When the PS2 was the end-all-be-all, I played Gran Turismo to death. I started late in the series with GT3 and loved it. I got 100% and it remains the definitive game that I completed. Then GT4 came out but I didn’t feel the same motivation to get 100% on it. I bought a wheel and had fun with it but it was pretty much the same game with a smoother interface and newer cars.

Who cares? Well it’s kind of a bit of insight into what was going on in the gaming world around this time. The PS3 was in development and Polyphony Digital (the devs of Gran Turismo) were famous for polishing their titles to obsessive levels. It was going to be a huge drought in the definitive racing series. Around this time too was the launch of the 360. Forza 2 was getting good reviews and I picked it up thinking it was going to be a cute diversion like Need for Speed or something like that.

Forza 2 turned out to be a hardcore racing game on par with Gran Turismo’s simulation take on racing games. It has a bit more edge than the weird mature smooth jazz GT style from japan but the gameplay is realistically pleasing to a GT player. I started Forza 2 when it was released (May 2007) and I’ve been racing a few circuits whenever I’ve had time or gotten an itch. So at 2.5 years, it took a long time to finish.

The ending was very weak and excepting the achievement, nothing really happened. I just finished all the races and put it away. Meh. But good game.

When GT5 comes out, I’m going all out with a G27 wheel and racing stand.