Forza 2 v PGR 4

[caduceus]

As I have bought neither of these games yet. Which one is worth getting?
In terms of car engine sound, online play and realism.

Thanks all

Cad

[chockymonster]

realism?

Forza 2

PGR4 is good fun but severely hampers your ability to put in a decent lap time in Forza

[baz7175]

Both of the games are really good in their own way, which means it's not a case of going by other people's thoughts on them, but moreso what you like in a car game...

A - You want a jump on and play racer where it's more like what you would find at your local amusement arcade...

or

B - A much more all-encompassing racing simulation where you can really get involved in tweaking almost every aspect of the car...

Personally I love PGR4 as you can just jump on and play to your hearts content without having to worry about the setups etc if you want to put a flying lap in - I need to be in the mood for Forza2 now, don't get me wrong when I first picked it up and played I couldn't put it down until 4 days later I hit level 50 and completed the mainstay of the game, but it doesn't draw me back to it in the same way that PGR4 does (or Gears of War does either for that matter)...

So there's my 2p of most likely useless information that can be filed under B for Bin

[mat1227]

I reckon it's a tricky one.

Having spent a long time with Forza 2, PGR 4 has reminded me how games really should be 'fun' - it's awesome on a big HDTV with the volume up, great sense of speed and playful handling: probably erring on the side of slightly too intert/two dimensional for me - car grips/car skids car goes left car goes right etc etc.

Forza has a very sophisticated physics engine, is obviously much much deeper - plus all the tuning/tweaking/mods is endless fun if you're into that kind of thing. Messing around with engine swaps is great fun. Playing career mode on hard I do tend to find the races either end up with me miles out in front for the whole race, or me falling back through the field as I don't quite have the pace - with all the tuning available, getting a close race is tricky I think. Strangely after a good few month of playing it I've found Forza to feel slighly clinical and empty, especially the longer races - PGR has thrown this into focus I think.

Personally, online I don't find either great unless you have a group of people you can play with regularly. Beyond this I find everyone just jumps straight into the hypercars and goes caning round the twistiest track, taking each other out at every opportunity - and for me this isn't what the games are about. I've always found multiplayer is at its most fun, and the game engines geared towards the medium class cars. Makes for much more enjoyable racing

Anyway rant over if you prefer modern day 'primetime entertainment' Top Gear to the old school 'Tiff Needell' format get PGR I reckon

[caduceus]

Hmmm, interesting replies. Thanks chaps
Not sure which direction to go tbh, as both sound appealing.

Ok, which one has the most realistic engine sounds? That in itself could swing it I think.

Cad

[mat1227]

I'd say overall PGR just edges it. Just

Although it's pretty cool when you add throttle bodies and an exhaust to a car in Forza and it sounds proportionately different. Do it to the F430, standing start in third up to the readline. You'll thank me

Actually as you're probably realising they're very closely matched. Buy both

Try both demos if you're on live? They're both fairly representative, except no tuning in the Forza one - just assume if you can imagine it you can probably do it

[caduceus]

How do you go about playing the demo?
Not used any other online features on the 360, apart from plating PGR3.

Cheers
Cad

[sorrento205]

you have to go onto xbox live then download each demo to your hard drive. pgr4 is exceptionally big (1.3GB?) so will take a good while to complete.

If i could only have one game it would probably be PGR4, but if you are a true car enthusiast you will want both games in your collection as both are 9/10 in my books, but both excell in different areas.

[caduceus]

Just played the demo of PGR4. Not bad at all, going by the couple of races you get to try.

Dowmloading Forza 2 at the mo, so will see whats what after.

Thanks for all the replies chaps.

C

[minimanAC]

You should definitely try both. I like pgr4 and forza 2 but both are totally different. I too like the way you just jump in a car in pgr4 and your off, but i find it slightly annoying that they put ski jumps on some tracks which makes it quite fake. Forza 2 has a greater selection of tracks and cars i feel. Plus the tracks in forza are all real as opposed to pgr where they are all made up street circuits apart from the nurburgring. There is also a huge level of customisation in forza, where you can change vitually everything from paint and vinyls to suspension and turbos. But try both i think forza just edges over pgr for me although i have found myself playing nothing but pgr over the last few weeks.

