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Xbox | Driving | Forza Motorsport

Boxart for Forza Motorsport
Forza Motorsport 54 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 5.0
  • SOUND: 4.5
  • CONTROL: 5.0
  • FUN FACTOR 5.0
  • AVG USER SCORE 4.2
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 4.8
Winner of the GamePro Editor's Choice Award

Feature: Head-to-Head: GT4 vs. Forza -- Page 2

Feature by FUNKYZEALOT | 05/06/2005 | 19:31:09 PM PST

Graphics
Although Xbox hardware has shown itself to be more competent than the PlayStation 2, Forza has inconsistent levels of quality, especially when it comes to cars. According to Dan Greenawalt, Lead Game Designer, modeling was done by multiple development teams.

"All of our cars are about 15000 polygons (next to 10000 on PGR2 and 6000 on GT4)," says Greenawalt. "We used two external houses (one in Vietnam and one in India) to build 70% of our cars. Both of these houses did a tremendous job, but they had slightly different styles. The Vietnam team spent more polys in the interiors. If you look at the headlights and steering wheels as well as the fender lips you can start distinguishing which teams build which cars."

While the big-name makers and cars had a finish on par, if not better than GT4, lesser cars such as the R32 GT-R look worse than even Gran Turismo 3. In addition, the light reflections and shadows cast on cars are beautiful, but the sheet metal itself almost has a cling-wrap shine to it--less convincing than GT4.

The tracks themselves, however, are beautiful in Forza. The anti-aliasing and lighting contributes to a more life-like environment when compared to Gran Turismo 4, which aside from its improved reflections, still looks like GT3. And since you're staring at the road and scenery more than your ride, in the end Forza (narrowly) beats out GT4.
Edge: Forza

Sound
Having a compelling music track in racing games is important given the monotonous routine of racing--especially when facing the repetition of engine howls, screeching tires and scuffles. Unfortunately, the soundtrack is nothing short of electric-distortion cacophony. While there are a couple catchy sampled riffs, overall there's no change of pace in the music from the menus to the races--making the game music sound like one excruciatingly long track.

The grating music is partially redeemed by the high-quality sounds of tire traction, car collision and sampled engine sounds--which does have a small edge over Gran Turismo. Turn off or turn down the music and you'll still have a pleasant ride--but not as smooth as GT4
Edge: Gran Turismo 4

The verdict
Forza is by no means a perfect game--but the foibles are easily forgivable when you have a rich online mode, awesome cars, and satisfying exterior customization options. Gran Turismo 4 is still a noteworthy achievement, but with so few changes over the years it's starting to feel stale. Those who haven't been lured by Halo 2 now have one more reason to pick up an Xbox console.