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My Take on Forza vs. Gran Turismo
Forza; known as XBOX’s answer to Gran Turismo. This article will look at the latest installation of Forza (Forza 4) compared to Gran Turismo 5. Gran Turismo (GT) has always been known as the standard for simulator racing games but now faces tough competition from Turn 10 with Forza 4.
My biggest complaint with the Gran Turismo franchise is how long it takes to advance one’s career, thinking back to GT 2 after months of game play I had saved up just enough to turbo my AE86 Corolla. My first experience with Forza was Forza 2; after the first hour of game play I was hooked, I completed the game within a month and absolutely love the franchise. Game play in GT 5 has improved greatly; advancing your career no longer takes forever, but definitely still takes longer than in Forza 4.
As a long-time fan of PlayStation and the Gran Turismo franchise I must admit game play in Forza 4 is definitely a more enjoyable racing experience (after my original XBOX 360 died on me, I actually purchased a new XBOX 360 just for the release of Forza 4). The best feature added in Forza 4, in my opinion, definitely has to be the manufacturer affinity; once you reach manufacturer level 4 (for any manufacturer) all performance parts are free. While this does not include wheels, body kits, engine and drive train swaps this does help when trying out different upgrade combinations. Which brings me to my favourite addition to any racing game I’ve played today; I love the fact that I can swap drive trains and engines. There are many new additions as well such as Kinect integration; which includes Autovista, Voice Commands and head tracking (just to name a few) along with various Rivals mode events such as Top Gear events (huge hit for Top Gear fans, myself included), Track days, Autocross and Drifting.
My overall impression of both driving simulators is that Gran Turismo provides a more realistic driving experience where Forza provides a more enjoyable game play; I love the realism in Gran Turismo but prefer the game play in Forza. Stay tuned for my next post where I compare driving my E46 M3 in real life to driving the E46 M3 in Gran Turismo and in Forza.
