''Forza Motorsport 3'' is a

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic raci ...

developed for

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

by Turn 10 Studios. It is the sequel to ''

Forza Motorsport 2 ''Forza Motorsport 2'' is a 2007 sim racing, simulation racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios for the Xbox 360 console. It is the second title in the ''Forza'' series, and is the sequel to the original ''Forza Motorsport (2005 video game ...

'' and the third installment in the ''

Forza ''Forza'' ( , ; Italian for "force" and "strength") is a racing video game series for Xbox consoles and Microsoft Windows published by Xbox Game Studios. The franchise has sold 16 million copies as of December 2016 and has garnered critical ac ...

'' series. The game includes more than 400 customizable cars (more than 500 cars in the Ultimate Collection version) from 50 manufacturers and more than 100 race track variations with the ability to race up to eight cars on track at a time. These cars vary from production cars to race cars such as those from the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

Gameplay

New additions to the game include an in-car driving view, one button assisted driving, vehicle rollover with detailed undercarriages, drifting, drag racing, and

SUVs A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...

(Mostly Crossovers). Also new to the series is the addition of

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It originated in the southe ...

s, albeit generic. Furthermore, the game also provides the ability to paint and upgrade all cars, whereas Forza Motorsport 2 only allowed for production and tuner cars to be painted or upgraded (although one downloadable Peugeot LMP could be painted). Also included is the ability to upgrade certain production and tuner cars to the race-class level (represented by the performance ratings R3, R2, and R1) whereas ''Forza Motorsport 2'' did not, as well as the ability to create in-game videos and upload them to the ''Forza Motorsport'' website. ''Forza Motorsport 3'' is shipped on two discs, but only utilizes one for gameplay. The second disc serves as the "installation disc," which contains extra vehicles and track content, 1.9GB in total. ''Forza Motorsport 3'' supports only two Force Feedback racing wheels: The Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel and the Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel made by Fanatec. A new single-player season mode puts the player through a completely personalized racing calendar that includes more than 200 different events, including circuit, oval, drag, drift, and timed events personalized to the player's tastes. New to the series are

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 H ...

and

Circuit de Catalunya The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya () is a motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has stands ...

. These tracks join

Road Atlanta Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...

Road America Road America is a motorsport Road racing, road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club ...

Twin Ring Motegi Mobility Resort Motegi (モビリティリゾートもてぎ) is a motorsport venue located in Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Originally Twin Ring Motegi (ツインリンクもてぎ), the venue's name came from the facility having two race ...

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved Racing track#Motorsport, road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and Motorcyc ...

Tsukuba is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. As of January 1, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 256,526 in 121,001 households and a population density of 900 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 wa ...

Mugello Circuit Mugello Circuit (in Italian language, italian: ; in English language, english: ''Mugello International Autodrome'') is a motorsport race track in Scarperia e San Piero, Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The circuit length is . It has 15 turns and a lo ...

Sebring International Raceway Sebring International Raceway is a road course auto racing facility in the Southeastern United States, southeastern United States, located near Sebring, Florida. Sebring Raceway is one of the oldest continuously operating race tracks in the U.S ...

Suzuka Circuit The , the , is a long motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka, Mie, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Honda Mobilityland, a subsidiary of Honda, Honda Motor Co, Ltd. It has a capacity of 155,000. It is most well known by i ...

, and Nürburgring Nordschleife as the licensed real-world tracks included in the game. In addition, the online multiplayer mode gains an all-new game rules editor. New

Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly known and commonly referred to as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Gaming for the Xbox brand. It was first made available to the origina ...

scoreboards display not only the greatest racers but also the most prolific car tuners, and painters in the community. ''Forza Motorsport 3'' received great recognition for its accessibility features, most notably an assist mode allowing acceleration and braking to be automatically controlled, reducing the number of inputs required to just two—left and right, for steering. This allows compatibility with a wide range of assistive technology devices via

switch access Switch access is the use of one or more switches to operate computers and other devices and is primarily used by people with severe physical or cognitive impairment. A switch is an assistive technology device that replaces the need to use a compu ...

