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Xbox Live DLC Roundup Review
Xbox 360 Review by Dan Whitehead
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Forza Motorsport 2
- - March Car Pack - 400 Points (GBP 3.40 / EUR 4.80)
Surely it must be a coincidence of cosmic proportions that, as the PS3 geared up for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, this update to Microsoft's Gran Turismo rival featured among its thirteen new cars...the Maserati GranTurismo. Ooh, cheeky.
Also jostling for garage space within the 55MB download are the 2008 Audi S5, 2007 Audi TT Coupe S-Line, 1971 BMW 3.0 CSL E09, 2008 BMW E92 M3, 1989 Ferrari F40 Competizione, 1996 Ferrari F50 GT, 2007 Ferrari 430 Scuderia, 2007 Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, 2006 Maserati MC12 Corsa, 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR and the very tasty 2008 Porsche 911 GT2 (997). The pack also includes the #1 Peugeot 207 Super 2000, which is available as a separate free download. All cars must be purchased in career mode before you can drive them.
It's a solid line-up of desirable motors and, at around 26p per car, any complaints about omissions are rendered mostly pointless. I'm still holding out hope for another track pack soon, but this is a fine stopgap.
7/10
Test Drive Unlimited
- - Test Drive Collection Volume 6 - 350 Points (GBP 2.98 / EUR 4.20)
As a pioneer of openworld racing, it's a shame that Test Drive Unlimited's structure hasn't allowed it to expand in the same way as its peers. With the exception of the Hardcore Pack, which introduced a new difficulty level, new content has been exclusively centred around adding new cars to the game's plentiful showrooms. Within this narrow band, at least, the game has been incredibly well supplied with a steady stream of saucy vehicles, both free and paid for, arriving to tempt the petrolhead faithful. As one of the oldest games in this roundup - it was released in September 2006 - the fact that new content is still turning up is commendable in itself.
The most ambitious online racing game we've played, Test Drive is still a fun place to pootle around with the windows down.
This latest pack offers six cars for your 350 Points, all of which must then be purchased from the dealers using your in-game money. For fans of cut-and-pasted lists, the cars are: Nissan 350Z Roadster 2004, Audi A4 Touring Car, Cadillac Sixteen, Dino 246 GTS, Triumph Dayton 995i, Pontiac Solstice and - ooooh - the Lamborghini Diablo GT. The Nissan Roadster is also available as a separate freebie download, for the financially challenged.
As with the previous five updates, and removing personal vehicular taste from the equation, it still presents pretty good value but isn't quite so generous when you consider what games like Forza 2 and PGR4 have offered for 400 Points or less. Still, Test Drive Unlimited is undoubtedly a game for car lovers, and the painstakingly rendered exteriors and interiors of these swanky motors will continue to appeal to this crowd. Plus, as the name suggests, you don't have to buy them to take them for a spin.
7/10
Gripshift
- - Turbo Boost expansion pack - 350 Points (GBP 2.98 / EUR 4.20)
Additional downloads for Live Arcade titles can struggle to offer genuine value, considering the low cost of the original games, but with this grab-bag of new content Gripshift has set a pretty high bar for others to match.
Eight new race tracks and eight new multiplayer arenas are available, which already justifies the 350 Point price tag as far as I'm concerned. However, on top of that you also get a new online mode - Reverse Tag, in which the person who is "it" must keep away from the other players - and three new mini-games. Penguin Bowling is pretty much how it sounds. You hurl your car into penguins, who stand there like monochrome bowling pins awaiting your onslaught. It's a little bit Yeti Sports, but amusing all the same. Playground provides a stunt-flavoured bowl of ramps, secrets and stars to rampage around, but it's Snaker that I can see becoming a new personal favourite. It's the light-cycles from Tron given a Gripshift makeover, a winning combination that is predictably hard to put down.
You also get 18 new music tracks, rounding out a very generously proportioned download for an extremely low price.
8/10
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Latest Screenshots
1 November, 2006 [48]
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Comments: 1-22 of 22 in total
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CreepinJesus
01/04/08 @ 06:43
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I thought you said this was a new PGR download? Its been out ages! Shame on you for exciting me.
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The_Programmer
01/04/08 @ 08:34
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"Maserati Gran Tourismo... yeah cheeky but that's as close as they can get to Gran Tourismo 5."
No. I think you'll find that Forza 2 is NOT a demo and was indeed out a long time ago. By the time a full version of GT5 is out we'll probably be on Forza 8. |
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Forza2 is aging well. Its a fantastic game that puts the focus on driving/racing/online fun! GT5 will be good, its just taking far too long to arrive and I think everyone should bash Polyphony for that - they have no excuses!
Anyway... I wish those not interested in buying the DLC car packs for Forza2 could still download so that they were able to 'see' the cars in all their glory when competing against those using them. "I'm tired of hearing 'ooh, your car is ghost like what is going on?" The End. |
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How about a couple more trackpacks for Forza 2? I'd even happily take a few revamped courses from Forza 1 - the game's great - and it's still the best out and out racer on the 360 - but it's getting a little tired without new content.
