60 second review of the forza 2 demo

Being a PS2 ex-pat, I have been looking for something to quench my Gran Turismo thirst. I've heard a lot of good things about Forza 2 (and a lot of hype) and was hoping that it could do the trick. After playing the demo for a couple of hours, here I found that F2 may be a good GT replacment. On the good side, the game looks great, the car selection is nice, and the cars are very drivable with the 360 controller. (I haven't invested in a 360 wheel yet) I really like the how the racing line hint system is dynamic and changes (color to indicate braking) based on actual car speed. The telemetry stuff is facinating to watch during replay, although turning it on while racing might be a bit distracting. On the bad side, the AI drivers are really bad sports. They WILL run you off the track to stay on their line, they will tap your car in a turn and set your car off balance, sometimes to their own detriment, and the block position ruthlessly. The worst part about this has to do with the penalty system. If you hit someone, you get a penalty (time subtracted from your lap time) but if someone hits you, you ALSO get a penalty! WTF? Not only that but often when someone hits you, the car's balance is offset and you are likely to stick 2 wheels in the grass for a few seconds as a result. Guess what, more penalty time. Cheap. Another problem (IMHO) is the "magnetic" grass. Everytime I get near the edge of the track, it seems like the grass pulls my car towards it, and don't dare drop a wheel in the grass breifly or the magnet gets stronger, pulling your whole car into it before you know it. This made me so nervous that I was afraid to take a line that would put me near any track edge without a curb. It messed my line up so bad on the last turn that I still never really got that one right. I hope that perhaps other tracks are less sensitive to this problem or maybe a wheel will give me more precise control so it's less of an issue. Still, i think this one will go on my gamefly queue, and perhaps I'll be wheel shopping before I know it.