PGR3 has been the king of racing games up until now on the Xbox 360 and not without good reason, however this is could all be about to change as Forza Motorsport 2 is now revving it’s engine on a console near you and believe us once this game is in your disc tray it is hard to bring yourself to take it out again.

Make no mistakes about it, if ever there was a game which squeals driving sim it is this one, to really get the most out of the game it helps if you know what you are doing and in this respect novice drivers are helped along nicely thanks to the games stack of driving aids.

But how accessible is Forza 2 for beginners? well lets just say all the different options take a while to get used to, but we wouldn’t have it any other way, after all, while being able to pick up, play a game and be an expert straight away has it’s advantages, it is always more rewarding to get there by learning as you go and this is the beauty of the game, sure you will start out with some shabby car that struggles to keep up with the others, but as you learn the tracks and get better, the credits will come rolling in, therefore enabling you to win new cars and upgrade current ones.

The sheer scope of the game is incredible, the career mode in single player offers enough to keep you playing until Forza 3 is released with at least twelve different environments and forty five tracks, another great thing about this mode is the variety,  each race has it’s own requirements for you to enter, such as level and car type limits and once you have worked your way through the literally hundreds of events you can even take your career online and continue to improve there. 

One of the most fun aspects is being able to design your own car, you can choose any colours you like and you can even add your own designs using the many templates provided, there is even letters should you wish to promote your website (we know it’s a bit basic lol, see below), the possibilities really are endless when it comes to customisation. Another nice additions is when you have a design that you think is a masterpiece you can sell it in the games auction house, where people online from all over the world can have bidding wars for the best cars. 

So what of the actually gameplay? well in one short word, amazing, although it helps to know a bit about cars, once you get your hands on the control and start to drive you will be hooked, every tracks turns, bumps and road surface offer a challenge, but it’s one that you will overcome as you improve, well eventually. The AI of your computer opponents is also pretty impressive, unlike in most games where they have an unrealistic feel, here they will push you all the way. 

One of the most rewarding parts of Forza 2 is unlocking the cars, every time you win a tournament a new one will enter your life, so if you like your cars then you are in for a treat, there are at least 300 of them here, all waiting to be unlocked by you and they all look and sound fantastic from the VW Golf to the high end Ferrari’s.

The only disappointing aspect of the game is the damage, unfortunately without turning the difficulty up to realistic you just can’t total a car, most of the damage caused, even in a full on smash is superficial, meaning even the worst drivers won’t wreck every car they drive.

Once you have got all you can out of the single player mode, you still have the multiplayer mode to keep you entertained, up to eight players are supported in any one race and you can even organise tournaments to play with your friends, it really is a lag free race fest which is not to be missed. Turn 10 have also taken a leaf out of the PGR3 handbook to provide us with Forza TV, meaning that if you don’t know what it is like to finish first, you can watch the experts do it and if that is not enough as mentioned earlier you can even play your career online.

Forza Motorsport 2 is a game which deserves a next generation console, it really offers incredible depth, amazing gameplay and fantastic looks, there is no doubt that once you pick this up you will not put it down and that is a testament to the hard work the developers have put into this game. If you purchase this game then cancel all your appointments because your going to be busy for quite a while.