Forza 3: My Game of 2009

Standing at the freshly dug graveside of 2009 with tear-jerking eulogy in hand I admit that from a gaming perspective I am surprised how good a year closed out this decrepit old decade. And, what seems most surprising of all as we traipse happily into this new year is that the best game for me at the end of it all was a racing game.

I am not a gear head. I appreciate exotic cars the way I might swimsuit models — from afar, purely from the perspective of physical aesthetics and with the understanding that pursuing one would destroy my marriage. A Lamborghini Gallardo might as well be a Saturn V rocket for as likely I’d ever be to take a ride, but when I throw my virtual super car into third out of the S curve at Leguna Seca, I can imagine just for a moment what it might be like to tweak the flappy panel gearbox, lay my foot to the floor and hear that five liter V10 engine sing like a slutty siren on a craggy shoal.

That Forza 3 can even begin to convey the vaguest glimpse into that world is itself enough reason to love the game.

Racing games have consistently annoyed me by holding the coolest cars as a distant carrot on a too-long stick. I can really only put up with toddling around some grand raceway for so long in a Vauxhall Astra or Ford Focus, no matter how plucky a coupe it may be. I know that I shouldn’t pop in the disc and expect to be screaming around in an F40 right away, but unless you’re an informed collector more than half the available garage in these games is meaningless.

I’m not sure where I fall on the car knowledge spectrum. Probably I am in a comfortable population of individuals who have absorbed their entire catalog of data from the often dubious Top Gear, the one show in all the world where I will use any means at my disposal to watch immediately. In this spurious realm of having enough information to care but not enough to recognize my own ignorance, Forza 3 seemed keenly targeted to my misdirected sensibilities.

It is a rewarding game that doesn’t ask you to languish in the dregs of motorsports overlong, just long enough so that when you open up the engine on a Zonda or Veyron, you have at least a vague inkling of how to keep that million-dollar machine out of the dirt. And, in that we have the crux of Turn 10’s genius in constructing Forza 3.

Ultimately, they made the most adaptable and accessible game I’ve played in years. Forza 3 can be limitlessly tweaked to match your racing comfort level. Without resorting to arcane knowledge about slip differentials and clutch timing to change your driving experience, it offers easy to understand settings. At its simplest the game barely lets you make a mistake. It is a father lovingly pushing his son down the sidewalk on his first bicycle on a bright summer day, and as you gain your road-legs you can take off the training wheels and grow to make your virtual car dance like a ballerina.

And dance you will, because the controls are the vital beating heart that breathes life into this game. I would never have imagined that a controller could seem like a natural way to drive a car, but when I am fully engaged with jaw clinched and mind focused tightly on holding a tricky corner as I swap paint with a Mercedes SLR, the controller itself disappears. I simply imagine what I want my car to do — this car whose nuances and idiosyncrasies I intuit after dozens of races — and it does it.

That to me is the masterwork of game design. While I have high praise for the games you’ll see everyone else single out as the standouts for ’09, games like Dragon Age, Uncharted 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2, none took me to that state of symbiosis like Forza 3. This is a game that tore down the technology barrier between myself and its artificial construct. It built such a believable façade around the abstract idea of racing and of driving itself, that I can trick my brain into being in the moment.

I hate to go all metaphysical, but that’s somehow where this racing game took me.
There is much that can be said further in favor of Forza 3, not the least of which include the customization, the number of cars, the damage modeling, the visuals and the precious rewind button that can rescue a long trip around the Nürburgring from one poor cornering decision. These are meaningful things to talk about, but only because Turn 10 got the crucial handling and controls so right.

As expertly crafted as the cars it simulates, Forza 3 has been in my regular rotation since its release, and is easily the best game I played in 2009.

Comments

Yeah yeah. You said the same about Forza 2, I bought it, and I didn't like it. I'm not buying it this time!

No, don't praise Forza any longer! This game made me consider buying a 360 and I have a hard time keeping myself from doing it. I'm just a poor student, have mercy.

