So I'm fairly new to the Xbox platform, being a PC gamer for many years. I didn't play Forza 2 much - maybe a total of 10 hours? I bought Forza 3, and I've got to say it's A LOT like Forza 2. The graphics are a minor tweak, the audio is just as flat, the in-car dashboard is new but is low res and dull (and the driver magically changes gears without moving his hands). I'm pretty sure that after roughly 5 hours of play I havent raced on any tracks that weren't in Forza 2.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy this game and would rate it a good 7/10, but I don't understand all the love for it. There are other issues too, like:
- Money is too easy to earn - I have more money than I know what to do with.
- Even though I hardly play any racing games, the game/handling is FAR too easy with none of the assists on and the difficulty on the hardest. I rarely come below first place.
- Upgrading is boring because it's unrealistic - as far as I can tell the upgrades aren't complementary to each other, but just a set increase in power/traction/etc.
- The AI is incredibly unrealistic - why do they ram right into me all the time? Can't they drive evasively/think? Also they NEVER yield, which often forces crashes where they should be penalised.
The game is fine and all, but it's sorely overrated, and they claim all over the box that's it's the most realistic simulator etc etc, which is complete bullshit. Am I alone here?
yup, my experience was almost opposite of yours with the exception being the poor interior view on the R class cars. But I almost never use that view because I need the whole screen to be competitive.
There are many new tracks in Forza 3, there are several new or brought back endurance race tracks (Fujima, Rallie, Spa), several nice fantasy tracks (sedona, benchmark, and those european ones in the demo), and new real life track like that spanish one that wasn't in any of Forza 2. There are even 3 more oval tracks for your rocket cars. You might not have realized but when the game begins the first few E class races were running solely on new tracks.
The audio is another improvement for me, now I actually hears the engine breathing instead of just grunt. Try a few naturally aspired engine like the ferarri and some porsches and you will see what I am talking about. in Forza 2 they are all high pitch whines but in 3 there's also sound of air being passing through them.
The upgrading is different, I see that the classes seems to be more restrictive, resulting in slower lap time, however because now you can select individual front and rear sway bar and wheel width, you have a lot more option to build the car within the limits. I am unsure what you mean by compliment each other. The only thing that seems to be unrealistic is the choice of tire compound and maybe the 4X4 Viper. Otherwise it is as good as ever.
Also may I ask what class you race in? The first few levels are very easy even with AI at hard setting. However when I get to B and above I have to start to build my car based on the track to my advantage to win. I am running at A class world champ right now and have to rebuild my car on a few of the tracks, more than I was used to in Forza 2, which I can dominate by running a grip car and get to the front early then start to block. There are a few drunk driving AI in the game, however they are not podium drivers, the first 2 will stay on the best line, so you have to nudge them or forces them to break by taking the inside lane, but they will not hit you once you passed them, unless you do something stupid like trying to cut them off when they were actually half way passing you. And by the way, they DO drive evasively, you can tell by driving a car with much acceleration but not much top speed on an oval track. I could block every one of them as they tried to pass me and they would break to avoid rear end me.