Besides, once you've found the cars you like, additional carpacks always seem a little redundant. Give me a decent R3 over some Audi roadcar any day... |
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Rev. Stuart Campbell
01/04/08 @ 10:27
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New cars? Who gives a crap? GIVE US GEOMETRY WARS WAVES, YOU TOOLS.
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BillyBrush
01/04/08 @ 10:42
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@Stuart
Geometry wars waves is already in PGR4 ???? you have to go in your garage and walk up to the arcade machine but it's there I got the free PGR pack but no sign of a new singleplayer option (the extra arcade chapters) when i login...all i can find are the multiplayer extras like tourist mode..not sure why.. |
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@ myke6699
Forza2 might not be aging very well in the looks department, but in my opinion it still wears the crown as far as console driving sims go. As much as i LOVE GT5P it does feel like an arcade game, even on the hardest settings and all assists turned off, specially noticeable in the braking department, braking is far too easy and forgiving, slamming on brakes on a bend at high speed has very little consequence. Handling in Forza2 just feels more advanced. Having said that, Polyphony have hit a sweet spot when it comes to balancing realism with fun, and I guess thats what games are for right? having fun :) |
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@T4RG4
They've got their work cut out trying to get all of the complex tracks to run at more than 15fps @ 1/2 1080p Optimize, optimize, optimize. Then they've got to get it to fit in RAM... more optimizing. Then they wonder what the Blu-Ray is for - as the tracks aren't exactly huge data-wise and now stream from the HDD. It'll be interesting to see how long games continue to take to optimize for the PS3. How will we ever see a ton of releases while they take this long...? /hugs PS2 & 360 |
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Perjoss
the problem i'm having is that fans of forza couldn't accept that GT5 is as good as Forza 2. To me, it's actually better, but that's just my opinion. I've played both and both with steering wheel- the MS for Forza and the G25 with GT5. with forza, I just couldn't get over how crappy the cars looked. The game may be great (I never had that much time to play it) but the reason i play these games is because I love cars- the way they look, the way they sound, how they move, and how it feels to be behind the wheel of the cars. I commend turn 10 for being persistent with the DLC and all. but had they spent more time developing the game and make sure that the cars look stunning, then I would've bought an xbox but after playing forza2 at around christmas (while deciding on which console to get), i was disappointed with the game especially after all the thing i'd heard about it. i have to say i'm glad i decided to wait for GT5 Prologue and bought a PS3. It is car porn at its best. |
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How much of the car do you see if you're driving with a wheel. Surely, from my experience, steering the car in the 3rd person is pretty worthless. I don't even bother with cockpit or bonnet views normally. Just the track and speedometer is best with wheel. And it's not like your gazing lovingly at the cars ahead of you if you're racing and trying to win the race.
Forza has no tearing and is smoother than GT5p (but still time for optimisation though). One thing Gt5p destroys forza on though is the replays. Much much better.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 01/04/08 @ 23:20
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in gt5p, for the first time I can recall in any driving game (inc PGR3 and Forza 2) the quality of the cars DOES actually count for something while racing. When you are stuck up the back end of X car - the detailing is so accurate that it enhances the entire 'feel' of the race, you feel like you MUST overtake that car as if it was real life... in most games it's more of a cartoon version of the car (even PGR4 which looks amazing and is overall more consistent than GT5p in cars+environments) but those cars on track do look as good as in the front end to all intents and purposes.... even your own ghost (semi transparent) on time attack looks damn good, then you can see the car you are obsessed with (if you are slower than your ghost ;) )
I've also got to say that this is the only driving game where the in car view actually felt natural/enhanced the immersion/gameplay. I still prefer 'bumper cam' because I like a clear shot of the road but if any in car view can pull of the 'real feel' it's GT5p... previous best imo was DiRT and before that PGR but GT5p is much better, not just in looks/reflections/effects but in driving position. It also doesn't seem to simulate an actual windscreen which sounds bad on paper but is a big reason that it's so playable in reality (virtual), as it doesn't ever hinder you... ALSO i'm glad that damage isn't included!!! because as someone said above, this is CAR PORN and these cars wouldn't be half as nice to watch in replays if they were completely battered after the first corner... though it could do with a better collision response other than the unatural one it has now I wouldn't call for full on damage.. .. you want damage play Burnout or Motorstorm cos those rock for destruction (especially Motorstorm!!) |
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homerramone
02/04/08 @ 07:56
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I really cant believe they are release car packs for Forza with cars that are already in the game !
Are you really going to notice the difference between the '90 F40 and the '89 one ? (And there are others - im sure theres a pile of 911's in there, and theres definatley an F50) Theres already a mountain of cars in the game - why not at least put some in that arent there already ! (Yes I know - I dont HAVE to buy the pack - and I havent. I mightve been interested if there was something NEW in it !) Oh and as for GT5 bieng as good as forza... Maybe when they put the option private lobby in there, and ingame chat. It certainly looks better, and plays at least as well. And OK its the 'prologue' but it needs at least the facility for proper online !
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 02/04/08 @ 08:58
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Comments: 1-22 of 22 in total
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