, opening up the game to players with multiple and profound disabilities that prevent them from operating a standard controller. The game includes a large variety of

content and options available to online gamers. This is based around a completely redesigned "storefront". It allows gamers to create car designs, setup files, logos and sell them via the "storefront" to other gamers. Further flexibility is available, allowing players to select how many of each car design or logo will be available. The storefront feature is not available to

Silver members.

users are also able to buy and sell cars via the "auction house." Cars are put up for a certain amount of time and for a certain amount of in-game currency. Players can choose to out-bid each other in order to buy a car. Players can also buy and sell their personalized paint jobs for cars.

Development and marketing

Development

During another interview at E3 2009, game director Dan Greenawalt revealed that the updated physics engine would include tire deformation, and the ability to flip the car over. He also included that there is a "pressure" system in which the A.I., depending on how the difficulty is set, would make mistakes when under pressure. In addition to improvements to the A.I. and

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

, the new Photo Mode features ten times more polygons in each car model,

bump mapping Bump mapping is a texture mapping technique in computer graphics for simulating bumps and wrinkles on the surface of an object. This is achieved by perturbing the surface normals of the object and using the perturbed normal during lighting calcul ...

, and texture resolutions four times higher than before. Also, it is confirmed that the game would run at 60

frames per second A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (co ...

. The interview also revealed that there would be several scoreboards ranging from driver scoreboards to painting and tuner leaderboards. There also would be a video editor feature available. Greenawalt stated that Project Blackjack, the team that made an E3 trailer, used capture cards to make their videos. The video editor grants players more possibilities. Players would also be able to create their own race rules but only in private matches as public matches are held through a matchmaking system that has no customization for the player. The player instead has to choose from one of the hoppers provided which are A-R class races. Unlike its predecessors, ''Forza Motorsport 3'' does not support

System Link System Link is a form of offline multiplayer gaming on the Xbox and Xbox 360 gaming console over a LAN (local area network). A network switch and standard straight-through Ethernet cables may be used to link multiple consoles together, or two cons ...

. At the

E3 2009 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009 (E3 2009) was the 15th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. It began on June 2, 2009, and ended on June 4, 2009, with 41,000 total attendees. Majo ...

Microsoft Press Conference, Turn 10 mentioned a rewind feature (much like the "flashback" feature on '' Race Driver: Grid'' and ''

DiRT 2 ''Colin McRae: Dirt 2'' (stylised as ''Colin McRae: DiRT 2'') known outside Europe as ''Dirt 2'' is a racing video game developed and published by Codemasters in 2009, first for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii and Xbox ...

''), but did not divulge specifics. It was later revealed at the E3 2009 coverage council that the rewind feature allows players to turn back time to fix previous mistakes made on the track. The rewind feature has no limit on how many times it may be used but afterwards the player must wait 30 seconds before being able to rewind again. It is one of the many assists in ''Forza Motorsport 3''. The

sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating auditory elements of media. It involves specifying, acquiring and creating audio using production techniques and equipment or software. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking ...

team created car audio by recording each car or at least each engine featured in the game. They added to their extensive library of engine sounds from previous games by recording actual cars either locally, by traveling, or by partnering with others perform the recording sessions. The team always used a specific mic and input setup on the cars while running them on chassis dynos for consistent sound. Tire noise is crucial for communicating feedback to players on their car handling at the limit of grip. The developers set out to capture the full range of traction and grip sounds by recording tires on different surfaces, and then implemented that into the game audio system. For in-game programming, the developers used

FMOD FMOD is a proprietary sound effects engine and authoring tool for video games and applications developed by Firelight Technologies. It is able to play and mix sounds of diverse formats on many operating systems. Features The FMOD sound system ...

API with custom code and debug menus to modulate audio

sound effect A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In m ...

s such as

distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...

panning Pan or PAN may refer to: Food * Pan (cooking), a piece of cooking equipment * Harina P.A.N., a pre-cooked corn meal * Pan or Paan, a North Indian term for betel Prefix * ''Pan-'', a prefix meaning "all", "of everything", or "involving all ...

, EQ, volume, and

compression Compression may refer to: Physical science *Compression (physics), size reduction due to forces *Compression member, a structural element such as a column *Compressibility, susceptibility to compression * Gas compression *Compression ratio, of a ...

—all as functions of car physics parameters.

