Forza Motorsport 3

It’s unbelievable how good some of the user-created car designs look. Just about every current fad, pop icon, comic book hero, and shameless self-boasting has been recreated as a custom design. You can actually spend a big chunk of time going through the gallery and maybe even buy a few of those designs for yourself if you can afford it.

Moreover the great photography tool from Forza 2 has also made its reappearance here. Once you discover the tool in the pause menu, you’d find yourself pausing the game frequently when racing through picturesque settings so you can take a picture and post it online. I even found myself letting other cars go ahead in quick race mode, just so I can get a good shot of my car against a good looking backdrop.

Visually, Forza 3 is quite an improvement over its predecessors. Gone are the barren landscapes and the plain grassy environments. Instead you get some excellently detailed scenarios filled with environmental props to keep you going ahead just to discover what comes next. There are some real world race tracks and roads you can race on as well, complete with all the elements that would keep the look authentic. The best part about this is that the draw distance never fails you. You’ll never see any pop-ups in between the races and just about everything around the race track would be sharp and detailed.

The audio seems to be inspired by a lot of racing games released before it, but that’s not really an issue, since the track selection is peppy and works well with racing in general.

However, I should mention that the load times in the game are really high. You'd find yourself waiting through 2 different load screens before the start of any race and these screens can take between a total of 15-20 seconds. The load screens are a bit informative with some interesting trivia, but that's just a distraction during those wait times.

There’s no doubt about it. If you want a game that you’ll be playing (or socializing with) for the next few months, then this is it. The sheer amount of content in terms of cars, tracks, customizations, decal-creating and even retrying older races with some assists off will keep you busy for a very long time. Car enthusiasts will love the fact that the game has practically every manufacturer that matters with cars ranging from small hatchbacks, to SUVs, to high-end sport cars and even authentic racecars.

The best part is – Turn 10 has ensured you’ll enjoy the experience whether you’re a hardcore enthusiast or new to racing games altogether. If you own an Xbox 360, Forza Motorsport 3 is definitely worth a spin!