Forza Motorsport 3 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here

[Pro Bowler]

This game is sick! Doesn't have that floaty feel from previous versions. The clutch is awesome, it takes some time trainning your fingers to work like feet on the pedals, but it is doable and once you get use to it, it feels just like a real manual transmission. You can even grind the gears and damage them.

The scenery graphics are a little stale and is nothing like Dirt 2, but this is only 1 track and i personally could care less about that when playing this type of sim game. I did stop at the corner near the damn and it does have real moving water effects.

I noticed the Mini has a real time working clock on the dash. Also if you race against other cars you have a working fuel guage. I haven't tested any of the other guages to see if they work. Also, depending on how you push the R stick you get different views in the cockpit. If you push up L or R you turn your head while remaining inside the cockpit view. If you push L or R you get a outside view in either direction but you don't see the doors or anything. There is also other views depending on how you push the stick.

For whatever reason i grew boared of the previous versions, but i can see myself playing this game for a real long time.

[CarryTheWeight]

Great demo. I prefer FM3's graphics to FM2 and GT5: Prologue. Just so much detail crammed into those car models. Cockpit views are also amazing. Turn the HUD off and it's probably the most immersive perspective in racing games today...I even prefer it to DIRT 2, Midnight Club and Prologue's great in-car views, thanks, in part, to the great self-shadowing.

Apart from the car models, the actual racing seems smoother and faster than it did in previous Forzas. The sense of speed is definitely there, as many before me have said.

Can't wait for October 27th...

[Behindshadows]

Love the demo, this game is a must buy, I might spend the next couple of weeks trying to complete Forza 2 before I start this one up, overall love the car selection on the demo. 1 track kind of sucks but overall it's beautiful and it control great. Cockpit is going to be my friend. In the Audi and Ferrari the view is perfect.

[NINJAK2]

Quote: Originally Posted by CarryTheWeight

Great demo. I prefer FM3's graphics to FM2 and GT5: Prologue. Just so much detail crammed into those car models. Cockpit views are also amazing. Turn the HUD off and it's probably the most immersive perspective in racing games today...I even prefer it to DIRT 2, Midnight Club and Prologue's great in-car views, thanks, in part, to the great self-shadowing. Apart from the car models, the actual racing seems smoother and faster than it did in previous Forzas. The sense of speed is definitely there, as many before me have said. Can't wait for October 27th...

Carry, BS, etc.

How does the cockpit view hold up to the PGR3/4 models in your opinion? Is it as detailed as PGR's?

[CarryTheWeight]

I haven't played either next-gen PGR in a long while, NINJAK, so I'm not sure how much of a difference I'm going to make. Obviously, you won't see PGR4's amazing rain/snow effects on your windshield in FM3, but the self-shadowing on the cockpit view is realistic and very well-done. It's awesome to see various aspects of the car well-lit and other parts of the car in shadow while you're driving. Not sure if PGR had something like this because I haven't played 3 or 4 in a long time.

There are a few "little details" on the FM3 dashboards that aren't in PGR, such as certain car dashes displaying what lap you're on, working gas gauges and time displays. Awesome little touches do a lot to immerse you.

I'll say it again, FM3 may just be the first racing title I play without a HUD. It's that impressive with the in-car view.

[NINJAK2]

Cool. Thanks CTW. I'll download the demo this weekend

[Behindshadows]

Quote: Originally Posted by NINJAK2

Carry, BS, etc. How does the cockpit view hold up to the PGR3/4 models in your opinion? Is it as detailed as PGR's?

I will show you real soon!

[FlyBri]

Quote: Originally Posted by lnin0

1-2-3-GO! They have added a few new wrinkles and smoothed down some corners but overall the game lives and dies by the same praise and shortcomings as past itterations. Forza 3 is an incremental update not an evolutionary change. While it will always hold the physics crown among console races many of its other features are starting to feel dated. Note to the guy above - driving a car ISN'T that hard. Look at how many idiots have licenses now days. Yeah, driving one at the edge is hard but in Shift driving a Cobalt at 30 mph in a straight line is crazy difficult. So don't think difficulty equates to reality. In reality not many people would have issues making a safe lap on one of these tracks. There is no such thing as a safe lap in Shift because the cars are unstable at any speed.

Driving a car isn't that hard for people who have the skill -- for people who don't, it's not so easy. Just because someone has a license does not mean they can drive a car that well (and not at the "edge" either) -- trust me, I see plenty of people every day who shouldn't have the right to be behind the wheel. And driving 30mph in a straight line in Shift is difficult? No such thing as a safe lap in Shift? No offense, but if that is how it is for you, ok, but for me it's not an issue. I've been driving for over 10 years, and have driven cars like the Lotus Elise (at the "edge") and Porsche 911 Turbo S, and in Forza 3 (at least the demo) it's just too easy to drive perfect lines at speed. While more difficult doesn't mean more realistic, Shift's physics overall, in the end, feel a lot more realistic. And yes, I know Shift doesn't go all out on having perfect physics for a completely PERFECT sim, but it can be argued that the basis of the physics engine is better than Forza, or GT5 for that matter (again, look who developed the game), thus creating more realistic physics overall.