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That's been mentioned beforehave a listen to the podcast I linked up a page or two back
And everyone copied Nintendo?
Forza 3 Career Mode Hands-On
We step on the gas and accelerate through a season.
by Hilary Goldstein
US, July 31, 2009 - Over the past few days, you've been given a look at Forza 3's Career Mode. First, IGN schooled you on the basics, then we drove home details on tuning, multiplayer and the end of your racing careerhttp://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/100/1009381p1.html. Everything you need to know about career mode is in those two articles. Today, I'm going to talk about my experience playing Forza 3's Career Mode. After all, you can add all kinds of cool features, but that doesn't mean they work.
The Career Mode is as advertised. It's easy to get into and there's never a moment where I wondered what to do next. Though I was guided along what Turn 10 calls the "Yellow Brick Road," at any time I was able to jump off and explore on my own. I did an auto-upgrade on my Ford Fiesta to get a sense for how well it worked. For anyone who wants to race and not worry about parts and tuning, the options are there to streamline the entire experience. I'm a little obsessive about doing things myself, though. While the AI did a fine job handling the upgrade for me, I'd rather do it myself. That option still exists.
Thanks to the new pressure system, mistakes will be made by the AI.
You can just as easily pick parts and upgrade your car manually. It's easy and works similarly to Forza 2. I avoided getting too deep into tuning because, well, Turn 10 kind of scared me off of it. The idea that I might do harm to my car's performance without realizing it seems like a bit of a roadblock for people who aren't hardcore into tuning but want to feel like they are being proactive with their car. Maybe when I have a build of Forza 3 to call my own, I'll go a little deeper and try to learn how to tune like a pro.
Knowing that the calendar dynamically populates, I paid special attention to my event options as I played. In your first season, you gain Driver levels (and Achievements) quickly. I had a handful of free cars in an hour's time and it was already obvious how obtaining these vehicles (custom-gifted to match my style of racing) opened new paths someone else might never experience in their career.
The AI is always learning from you at pretty much every instant you have Forza 3 in your Xbox 360. The adaptive Drivatar AI system from Forza 2 is back and working just as well on the road. But even after a race is finished, the AI continues to learn about you. My first couple of cars were modest vehicles that were easy to handle. And perhaps if that's all I ever acquired, Forza 3's AI would think I liked to maintain control and drive a very smooth racing line. But the minute I was gifted a Mazda Roadster, the AI learned something new about me -- I love getting squirrelly. For me, there's nothing more enjoyable in a racing game than oversteering and then pulling out of potential disaster. Sure, I lose time, but damn if I don't look cool. I even had one of Turn 10's own leaning left and right as I drove the razor's edge and narrowly kept my car under control. I should note that Forza 3 keeps track of your drifting score in every race, so along with making the best time, you can also race for best style.
I didn't have hours to put into Forza's Career Mode, but even in my short time with the Roadster, it seemed the calendar's AI got the hint. I wanted to live on the edge. These were the kind of cars that would keep me playing and races and tracks that tested my drifting skills were going to make me happy. The vast majority of people who play Forza 3 won't even know that the calendar is shifting to meet their preferences. It's handled in a low-key way and it's not in your face with the game constantly explaining how your decisions are altering the calendar. The point is to keep you driving. I think it's going to work.
These cars were born to roll.
Before journeying to Turn 10 to play Forza 3, I spent a little time playing Forza 2. It's actually not that easy to remember precisely how a racing game controlled two years ago, so going back to the previous game was important. I have to say, after spending an hour with Forza 3's Career Mode, the change is noticeable. Forza's always controlled well and has been at the top of its game in terms of physics, but Forza 3 just feels better. Everything about it, from the subtle differences in handling from one car to the next to the sense of speed to the feeling of a connection with the road. Forza 3 is better. No doubt about it.
