Review: Forza Motorsport 3

Xbox 360

By Scott Bartley / Tuesday, January 26 2010

Let’s face it, for most of us owning a supercar is never going to happen, in fact, we’ll probably never even get to sit in one. This is why racing games like Forza Motorsport 3 play such an important role in helping budget-conscious drivers come to grips with those feelings of anger, grief and loss that accompany the realisation that a Lamborghini will likely never drip oil on your garage floor. In this regard, racing games are more than mere fun, they’re therapy.

Fortunately for us, Dr Forza has a very comfy couch and plenty of soothing virtual supercars to ease us through the tough times. Over 400 cars, to be precise. All lovingly crafted down to the last detail and, in a move that’s new to the Forza series, all with an accurately recreated in-car view.

It’s this attention to detail that sees Forza 3 rise above the competition. Whereas many racing games settle for a “close enough is good enough” approach to modelling physics and car handling, the geeks at Turn 10 (That’s the development house behind Forza 3) have drilled down to such minutiae as tyre pressures and fuel usage in their calculations of how a car should handle at any given time. Not only do the cars in Forza 3 interact in a totally believable manner, but the handling changes over time as conditions change. A car with a full tank and fresh tyres will behave differently to a car that’s running on empty with flat-spotted rubber.

Of course, not everyone wants such realism in their racing games, some just want to get out there and blast it without having to spend too much time in doing so. This is why Forza 3 can be dumbed down by varying degrees to suit your level of skill or enthusiasm.

In addition to the vehicles, the tracks have also received plenty of attention. Some of our favourites include the complete Nurburgring, Silverstone, Le Mans (the full length version) and Suzuka. A bunch of equally enjoyable scratch-built tracks have also been included and the only downer for us is that there’s no Aussie or Kiwi circuits to go with the inclusion of eight gorgeous-looking V8 Supercars. Bathurst would have been quite a treat.

As ever, tuning and customising the cars in your garage plays a major role in keeping things from getting dull. Better yet, if tuning and upgrading isn’t really your thing but you don’t want to be left behind, “auto upgrade” will keep you competitive.

All this detail is neatly wrapped up in an engaging and addictive season play mode that seems to grow right alongside your driving ability. Quite amazingly, Forza Motorsport 3 manages to take the stuffiness out of racing simulations without dropping an ounce of detail. It’s a winner.