newer models are to hack. My younger brother had a phat system that I hacked the shit out of, but he showed it off too many times to the wrong people and it was stolen from him during football practice. But really, there aren’t too many games that I was interested in except GT but knew it was suppose to be bad. I do have an R4DS for my DS that I got for $10 after my gf bought her own and said it was awesome. Now THAT is the ultimate “mod”.
Now, if you want to talk PSPGo, you’re fucking insane if you think that’s a good idea. It’s more expensive, more restrictive, and it can only play a portion of the PSP games because not everything is available on the Playstation Store. What the hell was Sony thinking with that?
PSP Go is off to a poor start, in fact they had to drop the price THREE DAYS after launch. Where’s your report on that, SDF?
PS3 Slim sales are already tapering off, while Wii and 360 sales are back on the rise. Got anything to say on that, SDF?
GT PSP has fallen very short of expectations, meanwhile you’ve been caught lying about the Forza 3 demo, as well as Forza 3′s physics engine. When are you getting to the bottom of that, SDF?
You guys really don’t spend that much time defending Sony, do you? I think what SDF 1.5 forgot to hire, was a retraction department. But if they did hire a retraction department, there would go every article they ever posted!
You know reputable game journalists don’t review “demos”. The companies send them actual copies of the game to review. Not retards who have to use photo manpulation to try and prove their sorry ass points.
http://www.lensoftruth.com/ <-there's your reputable gaming journalists. You want unbiased, these guys do a great job. And if a game is in fact better on the PS3 they'll tell you.
I love this site, most of you users here have no brain what so ever the whole reason of this site is to piss off 360 fanboys and yet the flock here crying a about it’s biased, lol IT’S SUPPOSE TO BE.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/103/1033110p1.html
“Turn 10 has thrown down the gauntlet and it will be a real challenge for Polyphony Digital to deliver a superior racer with Gran Turismo 5. After all, this is the best racing game of this generation. Good luck topping it.”