The graphics are a mixed bag, with the engine running at an extremely impressive 60fps it is one of the smoothest console racing games I have seen, however a downside to this high frame rate is the lack of Anti Aliasing which is not very pretty to look at. That said, most of the time you only notice this is as a race is starting rather than during gameplay. To compliment the high frame rate, the physics run at 360 frames per second with incredibly detailed analysis on the physics and car handling taking place in total realtime. This is how the game differentiates from others on the 360, the amount of detail the developers have coded into car handling, ranging from tyre temperatures to damage.

Those of you wanting variable weather conditions will be disappointed as races only take place during perfect day conditions, again this is a trade off for the amazingly high frame rate. I personally can forgive the lack of anti aliasing and weather effects for the high frame rate because after playing Forza 2, PGR3 looks like it is running on older hardware.

This brings me onto one of my gripes with Forza 2, the lack of an interior "in the seat" viewpoint. Surely with this game being marketed as a car simulator they should have included the most immersive viewpoint possible, but sadly this is not to be. We are left with third person views (which are useless for a game like this), and an "on the bonnet" mode. I can only think the reasons they have not included this viewpoint would be the incredible task of modelling the interiors of 300 cars. I doubt it would take a further graphics performance hit, as less of the track and surrounding environment would be rendered at any one time. Still it is a substantial omission in my opinion and even the option of a generic interior car view might have helped.

Single player mode took me around 25 hours to complete and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it! Career mode has driver regions which was not present in the first Forza, when you start the game you can choose between Europe, Asia or America and for every region you choose you get different rewards and this alters the pricing of further cars and addons. So don't expect to get a good deal on an american muscle car if you come from China. Why have they added this? After speaking to one of their developers, the idea for this was to create an online trading environment, so people in different parts of the world could offer their cars to others. Obviously this shouldn't be confused with the fact an American would be limited to American cars, but it means you will be paying through the nose for "foreign" cars and parts. It is an interesting idea in theory and time will tell if it works well via Xbox live.

In career mode, Forza 2 features a dual-experience system. Every race earns credits, which act as experience for your driver and the car. As your Driver Level increases, new events open to you as well as further discounts from car manufacturers which I mentioned above. Every vehicle can earn up to five Car Levels, which are awarded for whichever car you are driving in a race. As you level up a car, you earn parts discounts acting as a incentive to race the same car multiple times and will appeal to many people who are particularly fond of a car.

I like Career mode and it works well as an overall playing mode, however you will soon realise that when playing an event you need to earn gold in all races within that event to get an overall gold. So if you get 3 golds and a silver, you still end up with a silver for that event. Getting gold on all races can certainly prove to be time consuming as the racing AI can be aggressive. This leads me into the car selection. All cars have various ratings, from acceleration, top speed to handling. Generally cars have a trade off, those which are faster tend to spin out easily on cornering if you aren't careful with the brakes and throttle. Some of the races are extremely hard to win gold with a slower, good handling car as the computer AI will always have a faster car right at the front. Whether this makes an individual a better driver is a topic open for debate as you can in theory just pick a car with great handling and upgrade the engine specifics. So it is quite clear that unless you have an extremely competitive car you will have a hard time beating the AI.

This brings me to the AI. While it is certainly not bad, I feel the fact that the computer cars tend to follow racing lines without any acknowledgement or respect to your own car is an oversight. You do not often see racing drivers ramming into the back of other cars on a straight. This causes some frustration, and you quite frequently spend quite a lot of time looking in the rear view mirror to make sure no one is right on top of your fender. I have had many a start end up with me facing the other way on the grass, when the computer decided he could go right through me.

The upgrading options are excellent and you can even move cars into higher classes with enough upgrades. This means that if you (like me), fall in love with a lower level car, you can take it right the way with you through the game, improving engine and traction statistics all the time.

Multiplayer options are extremely good, you can play against 7 other gamers on LAN or Xbox Live, however if you get annoyed with the aggressive computer AI, then be prepared for more of the same online! Online elements include tournament, career and exhibition races. Like single player mode, career races earn experience points for your driver and car and tournament offers an overall winner style competition. If you don't have high speed net access then you can play a live person via split screen in the same room.

Forza 2 has taken Xbox 360 racing to a new level, the array of options is just mind blowing, with so many cars and upgrades available it will be some time before you even stratch the surface. Not only this but you have the option to make your own unique skins. This will certainly appeal to gaming clans, who can create their own car artwork and apply it across the group with minor variances between individual clan members.

The icing on the cake is the Auction house, in which you can sell your cars online to the highest bidder. You can lock this skins out, so when the car is sold, it will always look the same. There are already gamers selling cars with specific styles, so everyone knows it was created by that user ! It is an extremely easy to use online feature and im sure the popularity will increase over the coming months.

Conclusion

Forza 2, is most assuredly a success even with all the hype, the physics are unparalled, the racing engine is super smooth and the sheer amount of customisation options are second to none. All is not good however, with a lack of anti aliasing and no simulation style "in car" view, it is lacking in some key areas.

The meat is in the gameplay however, and this is where Forza 2 excels. I have been racing the nurburgring (a track I have raced my Yamaha R1 SP on a few years ago) for almost a week now, and the track is accurately modelled, with a level of detail missing from PGR3. This track alone, for me personally is worth the asking price, as you can use any one of 300 cars (or you own modified cars) and push your driving ability to new levels via time trials. A few weeks with this game would actually improve your chances of going to Germany and racing the track for real ! If you can break a 8 minute lap you are a kick ass driver.

Highly recommended and another quality title for the Xbox 360, just make sure you get the wireless steering wheel and pedals to take full advantage of the physics and handling.

Gameplay	9/10	A stellar driving experience, enhanced by the use of the steering wheel. If only they had included the "in the seat" viewpoint to increase the immersion factor. How can you fault a game that has such a perfectly rendered "nurburgring"?
Graphics	7.5/10	The engine is extremely well coded and as it is locked to 60 fps it runs much smoother than other racing games on the 360. The only downside is the apparent omission of Anti Aliasing.
Sound	8/10	Car engine sounds are well executed, however the music throughout the game is annoying.
Value	9.5/10	Replay value is extremely high, with time trials, and a wealth of cars and tracks available.
Preference	9/10	Any racing game fan simply has to get this game. One of the best console race games ever made.
Overall (not an average)	9/10	An long awaited release which lives up to the hype. If you a car fanatic, then you should already have this in your 360 collection. Will someone please make a game like this for motorbikes?