I'm in your boat, Andy. I have absolutely no reason to care about the 360... except that Forza 3 sounds like exactly the sort of racer I've been praying for: more realistic, convincing, and rewarding than any of Codemasters' arcade - sim hybridgs, but not punishingly demanding the way SimBin's games can sometimes be.

And Elysium, Top Gear is also the only program that I've exempted from my rather strict guidelines about ethical acquisition. I need it, and I need it right now, dammit! James May has things he needs to tell me.

True story: I am called the James May of my family. I am surprisingly comfortable with that.

Rob Zacny wrote:

I need [Top Gear], and I need it right now, dammit! James May has things he needs to tell me.

James May!? Great news! The Dacia Sandero was eventually spotted on the road in Top Gear!

He's just so random. I prefer Clarkson with a sprinkling of the Hamster. I just find May to fit as a perfect spoil to the other two. Maybe I've talked about this with my wife and friends too much.

Racing games are the only reason why I have an original Xbox, actually.

EDIT:

Elysium wrote:

True story: I am called the James May of my family. I am surprisingly comfortable with that.

This was written after I loaded the page and before I hit post.

mrtomaytohead wrote:
Rob Zacny wrote:

I need [Top Gear], and I need it right now, dammit! James May has things he needs to tell me.

James May!? Great news! The Dacia Sandero was eventually spotted on the road in Top Gear!

He's just so random. I prefer Clarkson with a sprinkling of the Hamster. I just find May to fit as a perfect spoil to the other two. Maybe I've talked about this with my wife and friends too much.

Clarkson used to be my favorite, but over time he began to grate on my a little bit. Besides, I've never forgiven him for the atrocity that was the Cool Wall segment of the show. He can turn a nice phrase, and his passion is evident, but increasingly I find what he values and expects from a car are different from what I want. For instance: paddle-shifters are a brilliant, indispensable innovation and only a schmuck would spend hours of airtime whingeing about how horrible they are.

Also, the phrase "a proper British sports car" makes me want to firebomb the nearest chips shop.

Glad I'm not the only one that thinks so.

I feel like I should be disagreeing simply out of spite, but I won't.

Rob Zacny wrote:

Clarkson used to be my favorite, but over time he began to grate on my a little bit. Besides, I've never forgiven him for the atrocity that was the Cool Wall segment of the show.

What, you own a Audi/BMW?

I appreciate exotic cars the way I might swimsuit models — from afar, purely from the perspective of physical aesthetics and with the understanding that pursuing one would destroy my marriage.

Brilliant.

I can appreciate the well scripted language designed to show how wonderful a specimen this Forza 3 is, yet I cannot, for the life of me, get into driving games that do not put an emphasis on explosions or shooting giant cartoon bombs that themselves explode.

I need to get back on Forza 3 one of those games I "parked" back in November. Do you play with a steering wheel? I have the official XBOX wheel which has some great feedback and takes the game to the next level of immersion (whatever that means). The only problem is you need to bolt it to a table to set it up right - which is probably why I don't play the game more often.

Forza is the kind of game that makes me consider buying a Table Mate (as seen on TV!) as a removable wheel mount. If I had a bigger house, more money, and a more understanding wife, I'd do just that.

I am not a gear head. I appreciate exotic cars the way I might swimsuit models — from afar, purely from the perspective of physical aesthetics and with the understanding that pursuing one would destroy my marriage. A Lamborghini Gallardo might as well be a Saturn V rocket for as likely I’d ever be to take a ride, but when I throw my virtual super car into third out of the S curve at Leguna Seca, I can imagine just for a moment what it might be like to tweak the flappy panel gearbox, lay my foot to the floor and hear that five liter V10 engine sing like a slutty siren on a craggy shoal.

This is a brilliant piece of writing here.

Not to be that guy that corrects one tiny little thing....

It is a flappy *paddle* gearbox, not panel.

Drat, now I need to find a copy of Forza 3.

Oh, and the article is even better if you read it in Clarkson's voice.

*shakes fist* Stupid xbox exclusive! [*Laguna Seca too]. Good article though, but I guess I'll have to wait for Gran Turismo or something else on my PS3 that's up to par.

It's the best plug for Forza 3... in the world.

