Forza 2, I know I'm a little late

I have borrowed Forza 2 from Justin for about three months before I decided to buy a copy for myself and give him his copy back. Now that we have been playing together I see that my assists are hampering me from truly performing on the track.

We spent a little time getting a couple cars set up for drift and after hours of tweaking this or that. I’m going to gradually turn off the assists. I know if I change it all at once I’ll get mad and put the game down all together.

Now that I have spent a good time on this game I feel I can give it criticism.

First, is anyone else experiencing the occasional over correction that sends you back and forth across the road like that dog I couldn’t avoid? (the dog didn’t make it, not even a yelp) It happens when you start to drift out or if you ever so subtly get off onto the grass and try to recover. Next thing you know you’re on the opposite side of the track, your front end is smashed up leaving you facing the wrong direction watching you competition wave as they go by.

Yeah, that’s my first complaint.

Second is that stupid 3-something-mile Rattlesnake track. Does anybody really enjoy running on that track? Did the designers think, “man, it would be cool to create a track where you took your high performance car and not be able to break 70 miles per hour”. What the F. Hello, I do this already everyday I go to work. So since you’re so cool that you created a track that recreates my commute, why don’t you just create “SimJob”. So I can play like I’m at work, while I’m at home trying to relax from work. Just think of the possibilities. You could pay taxes, get expensive illnesses, have crappy bosses, and the ultimate 401K baby. Now that would be a game!

Does that explain my feelings about that track? I hope so.

And to all race games out there, STOP GIVING ME 6 VARIATIONS OF THE SAME CARS! Please give me a variety; there are only so many Porsche’s out there. I think you have two of each!

Oh and I love racing those really crappy 58hp cars from Europe. Now when I want to play a racing game, a top speed of 72mph is where it’s at.

Other than that, I really like Forza 2!

Mass Market Gaming Getting Stale

bcullers brought over DarkSector last night for the 360. As he started talking about it, he immediately brought up gameplay references like Gears of War and Army of TWO (which is a Gears of War wannabe in it's own right). We shared a sad laugh about yet another Gears clone and then we both said, "Well, if it works..."

It was something I hadn't thought about playing Army of TWO. Instead of the whole time playing the game with an angry cloud over my head because the gameplay in it wasn't original, should I have been more focused on what new things the game brought to the table instead of what it didn't? I'm not sure what other things like that exist in the world like this. When I buy a new game, unless it's a sequel, prequel or derivative IP, I want it to be genuine and different. Music is a possible comparison if you really like music and not a genre. Books too. But I think with games I always want the next game of that genre to fix the things that were broken in the last game.

I think, overall, I find it really hard to not reference other games when playing a new one. Unless it's a game like Katamari Damacy for the PS2 or Brain Training for the DS, your getting a game that is specifically set in a genre (football, driving, FPS) and there is little you can do to differentiate it from it's members.

But most of the games I own (and keep) I like very much. So getting a new game with elements of my old ones should be comforting. But I want new experiences from gaming constantly. I don't want another Gears of War game with a different set of characters, voices, and graphics. I don't want another Forza Motorsport that touts more cars and tracks. I want new experiences and games that make me think in a different perspective. Having sold on eBay Mass Effect (a mediocre space RPG) and Army of TWO (a clone of another game), I can tell my purchases are going to start getting far and few between and overly scrutinized.

A new hope in gaming recently is Penny-Arcade's The Greenhouse. This is a game related comic-drawing duo that has it's hands also in charity work, game expos, and now with Greenhouse, independent game developers. Not much has been said about Greenhouse other than right now it's a platform to release their new game (another hand) "On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness". But I wouldn't mind starting to play games on a PC or Mac if meant getting really good content.

Intrinsic Values: Zen Moments

Playing video games is sometimes relaxing. It's a de-stresser. Takes your mind off your worldly, corporeal drama. But with some games you can achieve a higher state of gaming.

I was playing Forza Motorsports 2 last night and was just having a heck of a time tuning a car to suit a set of races. It was constant starting a race, losing control of the car, quitting and retuning. It took about a half hour of work to figure out what was wrong with the car to get it running right. A pretty taxing task.

Then I went in for one more race. Surprisingly, the car was hitting the corners just right. I caught up to 1st place and passed him in a few turns. Then it was me, out in front, the competition eating my dust. I had 8 laps to go around the winding course.

After the first few laps, I realized I wasn't tense anymore. At first I was fighting the turns, learning the break points and acceleration points, but now they were programmed into my fingers. The visual check points for breaking and accelerating were almost automatically transposed by my fingers. I was on auto pilot, increasing my lead, soothed by the sounds of the car's engine and the wheels on the pavement. I barely had to think to stop from over accelerating or breaking to stop the squealing tires. It was a pure zen moment.

