Forza Motorsport 2

Platform: Xbox 360.
Verdict: Almost too real.
Rating: 4½/5
Despite my age, I’ve only owned a car for a few months - years of playing Mario kart and Burnout have obviously kept my skills at their peak but I’ve found dropping banana skins on the motorway or turbo boosting on the wrong side of the road are against the highway code so Forza Motorsport 2 has arrived for some timely lessons in the art of driving (properly).
Admittedly Forza isn’t about following strict codes of conduct on the road (barring gentleman’s rules obviously) but it is touted as a highly accurate racing simulator, replete with complex telemetry read outs and road tested by professional racers. Cars in Forza react as if they would in the real world – if breaking is an alien concept to you in a racing game then get ready for a world of pain and exquisitely rendered car damage.
Unlike Sony’s tired Gran Turismo series – if you crash your car it’ll perform worse so careful driving is key to winning, even if the scratch marks do look lovely in Hi-Def.
If you’re finding it difficult to get your car round the corner and away from those apparently magnetic walls, then handy breaking lines can appear on the track, informing you where and when to SLOW DOWN! Failing that a visit to the garage may be in order where you can tune, tweak and upgrade every conceivable part of your vehicle to make it fit your driving style, or just move a lot faster.
Despite its hardcore depth, Forza 2 triumphs in making it accessible and simple to understand for novices. Intuitive design and pick up and play races coax the beginner in, while changeable difficulty levels and powerful cars later on satisfy the avid racer who loves to pour over telemetry information after every race.
To top it all of there’s an in depth decal designer for the creatives out there (pink lightning bolts are the way to go people!), online racing, Forza TV (where you can watch live races by gamers round the world), a website auction house for cars and a photo mode to flaunt your skills and upload to the internet.
All it needs is the kitchen sink and a stamp of approval from the DSA.