I'm thinking of picking up Forza 3 when I make a Mass Effect run to Gamestop in a couple weeks, even though I'm not really a racing game fan, and I blame my interest in the game entirely on Top Gear.

Downloading the Ferrari FXX for Forza 2 was the nearest I got to paying to cheat in a game.

The Top Gear tendency to over-use the phrase "proper British sports car" stems from the greatest of all motoring rivalries: the British car industry vs Itself.

animal wrote:

*shakes fist* Stupid xbox exclusive! [*Laguna Seca too]. Good article though, but I guess I'll have to wait for Gran Turismo or something else on my PS3 that's up to par.

If you haven't tried Need for Speed: Shift, you might be surprised. I wish I had a 360 so I could try Forza because it looks amazing, but I honestly have not been as excited about a racer in a long time as I am about Shift right now. I borrowed it from a neighbor and have played it nearly all of the free time I have.

Not to imply that Shift is necessarily a better game than Forza, but this video gives you a great idea of the sense of speed and feel Shift gives you. It's absolutely incredible, and it's like nothing I've seen in a racing game before. You also get all the advanced tuning and tweaking, and some awesome circuits such as Spa GP and Laguna Seca. Here's Tom Chick's review.

After playing Shift, I have gone completely limp for GT5. Maybe when I finally get a 360 I will get Forza to see what the hubbub is about, but my God, Shift is just so... VISCERAL.

/end fanboy swooning

Does anyone play Forza with a wheel? I got the game recently as part of a pack in deal with a new Elite and purchased the wheel yesterday. Did some playing last night, and I really like it, but I'm wondering if at a higher level of play there are any advantages/disadvantages of driving with the controller vs the MS wheel.

It's definitely more immersive to play with the wheel and I'm still coming in 1st with all assists except the braking indicator on the road turned off, but I'm also still driving with the beginning cars and have yet to step up to something more demanding.

aphesian wrote:

Does anyone play Forza with a wheel? I got the game recently as part of a pack in deal with a new Elite and purchased the wheel yesterday. Did some playing last night, and I really like it, but I'm wondering if at a higher level of play there are any advantages/disadvantages of driving with the controller vs the MS wheel.

It's definitely more immersive to play with the wheel and I'm still coming in 1st with all assists except the braking indicator on the road turned off, but I'm also still driving with the beginning cars and have yet to step up to something more demanding.

I play with a wheel. I have the fanatec porsche turbo wheel s and the 360 wheel. The fanatec is pretty high end (clutch pedal, 6 speed shifter...) but is a lot more expensive (I use it for pc sims as well). It takes a while to get used to playing with the wheel but stick with it. I found that playing with the advanced options for things like deadzone and sensitivity also helped a lot. Let me know if you have any questions.

I'm with you on this one.

Forza 3 is a realization of something fundamental in the racing genre. It is the first mass-market racing simulation to understand that while you can have an incredibly realistic simulation by the numbers, all of that realism will mean nothing if your controls feel more like a pair of rowing oars than a car's steering wheel. The controls are the game.

But that wasn't the only thing Forza 3 has perfected. It has also provided one of the easiest entries into car culture ever. It does it better than Forza 2, which was already the best. You can pick real cars you'll see on the street and upgrade them with real upgrades you'd be able to perform if you had the money and skill.

Its just a fabulous game, and I doubt I'll ever tire of it.

I haven't played enough of Forza 3. Having said that, I'm blown away by how much better the controls feel than in Forza 2. I find it impossible to explain what they've done to improve things so much, but bravo to them for doing it!

I'll check it out, thanks!

Wow. I'm blown away. I had to get a new 360 and got Forza 3 as a pack-in. Rather than just sell the pack-in as I did with Kung Fu Panda and other games, I decided to go ahead and try Forza 3. I've never played Gran Turismo. I've never played a Forza. I bike commute and general don't care much about cars.

Forza 3 may be changing that. I agree with everything you have to say, Sean. And I'm glad you wrote this article, because it was one of many things I read that kept the game top of mind for me. Now that I've played it I'm hooked. Blown away and hooked. Thanks.