Forza Motorsport III vs. Gran Turismo 5
Its funny because the other day I was checking out which would be the best games for my holiday lineup. I’ve always been a fan of racing games (namely NFS even though I have been disappointed with them recently), so it was only natural that I came across Forza Motorsport III and Gran Turismo 5. I’ve always been a fan of GT ever since the third installment of the game, but seeing it’s a PS exclusive; I knew it would be out of the question for Xbox fans like me. That said, I checked on alternatives and after writing NFS: Shift off (leaving that for my PC) I wondered what it would be like to pit both games together (kind of like Resistance vs Gears of War).
Graphics
Graphics on both games is stellar. Gran Turismo has really upped the graphics in the fifth installment of the game and more importantly the rendering etc. cannot be compared. Looking at actually game play on a 1080p screen and its clear to see why people go wild over the graphics. I remember playing a game on the GT4 site a few years back where you had to find out which picture was from the game and which one was from real life. I got half of them wrong so I’m sure I probably wouldn’t fare any better in a GT5 matchup.
While Forza Motorsport III has really upped the graphics on their game it still comes a little lacking. Don’t get me wrong, there is hardly any difference to the untrained eye, but if you have an eye for detail you can spot the difference. Unlike GT5 which has native 1080p resolution, FM III upscales to 1080p from 720p.
WINNER: Gran Turismo 5
Features
One of the major new features of GT5 is the addition of NASCAR and WRC (World Rally Championship). Also the game will be the first to include visual damage. The total number of track locations will be 20 bringing the total number of variations to 70. Basically GT5 is expanding from the roads of Italy and the streets of Great Britain to the open fields of France and raceways of Daytona and Indianapolis.
Forza adds a bunch of new features also including bringing the total track number to over 100. Total car inventory has been bumped up to 400 from 50 different manufacturers. But one of the most importantly the polygons used for each car has been increased 10 times which basically translates into 10 time’s better detail than the previous game. If that wasn’t enough over 200 events are now including circuit, drag, drift, timed and oval.
Unfortunately WRC and NASCAR are not included so that kind of subtracts from the overall experience, but Forza makes that up with their higher attention to detail.
WINNER: TIED
Physics and Handling
Both games have done great work in the improvements of the physics and handling of the vehicles. Gran Turismo has finally added visual damage details the game and the handling of the vehicles is more distinct and diverse. However it still feels lacking in the area of damage detail as well as the handling. A great example of this is cornering the Morocco course in a 911 GT3 or crashing into a wall at 60mph. There is still some want here.
Forza on the other hand has been perfecting this ever since the second installment of the game and the refinements of the third installment can be seen. While the handing physics etc. are not a big difference compared to GT5 it is and since we’re dealing with Simulators here and not just racing games such as Burnout or NFS it matters. More importantly, regarding the new physics engine, cars will be able to roll so watch how you take those corners and hit those barriers because you might not be landing on all fours when done.
WINNER: Forza Motorsport III
CONCLUSION:
So which game should you get? Well the answer is quite obvious depending on the platform you have. If you have a PS3 hands down GT5, if it’s XBOX 360 that’s running your game show then Forza III. If you have both systems then you probably have money for both games. Although I’m an Xbox 360 fan I have to give the prize to Gran Turismo 5. But both games have their advantages and disadvantages and both excel at different areas, but with Gran Turismo being in its fifth generation, it has clearly had more time to mature, however I wish they would actually write-off if I slam it into the walls of Daytona 500.
