Driving Games for Xbox 360

[alphant]

Hi all,

Had an Xbox 360 for my birthday last week and although Gears Of War 2 is keeping me well occupied at the moment I want to get a good driving game. I got Burnout Paradise Island with the console and it is ok but I want something more realistic. I have heared Forza 2 is good but is quite old now.

Any recomendations are appreciated.

Forza 2 is fantastic, I got it free with my console ages ago and still play it now. Extremely realistic driving game. The only thing that lets it down is a lack of in-car view with the windshield, wheel etc etc.

Other than that, brilliant,

Failing that pick up Test Drive Unlimited. Loads of great cars even if it's not that realistic, still a fun game.

Forza and test drive are both really good. The odd thing is, one of the first cars I started driving in test drive unlimited was a GT V6 and then a few months later I bought one.

[Jamz3k]

Forza2 rocks. Bought it the day it was realised and still play it at least once a week now!

[ParanoidPenguin]

Yep - I've just got a 360 recently and Forza2 is great... seriously addictive too. I tried PGR4 but it didn't appeal to me like Forza. You can usually download demos of stuff from xbox live if you want to try before you buy.

[alphant]

Thanks all, I am off on my lunch to track down a copy of Forza 2.

Cheers.

[sirwiggum]

Forza 2 great. Like the Xbox GT equivalent. Find the bonnet view not too bad Have a 700bhp Volvo, a Saab with a RWD conversion and a tasty Delta

Flatout is fun in a destruction derby kind of way.

The Project Gotham games are quite good but focus on high end sports cars. Have 3 and 4 on 360 / 2 for Xbox1, 1 I have in the Dreamcast incarnation MSR.

Nascar 2009 - I used to love the old Papyrus Nascar games on the PC in the late 90s, but this I found too fiddly, forever having to correct the steering. I know that they have pronounced wheel stagger to allow for turning left on ovals, but it gets a bit annoying. Perhaps would work better with a wheel.

Dirt is good, part of the codemasters Colin McRae rally series.
I have Sega Rally which is slightly less arcadey than the Dreamcast version, but still fun for an hour or two.
If you liked the Toca codemasters series, Race Driver Grid was ok on the demo.

Burnout Paradise you need the reactions of a fighter pilot to have any chance of success with!
Enjoyed Burnout 3, which can be downloaded from arcade. The crash mode with the x4s and explosion tokens were a great 'puzzle' to try and get consistent gold

GTA4 isn't really a driving game, but in HD looks stunning, like a pseudo-realistic New York. Saints Row is similar, but has no in-car view, and the camera takes an absolute age to follow you round corners

As an aside, I was having some old school fun on the dreamcast and found this amongst my collection, chuffed to see the GTV on the cover

http://www.jonscanlon.com/ebay/vanishing.jpg

As Wiggum said, GTA4 is not really a driving game, but it looks incredible in HD and you do find alot of your time spent behind the wheels of cars such as Dodge Chargers, Chevy Camaro's, Porsche 911's, Aston Martin's and Ferrari's. Oh! And the Infernus in that game is a complete rip off of the Zonda I say. Gorgeous game though, and really fun on XBox Live!

[howell811]

I enjoy the 'need for speed games' not fussed on PGR4 !

[Seasider]

only just noticed this so might be a little late

I'll comment on the games I have (well sort of)

PGR4 - good game but VERY arcade-y and also very old

Forza 2 - 360 version of Sony's GT series, well the closest thing to it ... good selection of cars & tracks with the addition of lots of mods including car graphics (some of the cars people have 'painted' are amazing)

Test Drive Unlimited - O'ahu free roaming driving game with the addition of races/events too ... good selection of cars (when you get the DLCs - downloadable content) ... a couple of years old now but I still play it just to go for a drive every now and then

Race Pro - Race simulator with poor graphics but amazing level of detail in terms of physics and set-up ... got bored of it

Midnight Club LA - played it for an hour, car handling is Dire ... was hope if would handle in a similar was to GTA4 as I thought it was the same enginer ... but it's terrible ... never going to touch it again

Burnout Paradise - not a bad addition to the Buronout family ... racing really fast in traffic and crashes are the name of the game ... good for a giggle, or to make your eyes dry up as if you blink you'll crash ... played it a lot ... DLC is making it get more and more expensive but then EA are known for that !

So if you want a track racer get Forza 2 ... and TDU would be worth a look from the pre-owned section too

Oh and there's a game called 'Fuel' that should be out soon which is like TDU but appocolyptic America ... sort of a bit like Mad Max 2 ... looks good but no one knows about the game play yet

[alphant]

Thanks all for the replies, I have come from a Playstation and basically want something as close to GT as poss. I finally let in to the fact I can not justify (nor realisticaly afford) over £300 for a console when the 'box is less than half that price.
I do not have the luxury of a HD tv but in all fairness coming from a PS2 the graphics are great. Gears of War 2 is simply stunning. My dad has a HD tv with a PS3 and when comparing the two on his tv there is not much in it really. If anything Gears is better than anything he has ( Enchanted, Resistance 2, Oblivion and a few others.) Still as a piece of equipment and not just a console the PS3 is a simply incredible piece of kit. He has a terabite hard disk linked to it and providing he is in a WiFi zone with his PSP he can view any thing from the PS3 like Pictures, music etc where ever he may be.