Release

A redeemable code was packaged with new copies of the game for a free DLC known as the "Motorsports Legends Car Pack", which includes 10 classic cars (such as the 1960

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953. Throughout eight generations, indicated sequentially as C1 to C8, the Corvette is not ...

, 1964

Aston Martin DB5 The Aston Martin DB5 is a British grand tourer (GT) produced by Aston Martin and designed by Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring, Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. Originally produced from 1963 to 1965, the DB5 was an evolution of the final ...

, the 1969

Dodge Charger Daytona Dodge produced three separate models with the name Dodge Charger Daytona, all of which were modified Dodge Chargers. The name was taken from Daytona Beach, Florida, which was an early center for auto racing and still hosts the Daytona 500, NASCA ...

, and the 1965

Shelby Daytona The Shelby Daytona Coupe (also referred to as the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe) is an American sports-coupé. It is related to the Shelby Cobra roadster, loosely based on its chassis and drive-train developed and built as an advanced evolution. I ...

) and two extra tracks. A special Hyundai Genesis Coupe DLC pack was released for free on November 17, 2009, containing three versions of the car. The first paid

downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...

for ''Forza Motorsport 3'' was made available on December 8, 2009. It is known as the "Hot Holidays" pack and includes the 2010

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

458 Italia and 2010

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

GTR SpecV. The Nürburgring GP Strecke was made available for download on February 9, 2010. On December 14, 2010, a "Community Choice Classics" pack was released for download. It includes the DeLorean,

AMC Javelin The AMC Javelin is an American front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-door hardtop automobile manufactured by American Motors Corporation (AMC) across two generations, 1968 through 1970 and 1971 through 1974 model years. The car was positioned an ...

Chevrolet El Camino The Chevrolet El Camino is a coupé utility vehicle that was produced by Chevrolet between 1959–1960 and 1964–1987. Unlike a standard pickup truck, the El Camino was adapted from the standard two-door Chevrolet station wagon platform and in ...

, De Tomaso Pantera, BMW 2002, and

Ferrari 250 The Ferrari 250 is a series of sports cars and grand tourers built by Ferrari from 1952 to 1964. The company's most successful early line, the 250 series includes many variants designed for road use or sports car racing. 250 series cars are chara ...

. Three editions of ''Forza Motorsport 3'' have been released: Standard and Limited Edition and a later Ultimate Collection. The Limited Edition consists of a ''Forza'' branded USB stick; a ''Forza'' branded key chain, a VIP Membership for use on the online Auction House and Community Storefront; an exclusive car pack of five cars; and a ''Forza Motorsport 3'' theme for the Xbox 360 dashboard. In September 2009, Microsoft announced a special limited edition black Xbox 360 Elite console for ''Forza Motorsport 3''. The unit includes a 250 GB hard drive, two black wireless controllers, a black wired headset, an

Ethernet Ethernet ( ) is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

cable, a standard definition composite A/V cable, and the standard edition version of the game. In October, 2010, an Ultimate Collection version was released, which includes all DLC along with several new cars including the Plymouth 'Cuda,

Jaguar D-Type The Jaguar D-Type is a sports racing car that was produced by Jaguar Cars Ltd. between 1954 and 1957. Designed specifically to win the Le Mans 24-hour race, it shared the straight-6 XK engine and many mechanical components with its C-Type ...

, Lancia 037, and

Porsche 550 The Porsche 550 is a racing sports car produced by Porsche from 1953 until 1956. In that time only 90 Porsche 550s were produced, and they quickly established dominance in the 1.1- and 1.5- liter classes. The Porsche 550 is a mid-engine car with ...

. Also included was an exclusive DLC pack titled "Stig’s Garage Car Pack" which included the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, the Koenigsegg CCX, and the Lexus LFA. This pack was exclusive to the Ultimate Collection and angered many fans who had bought the game previously and were now excluded from having the new cars. In October 2013, all downloadable content was removed prior to the release of Forza Motorsport 5.

