Forza Motorsport 2 Reader Review

So. Another 'real' driving simulator eh? "What could go wrong?� I ask myself. After all, I still get a major thrill from the real thing and would give my right arm to be able to blast a supercar round a real track so surely a 'proper' driving simulator will do the trick. Right?

Well, no actually, it won't.

For a start, I'm not convinced in any way, shape or form that the driving mechanics are indeed realistic. Case in point: I'm in a Lotus Elise (lowered with racing tyres on, no less) doing 60 round a smooth bend, not too sharp, but nothing my 328i couldn't handle on public tarmac and standard tyres. So there I am, expecting the thing to grip and instead the whole world moves sideways. And keeps sliding.

Now, OK, I've never been out on a 'real' track, but come on, a Lotus Elise sliding sideways round an average bend at 60? Are 'real' tracks covered in ice or something? I mean, I've seen the in-car footage of supercars flying round the Nurburgring (which seems a fair bit wider in reality Turn 10, you 'artificial hardeners' you) and I swear that Gotham's handling is closer to reality that this.

Let's put the handling to one side for a moment though, because all things can be gotten used to in time.

Ah, yes, time. You'll be spending an extreme amount of it on this game if you want to get anywhere other that the doldrums. You'll also be spending most of your first 10 hours or so on the same handful of tracks in similarly underpowered cars, just to be told you need to do it all over again, only this time you need a FWD, mid-engine, American, pre-1999 but post-1980, electric blue car that weighs less than a tonne. Great.

Never mind all that though, eh? At least when you get jaded of the single player you can always have a blast online. After all, real human competition is what it's all about, dude!

Except.

The real human competition has actually been playing this for an inhuman amount of time and is in possession of cars and components far beyond your meagre reach. Mind you, if you�re lucky enough they�ll kick you for not wearing a headset or for not having a cool enough rank and save you the frustration.

Still, it's a great game though. Right? You're having fun, yes?

You will excuse me now, won't you? I just need to pop out in my real 200bhp lovely for a bottle of wine, then back to base for a bit of Gotham.

After all, it's been a good 20 hours or so since I last drove and grinned at the same time.