Forz of one

I'm LOVING Forza 2. Its the best driving game I've come across in years. I have even bought a steerring wheel. I look like a right prat mind, sitting on the sofa with a a great plastic dashboard on my lap and a steering wheel in my hands, sweating and grinning like some kind of dangerous sexual criminal.

Its the steering wheel that makes it all work so well though. Its taken me about  two weeks to get the subtleties of control down, but damn if it doesn't feel the closest thing to actually driving a car other than actually driving a car.

I haven't got very far in the single player, but thats all I'm playing at the moment. I have no wish to have the beautiful illusion of my "expertise" shattered online by some young gun who lives inside their 360. Hey, I even came second with all the driving aids off and with the AI set to Hard. I'm nails me.  Speedy Gonzales.

The main reason I haven't got very far is that I'm enjoying actually DRIVING the cars. I've only bought one car with credits so far - the Honda Civic Type R, of course - but I've won quite a few. No Ferraris as yet, but the variety in my garage is more than enough to play around with for the moment, and the endless variables with upgrades and tuning is awesome even with just 12 cars in your garage.

My favourite car so far has been the Peugout hot hatch - I've primped and tweaked this baby until it can go round any corner as if it were a dragstrip. The front wheel drive cars are the easiest and the most satisfying for me at the moment because they feel like MY car - I can feel when the understeer begins and just enjoy that judder and squeal as I keep it on the edge round another bend. Blinkin fantastic. Rear wheel drives are trickier. I'm not used to them yet, but the feedback from the wheel should allow me to get a handle on that.

The other reason why I've not been able to get far in Forza is the massive extension work going on in the house at the moment, plus the need to actually keep working for a living.
I've been busy updating the site, and have finally got my backside into gear to produce a teeshirt.

Bought Flat Out Ulitmate Carnage the other day too. Little bit disappointed, must say. Looks splendid though and good fun with a beer, but not a keeper methinks.
I like the way that when you drive your car off the track and crash into a tree (which happens often to me) the grass underneath the chassi simply pops through, as if the chassis has simply disappeared. Oversight on the designers' part? Or just pure laziness......hmmm, lets see.