The races we played were tight and fiercely fought, with much use of the rear-view mirror to keep ahead down the long straights of Monza and Spa Francorchamps.
Like Forza 2, the decal edit mode will feature heavily in online play, with players able to upload their creations to the internet and also race against the world with their own custom-designed paintwork. This is something we always wanted from the old Dreamcast game, Ferrari 355 Challenge (made by Sega, not System 3), which only let you change a few colours and then basically watch a replay of your car competing against the ghost cars of other people who took part in that particular 'race'. Thank heavens for progress, eh?
Above: The track is covered in tyre marks in the game, avoiding the 'repeating texture' look of some other next-gen racers
The LAN connection was fairly solid, with only a couple of very minor instances of lag. There are no plans to include CPU-controlled cars in the multiplayer mode. System 3's CEO, Mark Cale, told us that the reason for this is that the CPU cars react independently, rather than following a simpler, set line around the track. We can't see this being much of a problem – so long as more than 16 people are available on the server – and home internet connections can stand it - we can imagine full grids in every online race.
Above:The very lovely Mayra Penarrieta who we met near the demo pods. We don't know exactly what she does, but she has a lovely smile. Hi, Mayra
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