[caduceus]

Just been playing Forza for the last hour. Very impressive. More realistic than PGR as far as car control goes. Also damage is quite entertaining.

Think I'll get Forza first, then PGR.

Thanks again all.

C

[Polarbert]

PGR4 definately. Graphics are better, better music and music while you're driving. Sounds in the game are possibly 5 times better.

[Dr JonboyG]

Polarbert said:

PGR4 definately. Graphics are better, better music and music while you're driving. Sounds in the game are possibly 5 times better.

You can have music while you race in Forza - just plug an ipod or even a USB drive in, or stream it from a PC or mac.

[whygee02]

Its subjective to choose either, but for me Forza 2 wins hands down. I'm currently at racer level 29 after about 10 hours or so in career mode, and its just sensational. Change cars and its like a new game every time, mastering each cars abilities (and limitations - the hard way usually ;o).

PS and yes you can listen to any music whilst you're playing.

PPS Get the m$ official steering wheel - makes it so much more fun.

PGR is okay but too arcadey for me - I prefer realism and something to get my teeth into.

Thats just my personal opinion tho !

HTH

[satans worm]

Didnt think id like PGR but was surprised how much more fun it is than Forza.
Have always been a keen fan of Forza but in Forza 2 they have simply not supplied enough tracks. having said that, as a serious racer you wont get any better but you do need to invest ALOT of time tuning cars to be competitive online (offline no problem).
Both have a place, but I think for fun PGR wins (soo many varied tracks plus weather) but if a really involved game is your thing then its Forza

[Ballistic]

caduceus said:

As I have bought neither of these games yet. Which one is worth getting?
In terms of car engine sound, online play and realism.

Thanks all

Cad

I would say get them both, IMO they both have their own merits and are great fun to play.

For engine sounds I think they are both on a par, with very good quality samples (I don't play PGR4 with background music as I like to just hear the engine). If your X360 is hooked up to a decent surround sound system both games sound great.

Only played Forza2 online so far and it worked fine (beware, there are some very quick drivers out there)

IMO Forza2 is realistic. The different cars handle as you would expect and experimenting with tuning/settings makes big differences. If you use a wheel I like the way you can feel what the tyres are doing. Plus you get good real world race tracks.

PGR4 is a different experience but IMO just as much fun. For an arcade racer I was suprised by how much difference there is in the handling of the cars, plus there is the addition of bikes (leaning over round a corner has been done well).
Although most of the tracks are not real, I think what is on offer has been done very well and are all very challenging (great mixture of corners, ups and downs etc). Try braking hard for a corner whilst aquaplaning! Did I mention the variable weather.

To sum up I think they compliment each other very well and anyone into driving games should consider getting both.
It would be very difficult to choose if I could only have one.

[caduceus]

I played them both a bit this moring again, and I'm rather liking PGR4 now.
I'm not sure I have the time that Forza needs to really appreciate the finer elements.
I may end up getting both, but now I'm going to go for PGR4 first.

I also really need to get a surround sound system. Which means finally putting the tv on the wall where it belongs. Which meand moving the radiator or geting a cover/cabinet made, as the only wall the tv can go on has a rad on it...
Oh joy.

Thanks again for all the input guys. See you online

Cad

[micron750]

It just depends what you want from a game i love Forza its just so relistic [as games can get]Bring a motorsport Junkie its got have the realism for me that where Forza delivers compared to PGR4.

[stephen300o]

I've tried to enjoy PGR but for me it's very unsatisfying to drive, I prefur more realism so I don't have to learn a new set of physics to ones I encounter every day.

[mat1227]

I reckon time and patience is needed for Forza. Would've loved it as a student, but as you get out what you put it, PGR is much better for a 30 min thrash now and then.

I'm not sure you want to play them both concurrently. It's true, as some have said if you go from one to the other the handling will throw you! After trying the PGR time trial comp on here for a couple of hours, I tried to have a quick game of Forza and just power-understeered off the first corner in a spectacular cloud of smoke