Forza 3 is a racing simulator exclusive to the Xbox 360, rated E for everyone. So far it has been a game that does not disappoint. Like in previous Forza titles, you start the game with a set amount of money (credits) when you step into the racing world. Buying cars, competing in races, and then using your winnings to upgrade your car so you may compete in more difficult races is what Forza is all about. One feature that sets Forza 3 far from its competitors (see: Grand Turismo, Need For Speed) is that players have the full ability to take a car and not only customize it, but also go further and fine tune the car. You can adjust everything from tire pressure and gear ratios to suspension and braking. The full list allows players to tune their cars to their own preference, for the way they drive, in order to gain their own advantage on the race track.

Now another thing that pushes this game beyond the others is the ability to do more than just paint your car.  Forza 3 allows you to take the ideas in your head and gives you the ability to put it onto the car.  Other games such as Need For Speed have let you also do this, but theirs is much more limited in scope.  Forza 3 allows you to use thousands of layers,  different shapes, different colors and sizes to build a masterpiece.  Players can make anything from stick figures, to actual characters.  This alone is one of the key features that should go with any racing simulator that allows customization.  If you can’t let players do anything to their cars, well, the experience of the whole ‘buy and tune‘ really gets dulled down.

Next upon this long list is going to be Forza 3’s brand new addition of the storefront.  Before, in Forza 2, players only could use the auction house which, just as the name states, players can place up a car of their own up for auction and other players would bid upon those cars.  This used to be the old way for players to buy car designs and tunes, but with the addition of the storefront, all of that has become obsolete.  The storefront allows plays to search specifically for paint designs, vehicle tuning configurations, or pre-made images created by the other players.  This helps players who don’t have that keen sense of tuning or painting to make their own car better.  It really helps the whole feel of the game, balancing it out to a new level that gamers really haven’t seen before.

The graphics in Forza 3 are unlike any I have ever seen.  I can only hope and pray to someday see this game on a 1080p high definition television.  Even on my standard definition television though, this game looks drop dead gorgeous.  Colors and reflections just shine off of every curve of the car.  The cars seem to have a certain realism to them as you drive around the tracks.  What’s even more amazing than the graphics is the engine sounds of each and every car.  No two cars sound the same.  Each vehicle has its own pitch, rumble, and growl that gamers will easily notice when they play the game.

Finally time to talk specifically about the game play.  Just like all track based racing games, you and other cars (game controlled or other gamers) line up to race a set amount of laps around the track and first one around wins.  The game handles and feels like you’re driving an actual race vehicle.  As you upgrade your car you will start to notice that it will have increased power, quicker shifting,  and better acceleration than it did before.  Forza took the time to create a very realistic simulation to the point that if you accelerate too hard into a turn, you have the very good chance to spin out and wreck.   Slam on the brakes too hard and they lock up.  Of course there is still assistance for those who aren’t as skilled at virtual racing.

Overall, Forza 3 brings us what other racing games lack, and that’s the room for a massive online comunity that goes further than just player contact, taking you all the way to player generated content.  A large racing fan community will allow for countless items to find and download.

If you’re a racing game fan and you don’t own this game,  I highly advise going to your local store and picking up a copy.  Even if you can only rent the game, you will find it a great value for your money if you do.

I give Forza 3 for the Xbox 360 a 10/10.

