Genre: Racing
Developer: Turn 10 Studios
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

The visuals in Forza 2 are outstanding; the engine does a great job of providing a sensation of speed, the texture resolution is exceptional, and the car models continually impress during play. The lighting model isn't the most sophisticated, otherwise this game would be near photo-realistic. I drive a Scion tC in real life, and looking through the back window of the car in the game made me realize that they even modeled the insides of the cars, as there was my steering wheel, seats, ventilation controls etc.

As far back as The Need for Speed on the 3DO in 1994, games have recorded actual engine sounds. But it wasn't until this game that I have heard these sounds modelled so perfectly, at every RPM level, and under all sorts of levels of load. The first time I raced an NSX in this game I noticed that, pleasingly, it sounded just like the NSX in the original NFS, except much clearer and crisper. The in-menu soundtrack is of the same style of music they play in "American Eagle" retail clothing outlets, but it works better than the elevator techno other games in the genre use.

Turn on the debugging information in the game (provided to the player to assist in car tuning) and you can witness the incredible engine's innards calculating absolutely everything related to car and terrain. Forza 2 may be the end-all of racing sim physics engines, and even when paired the 360's analog stick and triggers, unparalleled control and realism is the outcome. But what stands out to me is how fun all of the tracks are-- the engine's technical prowess would be nothing if the game wasn't enjoyable, but it provides fun in spades.

This title is the World of Warcraft of racing sims, taking the Gran Turismo formula and bringing it to new levels of refinement. The racing guides that tell you how to take corners during gameplay and the way both arcade and career modes shuffle you from car to car, event to event, track style to track style keeps the addictive level high. Even game tuning and balance is perfect, exemplified by the fact that you can make the game as easy or hard as you want-- you just make less or more money per race depending on difficulty. This is the most fun and difficult to put down racing game since the 3DO's NFS in 1994, and, relative to genre, it is one of the 360's very best games.