Perhaps the most controversial addition is the AI pressure system. One of the big problems with racing sims (Forza included) has been that AI drivers are too perfect. This is most notable in the Gran Turismo series, where every driver seems programmed on a specific line and follows it every time. Forza 2 changed that to some degree with the Drivatar system, but not enough to feel like you were racing against other people. So Turn 10 added the pressure system, which attempts to make the AI drivers more human. Get on the tail of another driver and they may make a mistake. Perhaps they go into a turn hotter than they would normally, or hug the shoulder more than they'd like. The lower your difficulty level, the more likely the pressure will get to the AI.
This is definitely not going to sit well with some players, who simply want to be tested against the AI's "set pattern." You can always pump up the difficulty to see far fewer mistakes, but be aware that the drivers are more aggressive at higher difficulties to better simulate a real race.
I played on all three of the preset difficulties on a build that was about six weeks from final. I'm hoping Turn 10 adds more layers of presets. The Casual setting is just that. Hold down the gas and go. The game brakes for you. All you need to worry about is trying to stay along the green line. It's not much fun for even a modest gamer, but it's not meant for us. This is for your mom or your youngest sibling. If they want Mario Kart, they can have Mario Kart.
Regular difficulty requires you to handle your own brakes, but most of the assists are on. I imagine the majority of folks who pick up Forza 3 will select this difficulty first. I found it too easy after a few races. And I am not some kind of racing master. I play a lot of racing games, but am nowhere near an elite player. For a few races, Regular was fine, but over an entire Career? It's probably too easy for anyone who has played through Forza 2.
The Serious setting is not as impossible as you might think. Turn 10 has likely adjusted this some over the past few weeks, but when I played, it left the guide lines on the road and several of the assists were still on. The AI is definitely much tougher and winning races is by no means easy. That said, there wasn't a race I couldn't finish. This was about the right challenge level for me personally, which is great to have as a preset. I'm just a little surprised there wasn't a higher option for the insane.
Keep in mind that these are just presets. You can go into any of these and individually adjust all of the assists and the AI to create your own level of challenge.The dashboard view is the only choice for real drivers.
One thing that can make any of these difficulties manageable is the rewind function. There is no penalty for rewind no matter what your difficulty level. There's no monetary reward for not using it (though there are "pure" leaderboards). You don't ever have to use it or you can use it 200 times in a race. Each press of the rewind button (the Back Button) zips time back roughly five seconds. You can keep hitting this as much as you like, erasing entire laps if you feel the need.
Rewind is the future of racing games, according to Turn 10, as is a "no punishment" philosophy. I have to say that I miss the tension in a tight race, worrying about not screwing up. This was always particularly sharp for me when I had a lead -- just don't blow it. With rewind, I don't have to worry about blowing it. I always have an out if I want to use it. And while I do feel something is lost with rewind, I also don't have to instantly hit "restart race" if I make a mistake and spin out. I didn't use rewind to assure myself the lead, I used it when I did something that completely knocked me out of a race. It kept me driving, which is the entire reason behind the device. I can see it as a great teaching tool. If you have a corner that keeps giving you problems, you can rewind again and again to get an understanding of the proper speed for the turn. In a way, rewind is just an evolution of the guide lines just about everyone used in Forza 2.
There's one other addition that only the hardest of hardcore will attempt. Turn 10 added a clutch to the regular controller. It's located on the Left Bumper and is an option for those who really want to perfect a lap. You can still drive manually with an auto clutch, but you will never achieve the best possible lap. You can manually shift gears with the clutch faster than when done automatically. There is a much larger gap between shifting if you let the AI handle the clutch. That doesn't mean you won't win races, but the people dominating the leaderboard will be those using the clutch.Nothing a little nudge can't fix.
Though I only had a chance to play Forza 3's Career Mode for an hour, I can already tell it's going to be a big hit among racing fans. Gran Turismo developer Polyphony Digital should pay attention. Turn 10 is doing some great things with Forza 3. Like releasing it.
My fingers are crossed for a preview build of Forza 3 to arrive in my mailbox sometime in August. Once I have a few dozen hours put into Career Mode, expect an update. It will be interesting to see how it plays out over several seasons.