• GAME OF THE YEAR
  UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
• STUDIO OF THE YEAR
  Rocksteady Studios
• BEST SHOOTER
  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Publishing / Infinity Ward)
• BEST RPG
  Dragon Age: Origins (Electronic Arts / BioWare)
• BEST FIGHTING GAME
  Street Fighter IV (Capcom / Capcom/Dimps)
• BEST INDIVIDUAL SPORTS GAME
  UFC 2009 Undisputed (THQ / Yuke’s Media Creations)
• BEST HANDHELD GAME
  Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (Rockstar Games / Rockstar Leeds)
• BEST GRAPHICS
  UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
• BEST MUSIC GAME
  The Beatles: Rock Band (MTV Games / Harmonix)
• BEST DRIVING GAME
  Forza Motorsport 3 (Microsoft Game Studios / Turn 10)
• BEST ACTION ADVENTURE GAME
  Assassin’s Creed II (Ubisoft / Ubisoft Montreal)
• BEST TEAM SPORTS GAME
  NHL 10 (Electronic Arts / EA Canada)
• BEST SOUNDTRACK
  DJ Hero (Activision Publishing / FreeStyleGames)
• BEST XBOX 360 GAME
  Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve)
• BEST Wii GAME
  New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo)
• BEST PS3 GAME
  UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
• BEST PC GAME
  Dragon Age: Origins (Electronic Arts / BioWare)
• BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
  Halo 3: ODST (Microsoft Game Studios / Bungie)
• BEST MULTI-PLAYER GAME
  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Publishing / Infinity Ward)
• BEST GAME BASED ON A MOVIE OR TV SHOW
  South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play! (Microsoft / DoubleSix)
• BEST CAST
  X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition (Activision Publishing / Raven Software)
• BEST PERFORMANCE BY A HUMAN MALE
  Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition (Activision Publishing)
• BEST PERFORMANCE BY A HUMAN FEMALE
  Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen / Activision Publishing)
• BEST VOICE
  Jack Black as Eddie Riggs (Brutal Legend / Electronic Arts)
• BEST DOWNLOADABLE GAME
  Shadow Complex (Microsoft Game Studios / Chair Entertainment)
• BEST COMEDY GAME
  Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard (D3Publisher / Vicious Cycle)
• BEST DLC
  Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony (Rockstar Games / Rockstar North)
• BEST INDEPENDENT GAME FUELED BY DEW
  Flower (ThatGameCompany)
• MOST ANTICIPATED GAME
  God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment / SCE Studios Santa Monica)

To me, the video game awards are starting to become more and more like the Oscars are for the film industry–where the awards rarely reflect actual fan preferences and work on a flawed voting system.  With the Oscars the problem is that too few people select the winners.   With the video game awards, it’s the opposite problem–too many.  The voting is done through internet website voting, which as many geek knows is far from impervious to manipulation and spam voting.   When something wins an internet vote, all that tells me is they had the most people spamming votes and/or hacking the website to get extra votes counted.

Some of the awards I agree with, while many others I was surprised won (ex. Left 4 Dead 2, a virtual expansion pack).   I kind of felt this was going to be an off year for the awards show ever since I saw the nominations.  I still can’t believe they didn’t have Halo 3:ODST nominated for the Best Cast or Nathan Fillion nominated for the Best Performance by a Human Male.

My personal preference for what games should have won would have been these:

• Game of the Year: Dragon Age: Origins – Not a ton of pre-release advertising for this game, but because it’s made by BioWare, I went out and bought it.  Wow, this game is awesome.
• Studio of the Year: Gearbox Software – Brought us Borderlands, probably the most innovative RPG-Shooter game ever.  Not only that, but in the short time this game has been out, they’ve released one DLC package and have announced a second one.  How many other game studios take care of their customers like that?
• Best Xbox 360 Game: Borderlands – Great blend of the shooter and role playing genres.  Witty dialogue coupled with fun shooting gameplay.
• Best Shooter: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – Probably the most anticipated video game ever.  This will be where I’ll spend most of my multiplayer gaming time at.
• Best RPG: Dragon Age: Origins – see above
• Best Action/Adventure Game: Brütal Legend – Great adventure game that brings the heavy metal music to a new medium – video games.  It’s got Jack Black in it too.
• Best Cast – Halo 3: ODST – A game that has Nathan Fillion (Serenity/Firefly, Castle), Adam Baldwin (Serenity/Firefly, Chuck), Alan Tudyk (Serenity/Firefly, V) and Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica, Burn Notice)?  Yes please.

Congratulations to Marty O’Donnell for winning the Best Original Score for Halo 3: ODST.  That game had some awesome music.  I’d recommend the soundtrack to anyone, even non-video game players.