Off topic: This Friday is (drum roll)...

[Houndstone Hawk]

Originally Posted by cyclone70

OK well I was all excited about this and have spent some time with the game, but it's leaving me a bit cold.

I'm one of those cheapskates on a non HD xbox and was really pissed off that a shit load of content on disc 2 can't be accessed without a hard drive.

Also I can't get movie replays cos I don't have an HD. What the f&^k... even Gran Turismo on PS1 had that for God's sake.

It's got beautiful graphics and no slowdown but no motion blur like PGR4 and I hate to say it but it is a bit soulless and clinical maybe. I might even try out NFS Shift even though people have had trouble with the handling. The engine sounds on it are incredible and raw sounding. It is FAST too from what I've read.

Dunno what to do, trade it or keep it...

I like my games biased toward sim & realism & I have both games & I can honestly say with much dismay that NFS Shift outclasses Forza3 in every way other than the aforementioned paint editor. It has fantastic handling, much better graphics than Forza3, including far better draw distance & particle effects. You can watch a car in front go off track on NFSS & they throw up a giant cloud of dust but Forza has next to nothing. There's also no anti aliasing in Forza3 which makes the foreground graphics very unpleasant. Admittedly NFS Shift really shines when using a wheel. Yeah the handling is good in F3 but NFS S keeps up here too & there is NO ATMOSPHERE in Forza3 at all. NFS S engine sounds are truly frightening in comparison.

Because of the pathetic rewind button THERE IS NO GAMEPLAY left in Forza 3 at all. Being limitless in its generosity, there is absolutely no reason why you can't win any Single Player race 1st time, every time. Go wrong on a corner? just rewind, & rewind, & rewind & so on until you cross the line 1st. How on earth is that a sense of achievement in your career mode races??? Atleast the arcade GRID have a limited number of rewinds based on the level you played on or even the ability to switch it off totally.

[cyclone70]

Houndstone, you've made my mind up buddy, I'm trading it in for Shift tomoro. The engine noises just aren't doing it for me. I'll miss the paintshop and decal customisation though. That is a game in itself.

[Soulsurfer]

You do realise that you don't actually have to use the rewind feature if you don't want to right? I've not used it once, but I do agree with most other comments regarding F3's downside. I also had shift but traded it in as IMO it was crap Super aggresive AI who constantly ram you etc and what's with the whole getting bonus points for spinning cars out and ramming them off track? Each to their own though I guess.

[Houndstone Hawk]

Originally Posted by Soulsurfer

You do realise that you don't actually have to use the rewind feature if you don't want to right? I've not used it once, but I do agree with most other comments regarding F3's downside. I also had shift but traded it in as IMO it was crap Super aggresive AI who constantly ram you etc and what's with the whole getting bonus points for spinning cars out and ramming them off track? Each to their own though I guess.

Very true indeed. Good points made. The idiotic legalised aggressive mode is a complete head scratcher that makes Shift completely unplayable online & it's easily the biggest gripe to the otherwise superior game. However the single races & tailored aspect of the game is an area you can pretty much avoid all that sh*t. Choose how many laps you want in your 16-car strong race; two simple things that the player can't even get to enjoy in Forza3.

I'd obviously recommend anyone to d/load the NFS demo 1st though

[cyclone70]

I have traded it and have a copy of NFS in my sweaty palms.
I hadn't realised Turn 10 forgot that sometimes it rains, and sometimes the sun goes down too.

[Houndstone Hawk]

Hmm! Think I need to get out more ...

[cyclone70]

Like it, like it! Bet it flies better than a 109 too

Enjoying Shift though more at present for a pure all out adrenalin fix, but tis true the customisation sucks.

[King Jareth]

After playing FM2, FM3 can leave you with a bit of a sense of "been there, raced that". The incar view is nice but not the best (SHIFT beats it here, as well as having more 'soul') and the physics are bordering on good but I think RacePro does it far better (in the sense that you feel connected to the road and can feel the car more).

IMO the best racing "sim" (in the same sense of the word as BoP being a "sim") on 360 is without a doubt in my mind RacePro. I find it more fun to drive, more challenging and far more rewarding, but for sheer content and the ease of getting in a MP game FM3 edges it.

The comments of it feeling clinical and too clean are spot on to me, theres something detatched about it where you dont quit feel like you're in the car.
Play the SHIFT and FM3 demos back to back and you'll see what I mean.

[dazz1971]

well been into town today and decided to go a different route and get DIRT2

im much more of an offroad type of guy anyway
plus i played all 3 demos and the 2 that stood out were shift and dirt2

[Chrester]

RacePro would be better if they just could patch away the irritating bugs.
Yepp, same story as with iL-BoP

There are so many little bugs with race pro that many people left it.

Now for forza3, i played since friday and kinda like it. Mostly for the cockpit view. But as mentioned shift does it better.
The car handling has improved. You can now catch up a slide easier and the cars dont feel so twitchy.
The game feels a bit to short. I'm at level 30 already and only played a couple of hours here and there.
Hope it will last longer in multi, as soon they fix the online lobby. As it is now its a matchmaking system that nobody wants. Whats wrong with the forza2 system That worked like a charm and everybody was happy.