Forza Motorsport 2

Developer: Turn 10 Studios
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Release Date: May 29, 2007
System: Xbox 360
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Drive around in shiny cars.

0:01 The car porn intro practically blinds me with immaculately waxed chassis.
0:03 I have no idea what all this car stuff means. TCS on? STM stability? I just picked the yellow one. I'm sure car nuts will eat it up though.
0:05 I promptly dart ahead of the competition and crash into the first possible wall. I guess this is one of those racing games where you occasionally let go of the accelerator, huh?
0:07 Lap one is over and I haven't managed to stay on the track for a single turn. It's not looking good.
0:08 At least I can evaluate the car damage system well. My front bumper looks like a Dali painting.
0:10 Race 1 is over. I'm a good 45 seconds back behind the 7th place car. But the experience I gained? Priceless.
0:13 I just now notice the penalty gauge that shows up whenever you go off road. Isn't the impossible handling and slow acceleration on the grass punishment enough?
0:14 You get penalized for bumping cars too? In Gran Turismo it's practically a requirement.
0:16 Another 8th place finish, but this time only 25 seconds back. I'm learning!
0:17 Let's try the Porsche 911 Turbo this time, A.K.A. the white one.
0:22 Taking a one second penalty to ram some loser off the road at 120 mph is totally worth it.
0:23 I finish ahead of a car (Yay!) but with accrued penalties my best lap is by far the worst. (Boo!)
0:24 This time I'm determined to take it slow and deliberate and avoid spinning out on the grass. This determination lasts exactly three turns, as I get a five second off road penalty on the 4th.
0:30 A respectable fifth place, but the penalty time doesn't seem to matter in the final placement. Odd.
0:31 Up to the R2 class. Now these look like race cars, complete with overcompensating spoilers, etc. I pick the most ostentatious, a 1998 Porsche #26 Porsche AG 911 GTI-98. Shouldn't the name of the car be shorter than the name of the game?
0:33 This car looks like something from a bad sci-fi movie, beady eye headlights and all.
0:34 Some joker bumps me from behind and I'm the one who gets a penalty? Lame!
0:36 I just now noticed that the on-track racing lines adjust to my speed. Nice touch, and one that would have helped to notice four races ago!
0:43 Second best single lap time, and I finish 8th. Where's the justice?
0:46 Most exciting moment so far comes on the first turn of lap three. I try to make a pass on three cars on the inside but a light tap sends me spinning off into the dirt. Annoying, but thrilling!
0:48 Down to the C class. These look like car I could own. BO-RING!
0:52 These slower speeds are easier, but less exciting. My mind wanders as I loll about in first place for the entire race.
0:54 For my last race, I choose the ridiculously rare and ridiculously named 2005 Ferrari #11 Larbre Competition 550 Maranello GTS.
0:59 After an early spin out I spend five minutes ramming head on into walls and others cars, etc. It's not quite Burnout, but the extremely realistic crunching sounds are still fun, as are the flying bumpers, spoilers, side mirrors, etc.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes
Why? As a Gran Turismo graduate, I appreciate a challenging, realistic driving sim that doesn't encourage you to play bumper cars to win.

This review is based on a demo of the game downloaded off of Xbox Live