Played a few minutes yesterday, but due to having to be at work at 0630am it's difficult to really play alot. Anyways: This game is by far, the most magnificent game for fans of simulation racing, and car tuning games, as it far outclasses any previous game in history. The racing aspects are top notch, as Forza 1 was. The AI is better, there are tons of new tracks, and familiar old ones. The races are similar to most every other racing game out there (few tracks at novice level at starting, then progress through earning cash). However, the thing that they've really done a ton of is in the telemetry department, which a geek could love. It really shows that Turn 10 actually CARES about racing games and isn't just trying to throw a bunch of graphics together. When a race is over, you can view the race like every normal racer, BUT the huge thing is, it gives you real-time telemetry data through the entire race. There are over 20 catagories of real-time data that is given, including engine torque, clutch information, PSI ratings, tire pressure/wear, center of gravity, tire weight ratio, damage info, speed, drag, and about 15 other things. Anything you could ask "jeez, I wonder how upgrade X made my car better" can be answered in 5 seconds. Next, the upgrades. The thing I LOVED about the Gran Turismo series was the attention to detail that Sony placed on car upgrades. When Forza 1 came out, I was amazed at how much more could be done, as F1 totally blew GT out of the water at that point. Forza 2 is an upgrader/tuners paradise. I don't really see how you can get more in-depth than what FM2 offers. There are 4 major catagories such as engine, weight/tires, areodynamics and aethsetics. However, in GT, for preformance, I think there were maybe 5 catagories for engine/HP upgrades, FM1 had maybe 7. FM2 has 10, with far more indepth strategy. You can take a car (almost any car), and actually change the DRIVETRAIN and switch out a rear-wheel car and make it front-wheel or AWD, so you can have a uber-car for all races. Aerodynamics, Tires and misc, and aethsetics are all there. I would easily say that for each of the 300 cars, there are atleast 300 purchasable upgrades not including paint, stickers, or any user-modded aethestical work. This game is going to certainly hold me over for a LONG time to come. The weak points is that I didn't notice much music, but again, I haven't played enough to know. Graphics are great, but not "OMGZ TEHY ARE PERFECT", but of course, I play on SDTV. The replays, and in depth camera work do show the beauty of the cars. Not only this, the game IS locked at 60fps, so everything runs perfect. So to recap, if you liked Forza, Gran Turismo, or any sim-racing game, this is an absolute purchase, bar none. Until GT5 comes out, this is THE game to buy for racing fans.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
