[pboreham]

Hi all,

I am (hopefully) returning to the 360 tomorrow after selling it 6 months or so ago to get a PS3 - which I am still keeping...

Anyway, I kinda lost touch with 360 games and would really appreciate a balanced view on which to get of these 2?

I really liked PGR3 when I had it, though the customisation of Forza 2 is appealing...

Could some kind souls please give me some info on both and also which to get over the other?

Thanks - if/when I get the 360, I will leave my gamertag if anyone wants to whup me at either game!!

[nick501]

On balance, if you enjoyed PGR3 i'd go for PGR4.

The career isnt as boring and although you cant customise your cars you really have invest a lot of time in forza 2 to get a car competitive with the top racers.

Both great games, Quite different though so there's room for both eventually.

[daveleeuk]

Personally id say Forza, i havnt played pgr4. But i found all the other pgr's about as fun as watching a snail do the 100m sprint

[pboreham]

Cheers for replies so far!

Like you say, think there is room for both - but wont do that right off the bat.

I think the customisation of Forza might nudge it - I was always crap at PGR3 - online especially (though I seemed to be a good mouse!), so at least the customising will give me something else to do!

[Spinke]

Arcade vs Simulation - I enjoy both but they're different styles of racing.

The career mode in Forza 2 is a grind, very boring and rarely enjoyable. Online is great if you find some decent competition BUT it seems very hard to get a group of AVFers in a race nowadays. I play it very rarely now due to the difficulty in getting a good enjoyable online race .

PGR4 has a career mode which so far I am enjoying, and the online side is reasonably active. However it's already a struggle to get a full AVF online game and the online modes are somewhat lacking in comparison to PGR3. There are bikes in this though which make a nice change in online mode.

If purchasing now I'd get PGR4, and leave the 'sim' style race until GT5 Prologue appears in a couple of months.

[pboreham]

Originally Posted by Spinke

Arcade vs Simulation - I enjoy both but they're different styles of racing.

The career mode in Forza 2 is a grind, very boring and rarely enjoyable. Online is great if you find some decent competition BUT it seems very hard to get a group of AVFers in a race nowadays. I play it very rarely now due to the difficulty in getting a good enjoyable online race .

PGR4 has a career mode which so far I am enjoying, and the online side is reasonably active. However it's already a struggle to get a full AVF online game and the online modes are somewhat lacking in comparison to PGR3. There are bikes in this though which make a nice change in online mode.

If purchasing now I'd get PGR4, and leave the 'sim' style race until GT5 Prologue appears in a couple of months.

Cheers spinke - in what way is FM2 boring? I read in Edge that the career mode was quite good (though much like GT4)...

[nick501]

get forza2 work your way up to the professional championship, then come back and you'll know what we mean when we say it's boring

It's not boring right away, it just lacks variety.

[Kahled]

Forza 2 <----> GT <-----> PGR4

Simulation <----------> Arcade/fun

If you want the more serious racing then Forza is the way to go I believe and I also think that the single player side of Forza 2 is excellent whilst it lasts.

PGR is too much like GT in respect to wild collisions, corner->bounce->exit moves and so does not float my boat so much for single player (the different types of challenge range from tedius to fun) but is a whole lot more chaotic/fun in multiplayer.

If you are a serious racer and expect people to try and take a race seriously (no bumping/rubbing etc) then Forza will find you in more like minded company than PGR so.... all in all both tick all the boxes.

[Spinke]

Originally Posted by pboreham

Cheers spinke - in what way is FM2 boring? I read in Edge that the career mode was quite good (though much like GT4)...

As Nick said, it's exactly the same all the way through and gets very monotonous . I'm not sure what it is but Gran Turismo career seems to have a fair bit more variety and I really enjoyed playing through it in the past, Forza 2 just ground me down (at quite an early stage) and while I do the odd race I just can't keep at it.

[fantazia92]

Get Forza 2 if you like a racing 'simulation' - you can tinker with every component of the car and has proper 'real life' circuits (although PGR4 has Nurburgring). The depth of the game is huge but I found it lacked pick up and play fun as such and to me got monotonous quickly.

PGR4 is all about pick up and play fun, straight from the box. I am very much enjoying the career mode and the game just has a bit more buzz about it than Forza. It is so much more fun.

I would personally pick PGR4 over Forza if I had to. They are both great games in their own rights, it's just what sort of racer you prefer really.

