Forza Motorsport

 Review

Common Sense Media says

A superior racing simulator for the Xbox.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that the game may be too complex for younger players. It also has a thick materialistic atmosphere: Not only are players inundated with car-related advertising, but they are encouraged to shop for upgrades.Also, one introductory video briefly features a scantily clad woman suggestively caressing a car.

  • Careful, clean racing is the surest path to victory, but players can benefit from causing rivals to crash.
  • There are car crashes, but they are mild by racing game standards (cars do not explode)..
  • One cut-scene shows a woman in revealing clothes pawing a car.

What's it about?

FORZA MOTORSPORT, a racing simulator from Microsoft, has the requisite single-event, multiplayer, time-trial, and practice modes, but the meat is in the career mode with its wealth of cars and upgrades, and scores of races across the globe. Racers can take advantage of abundant Xbox Live features: Players can race against seven cars online and buy and sell customized vehicles with other Forza fanatics.

Reckless driving will certainly result in crashes (although never so violent as to flip the car). One spin-out can move you from first to last, and damage can affect handling for the rest of the race. Fortunately the game provides helpful options, the most innovative being a suggested line on the track that shows cornering routes and changes colors to guide braking and acceleration. Advancing through race modes unlocks cars, and cash awards can be used to purchase a range of upgrades from the critical (better engines) to the frivolous (rims and tinted windows).


Is it any good?

 

In terms of presentation, Forza is good but somewhat below the Xbox's capabilities. Cars sound impressive but look plain, and some lighting effects are choppy. The environments and backgrounds likewise get the job done, though they do present a ton of racing-related (Toyo tires, Bosch spark plugs) and some non-racing-related (Levi's, Toys R Us) advertising in the form of billboards and stores. The game music is generic rock; although it is passable, players may want to use the Xbox's ability to rip CDs to compile their own speedster soundtracks.

Overall, any racing fan or gamer curious about racing will probably find themselves sucked into Forza Motorsport's nearly bottomless racing depths. Combined with spot-on but sometimes unforgiving physics, these depths will reward patient and committed racers, but may leave younger players or arcade fans frustrated.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about materialism. Why do some people spend so much energy and money on cars? Parents may also wish to point out the ads in the game. Ask your kids: Do you notice ads in games more or less than commercials on TV? Why would a company decide to advertise in a video game instead?


This review was written by Chris Jozefowicz
Teen, 15 years old
April 9, 2008
 

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 14 years old
April 9, 2008
 
Forza Motorsport is a good game for kids 10 and older. I don't know why review had to be so mean about it. It's a good game. You can have a ton of fun. Just don't run people over and you might want to be careful of the curves because you get stuck on them with the new modified cars. Don't get the little tiny Cadilac. You need to know where the nos is and in the tiny Caddilac car, I used to tear it (the car) up in the game.

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Adult
May 28, 2010
 
well this game is showing the racing but they just want to crash into the wall ..... but they enjoy it... I told them not to do it when they reach to a ceratin age

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Kid, 9 years old
January 17, 2011
 
this has a lot of cars to choose from and theres slasses of cars

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This review was written by Chris Jozefowicz
Topics:sports and martial arts
Platforms:Xbox
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Action/Adventure
Developer:Microsoft
Release date:May 3, 2005
Price:$49.99
ESRB rating:E

This review was written by Chris Jozefowicz

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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