Not many games can do this. I would maybe imagine a baseball game, where you knew all your players movements and could hit any ball the pitcher threw. Or maybe a puzzle game, where you could see 5 moves ahead of your computer player. I know I've done that in Hexic many times.

Games can be violent and exciting. They can cause you to throw a controller across the room. But they can also relax you so much you could hear your own heartbeat.

5 Hour Review: Forza 2

I literally couldn't wait to get to work today so I could sit during SOL testing and write about Forza 2. The only thing keeping me from leaving early from home was Forza 2. And I never play games in the morning before work.

I spent the first hour and a half playing the game making this. It was extremely invigorating. This "dancing sugar plum" created a slight, girlish squeal in the car leaving from EBStop. One I was glad Nicole was not witness to. One I ended up telling her about anyway.

If it helps it's testament any, I probably won't buy a steering wheel for this game. Turn 10 has seem to included voodoo in it's code that maps not only the controls for driving, but the feel of driving right into the controller. If I close my eyes while driving, I really feel like I'm overpowering a double apex and skidding into the grass. As the tires shudder over the pavement. Just before they give out. I know exactly when it will happen.

I'm starting to enjoy the speed of the gameplay. The increasing difficulty of leveling up something might as well be in a driving game. It does take away from the experience I'm used to, but it adds an element that is hard to find in Gran Tursimo that is found in so many other driving games: fun.

I have yet to experience the online sections of the game. I've only seen two people show up in my pre-race track record listings, a feature I was unaware of but glad to accept. So long are the days of A. Nonymous holding a record of 2:00:00, which are now replaced by Shoddy McNutface holding a record of -00:31:27. I'll probably get used to that though.

Other musings in the game include race music off by default, real-time reflection mapping, an extra level of zoom during graphic layering (maybe it was in the old one too), rim sizes (and better selection) and tire width, many more paint colors including metallics and 370 variations of chameleon green.

I wish there were alternate car management views, but I've come to realize that you don't need to manage cars. It sort of Googles cars for you as you pick races, like before. Panning would have been nice in the camera controls during painting. Oh..and for the sake of your lord, update the replay camera modes to include a track side only montage. Every time I start being awesome, it switches to the hood view. Remember, I used that to be awesome with already.

Xbox #3: The Return

Surprisingly, because I never check my Hotmail account, Microsoft is sending back my new 360 in a couple days. This is quite the change from last time, taking months to get back, to now taking less than two weeks after getting the shipping box.

It's almost kind of a let down. I had it all in my head that I was going be settling down with my old cohorts, the PS2 and Xbox (maybe some GameCube) and possibly some Wii. But with the 360 coming back soon and Forza 2 in stores next week, it looks like I'll be back in front of the HDTV again, living it up.

Guitar Hero II, just when you and I were becoming well acquainted again. Sorry, old chap.

Demo: Forza Motorsport 2

I'm floored. Honestly, I've never played a racing sim that was so good. Of course, I'm only talking about the demo here, so I have no idea what the structure of the game is like or how any of the insides work. I'm like a doctor pre-X-Ray. I'm the consultant for plastic surgery.

The demo is pure driving. 20-some-odd cars. 1 track. No setup. No futzing around. All you get is to choose whether or not you want ABS, TC, Stability and driving lines. That's it. Bare bones, take-it-for-a-spin, set aside $60. Your owned. That's pretty much what they had planned for you. But this could very well mean that once you make the first incision, that's when you find the cancer.

But since I can't see inside, all I can say is that the driving is phenomenal. At first, it felt pretty much like the old Forza and GT. Very sim. Technical sim even. Forza 1 has a bit more arcade soft of feel to it, but you knew what you were getting into.

This time around though, it's a bit different. I decided to race a few races without any assistance turned on. I thought the race would be over before it started. That's usually how that stuff goes: uncover the true sim hidden within and never make it past turn 2. But, surprisingly, Forza 2 only got better.

I obviously had to change my driving styles from pedal to the metal and mashing the brakes to full of grace and charm. I cradled both triggers in the first knuckle of my index fingers and used my finger tips to judge the depth. All of the sudden I wasn't spinning out and sliding around turns. I made the 1-to-1 correlation like a real car and it was like I was in another world. Another video game world where simulation doesn't mean impossible and isn't talked about between friends by saying, "Betcha can't drive it like this."

Now I'm at a crossroads. That place where you've been promised the moon and the stars. If the game were house for sale, it's the one with all the great landscaping. The trees are perfect. The driveway is paved. It's in the right neighborhood. It's even the color you want. But you haven't seen the kitchen from the seventies with wood paneling and laminate floors. And whether or not you like shag carpets, it just doesn't go with rest of the house.

Please, please don't let there be shag carpet.