[dan1979]

Forza

I can appreciate the criticisms and see why people could think it's boring but I personally love it. I like the progression of getting perfect laps, winnings cars, etc. I don't bother online as everyone seems to know the best cars in each class and they're well tuned so I get left behind on the first straight.

If you played it every day for hours on end it could probably get repetitive but I only get to play it once every couple of days and I'm looking forward to working through the whole game which will probably take another couple of months (on level 32 currently).

Nothing wrong with PGR type games but I've tried them before and much prefer sims.

[nick501]

Slightly OT, but dont forget people who were desperate for forza 2 gave the demo a serious hammering which, imho, shortend the life span of the full game.

And then there's charging for extra tracks when they should have been included all along.......

[wormvortex]

PGR4 by far, Forza is about as fun as newsnight

[pboreham]

Originally Posted by wormvortex1337

PGR4 by far, Forza is about as fun as newsnight

Very interesting guys thanks! Hasnt really helped as I like the arguments from both sides!!!

I love sims, but also dont get a lot of time for games, so need pick-up-and-play .... ARRRRGHHH!!

[dan1979]

Well they both have demos so that would be a good place to start.

Obviously everyone has different opinions, if you look at the Forza website it's still heaving months after the game release and there's always races online/cars in the auction house so there's obviously a lot of people who didn't find it boring.

[pandy92]

Probably get slated for this but if your after a good racing game get Need For Speed Most Wanted - think its available for about a tenna these days.

Imo its the most fun racer on the 360 to date - even though its unrealistic.

I found Forza 2 the most boring game i have ever played, not played PGR4 but if its anything like PGR3 i dont think i would be keen on it.

[moocifer]

The 'deciding factor' IMO is how much control do you want over the car you are driving/racing. PGR4 may be absolutely gorgeous but the feeling you get behind the wheel/gamepad in Forza2 can't be beaten.

Having been an avid PGR series fan in the past there's no way I can go back now - so much so that I am willing to wait until Forza3 with added weather etc ..

[jim_is_ere]

Originally Posted by pboreham

I love sims, but also dont get a lot of time for games, so need pick-up-and-play .... ARRRRGHHH!!

You have the answer in that sentence above - if it's a pick up and play game your after then it has to be PG4

In my opinion it has lots of character and is a lot more fun to play

cheers

Jim

[funkyspider]

Originally Posted by pboreham

I love sims, but also dont get a lot of time for games, so need pick-up-and-play .... ARRRRGHHH!!

Definately PGR4 for pick up and play. Forza2 is not really that kind of game until you have worked your way through enough career and tuned some cars so you are happy with them.

I find with PGR4 I can just leap in any car or bike, drive like a loony through arcade style bright environments sliding round corners and be done with it in half hour.

Forza 2 is like reading lord of the rings, PGR4 is erm... maxim mag in comparison.

(Although I prefer Forza2, time permitting. PGR4 sort of annoys me with its sound effects and busy screen updates whilst racing in career mode).

[pboreham]

Well, at least it good to have 2 top racing games to welcome me back!

[dan1979]

Originally Posted by moocifer

Having been an avid PGR series fan in the past there's no way I can go back now - so much so that I am willing to wait until Forza3 with added weather etc ..

I played the PGR demos after Forza and was very underwhelmed, I also had MSR and never got into it.

That said I've got PGR3 coming from ebay with something else so worked out as costing almost nothing, I'll give it a fair chance but not likely to be until I've completed Forza.

[nick501]

PGR handling is horrible after coming from a forza session. you need to give the arcade handling a few hours to get the Forza out of your system.

I seem to be able to put in faster lap times on forza. I'm very average on pgr4.

Anyone else found there quicker on one or the other?

[Slyboy]

If playing online is your bag then I prefer PGR4 over Forza, although it can be a bit frustrating with all the slanging matches that are inevitable when people deliberately run you off the road!

Mind you thats a problem with all on line racing games...

I wish it had a mute option like Halo 3.

[pboreham]

Got my 360 today

its good to be back

Downloaded the demos of both these and had a couple of quick goes.

Forza 2 was very impressed with (using supercars), handling was fun, though it felt a bit atmosphere-less (if thats a word!).

Then tried PGR4 and loved it! Yea, its a bit more arcadey, but it really sucks you in, the car noise, the crowd, the music, the handbraking round corners, the Kudos...

So upshot is - I want both!

[DarkEntity]

Simple question,

Do you like "Racing Games" or "Arcade Driving Games"

If its Racing Games then Forza2, if its Arcade Driving Games then its PGR