Anyway I am sure all of you with PS3's are well aware of how good it is.

Thanks all.

[Ant]

You should try to see GoW 2 in a 1080p HDTV.

You don't know what you're missing.

Oh, and your best bet for a car simulation on the 360 is Forza 2. It's a REALLY good game, and painfully realistic sometimes.

[sirwiggum]

I don't have an HD TV either, but what I do is plug it into my relatively big flat screen monitor with a VGA adaptor which gives me close to HD.

You need HD! There's no going back.

Bioshock in HD is just stunning! I keep playing it just to see round the city, can't wait for Bioshock 2.

[Seasider]

well i run my 360 at 720 (I was an early adopter for HD tv) through the Component and it is mighty fine and I think still stands up pretty well to a PS3 ... I was a Sony boy having bought both PS and PS2 on launch days ... the only reason why I didn't buy a PS3 was it wasn't ready when my PS2 died and I'd seen pics of some game called TDU on the 360

if you want a decent RPG get Fallout 3 ... you have to remember Oblivion is ancient

if you want a 1st person shooter that is different (and only single player) get Bioshock ... it's amazing and incredibly beautiful and well thought out ... best played in a dark room with the stereo as loud as the neighbours will allow

and as you're after a GT clone get Forza 2 ... you won't be dissappointed ... but it from the second hand bin tho

Oh and Forza 3 has just been announced at E3 (entertainment expo in the states) for release in October

[sirwiggum]

I second Fallout 3. But be warned, your friends and relatives will not see you for a few weeks! Very time consuming, but rewarding games.

Though my daft dog got killed by a mutant scorpion! ack!

[alphant]

So I got Forza2 on Monday and I have hardly put it down since. Once you get past the dated graphics it is a great driving sim. It is probably on par with GT3 graphics wise and it is probably not as good as GT4 overall even on the PS2 but when you start playing this simply does not matter. I really like the fact that you can turn off the ABS and TCS to gain larger winnings. Its quite a challenge with a 400 BHP Integra . Shame there is no Alfa's though. I can see myself still playning this in a yeras time and more just like I did with GT4 it is so much more involving than Burnout, Need For Speed etc.

And I completely get that I am missing out with not having a HD especially with GOW2 but I can not find one for free (or close to). I do have a very good (at it time about 8years ago) Sony TV, (38" I think) but a nice HD tv is on the wish list. Saving for a GTA or GTV spider so stuff like this is probably not ging to happen so I will just make do with what I have.

Thanks all for the imput.

Anthony.

[Seasider]

well good news ... as i hinted earlier ... Microsoft announced at E3 that Forza 3 is on it's way and will arrive in October ... best news is in the promo trailer which is centred around an R8 there is a Red 8C involved in the race ... yeap Alfas (well at least 1 ... I hope for more) have come to Forza !

[HSTDriver]

You can pick colin McRae: Dirt up pre-owned for next to nothing now, which is a great game.
And NASCAR 09 is very good, if you can tweak the options just right, but it's a bit of a nightmare trying to get it set up.

Forza 2 was good, but gets very samey after a while (Just the same as the GT series on playstation)

[Ant]

DiRT is a REALLY great game. It kept me entertained for a LONG time.

[sirwiggum]

Originally Posted by HSTDriver

And NASCAR 09 is very good, if you can tweak the options just right, but it's a bit of a nightmare trying to get it set up.

As I mentioned earlier, I tried Nascar 09, but the handling was way too twitchy, and I either lost speed or ended up losing the back end of the car, so I cracked up and it's been gathering dust since.

Do you have any tips then?

What should I be setting up? If I recall there are a few controller settings, what works well? I'll have a look at it when I get home.

[1.8 Twin Spank]

Forza 2's top of my list, followed by PGR4, Test Drive Unlimited and then GRID.
Can't wait for Forza 3. Two discs and 400 cars? Good times!

[Ant]

Two discs for Forza 3?? Are you sure??

[Pte1643]

Been to Tesco this morning.

They're doing Forza 2 for the princely sum of 12 of your English Pounds.

No brainer for that money.

[HSTDriver]

Originally Posted by sirwiggum

As I mentioned earlier, I tried Nascar 09, but the handling was way too twitchy, and I either lost speed or ended up losing the back end of the car, so I cracked up and it's been gathering dust since.

Do you have any tips then?

What should I be setting up? If I recall there are a few controller settings, what works well? I'll have a look at it when I get home.

Off the top of my head I have my controller set up as standard. I started with the opposition set to easy and all the driving aids on. You'll most likely storm off into the distance and win embarrasingly easily. But then gradually one by one take away the assists and increase the competitor diffculty until you're getting a good challenge.

I also tend to play with black flags off (although yellows on) because for some stoooopid reason you can get black flagged if competitors hit you too much, when you've done nothing wrong.

I agree it is a bloody frustrating game the way its set up out of the box, no game should need so much time invested in it just to make it playable.

[langers]

Forza 2 RULES!!