Soundtrack

In December 2009, the ''Forza Motorsport 3'' soundtrack composed by Lance Hayes (known as DJ Drunken Master) was made available at retail and as a digital download from Sumthing Digital and iTunes. Featuring cuts from the primarily ambient electronica score; a selection of 13 tracks with over an hour of music. Unfortunately four tracks were cut from the official soundtrack, possibly due to CD time constraints, these being; Hot Wheels Hawks, Simulated Physics, Pinion, and an ambient piece from the Initial Experience. A race track entitled Oversquare is also missing. Licensed tracks also include "Cygnes" by Mr. Sam & Claud9 (music and lyrics by Claudio Pelissero), "Tick Tick Boom" by

The Hives The Hives are a Swedish garage rock band formed in Fagersta in 1993. After gaining success in Sweden throughout the 1990s, they rose to worldwide prominence in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival. The band's line-upconsisting of H ...

, "Talk Me Down" by Mistabishi, "Send a Little Love Token" by

The Duke Spirit The Duke Spirit are an English rock band formed in London in 2003 and now based between the UK and Australia. Their sound has been seen as a melding of influences ranging from alternative rock bands such as The Jesus and Mary Chain and Spiri ...

and " Suburban Knights" by

Hard-Fi Hard-Fi is an English indie rock band, formed in 2003 in Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey. The band consists of Richard Archer ( lead vocals and guitar), Ross Phillips (guitar and backing vocals), Kai Stephens (bass guitar and backing vocals) and S ...

. Some game UI sounds are tones and samples pulled directly from the soundtrack.

Reception

''Forza Motorsport 3'' received "universal acclaim" like its first two predecessors according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' called it 'One of the best racing games of this generation'. Criticism mainly stemmed from the grid being much smaller than rival games (only 8 cars), the inability for users to tune their vehicles during public multiplayer racing, and the inability to create custom public multiplayer races. Turn 10 however is adding more modes to the online lobbies in an attempt to counter this problem, such as the Playground lobby which lets users play Tag Mode online in public races but custom public lobbies are currently unavailable. 411Mania gave the game a score of nine out of ten and said, "Turn 10 may have dethroned ''Gran Turismo'' as the sim racing King. This game is breathtaking in every sense of the word and you’ll be hard pressed to find a more complete game in any genre. A must have for any racing fan." ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' also gave it nine out of ten, saying, "With ''Forza Motorsport 3'' Turn 10 have made great strides towards accessibility, but have managed to do so without compromising what remains the most open, detailed and enjoyable racing simulation on the market." However, ''

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

'' gave it eight stars out of ten, saying that the game's "main mission" is "to deliver a realistic racing experience with more than 400 licensed cars and 100 real-world tracks. Consider that a mission accomplished — or at the very least rewound and nailed again on the third go-round." In Japan, ''

Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...

'' gave it a score of all four nines for a total of 36 out of 40.

Awards

''Forza Motorsport 3'' won numerous awards. *At the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards, ''Forza Motorsport 3'' was named the Best Driving Game. *During the

13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards The ''13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards'' was the 13th edition of the Interactive Achievement Awards, an annual awards event that honored the best games in the video game industry during 2009. The awards were arranged by the Academy of ...

, ''Forza Motorsport 3'' was awarded " Racing Game of the Year", along with a nomination for " Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering". *''Forza Motorsport 3'' was given

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

's Driving Game of the Year award for 2009. *''Forza Motorsport 3'' received the AbleGamers' Mainstream Accessible Game of the Year award for 2010. *''Forza Motorsport 3'' was one of GameSpot's 2009 editors' choice awards. *''Forza Motorsport 3'' was awarded Best Xbox 360 Racing Game of the Year by IGN. *''Forza Motorsport 3'' was given ''

G4TV G4 (also known as G4TV) was an American pay television and digital network owned by NBCUniversal and later Comcast Spectacor that primarily focused on video games. The network was originally owned by G4 Media, a joint venture between the NB ...

''s Best Racing Game of 2009 award. *''Forza Motorsport 3'' was named CNNTech's Best Racing Game of 2009. *''Forza Motorsport 3'' was nominated for the Best Xbox 360 Game of the Year by GameSpot. *''Forza Motorsport 3'' received the 2009 Crystal Award for Driving Game of the Year.Crystal Awards 2009 - Genre Awards
/ref> *''Forza Motorsport 3'' was given the Best Racing Game of 2009 award by

GameTrailers ''GameTrailers'' (''GT'') was an American video gaming website created by Geoffrey R. Grotz and Brandon Jones in 2002. The website specialized in multimedia content, including trailers and gameplay footage of upcoming and recently released v ...

References

External links