Forza Motorsport 4 (Xbox 360)

I recently bought my first Xbox 360 having never really played either Forza on the original or 2, 3 or 4 on the 360.As a long time fan of the Gran Turismo series (I own 1, 2, 3, Concept T-G.v., 4P + 4, 5P + 5) I have always been disappointed when other game makers try to emulate the style and feel of the GT series.Now I'm not one for biasing, I hate the constant abuse that Forza fans and GT fans can give each other, and as I had never properly played Forza I couldn't even comment. I always found it silly but yeah.Anyway I purchased Forza 4 with no real idea of what to expect. I knew it had more of Top Gear than GT5, but that's really all.According to the in-game statistics I've currently spent 4h driving, and already I am "converted."Forza 4 is so much more of an exciting game than I found GT5 to be. Don't get me wrong I loved GT5 and spent many hours playing it when I bought it, however the feeling I get from playing Forza 4 hits way higher than the best feeling I ever got from GT5.Turn 10 have successfully continued in their great series, and I'm struggling to find any faults with Forza 4.As I said I'm by no means an experienced Forza fan, but so far I have been completely enveloped in the game.A colleague recommended that I try Forza Horizon too and I enjoy said game just as much, but that's for a different review.The menus of F4 are great, easy to navigate, clear and don't look like someone's inserted all the buttons up their nose and sneezed onto the screen, which unfortunately is my opinion of Gran Turismo 5.The actual racing itself is wonderful too. The data you can get of the car whilst driving, the damage modelling, time reversal, sounds and visuals are all very impressive.I personally prefer the overall aesthetic of Forza 4, I think it looks a little nicer, and it of course runs very smoothly, just like GT5.On top of all that, the car customization and tuning is great.You can tune your car completely, and unlike GT5 you can change drivetrain/aspiration and also paint your car with all the vinyls you could dream of.The car selection is also better in my opinion.The marketplace is an easy to use area for players to purchase/sell their paints/vinyls and alongside the auction house it makes a great place to find the car that you really want.My only complaint, which goes for the GT series aswell, is that the Fiat Panda (04-12) model is not included, and is my favourite car.Online play is also very easy to get into, and I find runs pretty smoothly. You can jump into a race in minutes.The playground games are also fun!In short, I'm sorry Polyphony but Turn 10 have made a game that suits my tastes more and as such it is unlikely that I'll spend any time playing GT5 now, when I can play Forza 4 instead.

I bought an Xbox last week after having a PS3 since release (which I still have).After realising Microsoft redesigned the xbox and it was a decent price (£160 at time of writing), I thought I would get one and play all the great exclusives I was missing out on.I had been playing Gran Turismo 5 nearly 18months and it was getting a little tired. I got Forza 4 along with the xbox as it was the biggest reason for my elaborate purchase.Let me just say this is one of the greatest, most well thought out games I have ever played.It is a different beast to Gran Turismo. I feel it more of a 'game' whereas GT is perhaps more an 'experience'. The sound of the cars is by no means realistic (The C1 sounds nothing like mine) however that doesn't matter. It sounds FUN. Every car has an amaziong tingle, roar, bite to its sound.The game looks great. And to add to the fun, Jeremy Clarkson lends his voice to various aspects of the game. There is also the top gear test track.The car selection is quality. There may not be as many at GT5, but there is MORE VARIETY. An Escort 1800RS? or one of the lesser known Lancias? Yes please.The cars are not out of reach of anyone to obtain. You don't even have to spend any credits at all to finish the world tour.This isn't to say the game is easy. There are plenty of options to tailor it to your liking. And the more you win, the more difficult the AI become. Its dynamic.Then there is the auction house, where you can buy and sell designs, cars, tunes etc and the 'Rivals' mode which allows you to compete with people online by setting times in various tracks/cars by racing ghost cars of theirs so you never have to scedule to be online together (kind of like the recent 'draw something' game on mobiles. You just pick it up when you are ready).This game comes packed with so many features, and all of them so easy and intuitive to use, it is impossible to name or describe them all. They have to be experienced. Despite having another 4 games on xbox I lways end up playing this!If you are deciding whether to buy a PS3 and GT5 or and Xbox and Forza 4, right now I would say Forza 4. Maybe because I am tired of GT5, maybe because Forza genuinley is more fun. That's how I feel at the time of writing this. 10/10