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June 8, 2005
Fanatic about Fanatec: Top Xbox racing games with the ForceShock Wheel
I raved a while ago about the Fanatec ForceShock Driving Wheel for the Xbox and my experience using this with Forza Motorsport. Since then, I’ve been able to test my extravagant $150 wheel with the other top Xbox racing titles. There are probably only about 12 people who care, but what the heck? If you have the Xbox, will keep playing it for another year, and love driving games, you might need this sucker.
Forza Motorsport
, as I’ve already said, is the new king of Xbox racers and works perfectly with the ForceShock. Fanatec made the wheel with 4 preset values, S1-S4, and on mine S3 was preset with Forza values. You can tune any and each of these values to adjust the dead zone, force feedback, or steering sensitivity (6 values in all). In addition to Forza, one is preset for Need For Speed Underground, while another is set for TOCA. The fourth is left for you to set, but you can play around with all of them. The settings stay in memory even after you unplug the wheel. Fanatec's website has a list of recommended settings for various games: from their home page click on the Products tab, select Speedster 3 ForceShock XBox on the left menu, then click on Recommended Settings.
Rallisport Challenge 2
. This game came out last year in 2004 and got rave reviews, but I am not sure how many people played it. I bought it and ignored it for far too long. With the ForceShock my interest has returned in full force (ahem). RSC2 offers something that no other racer does—off-road racing in breathtaking environments like the Australian outback or the forests of the United Kingdom. There’s also night-time racing and ice racing. The races are long and quite challenging, as you find yourself sliding off the road because it’s muddy and slippery as hell. The force feedback signals are strong and send intense vibrations to the ForceShock. I’ve come to love this game as much as Forza. There are some things that RSC2 does that I wish Forza did—like having the spectators on the side of the road move and cheer you on, or having the rain or leaves fall on your windshield, or showing animals on the side of the road as you pass by. There’s an incredible amount of content here, and you can buy this for $20 or less.
Need for Speed Underground 2
. The ForceShock has a preset for the first NFSU title, I used that one, lowered the steering sensitivity, and the wheel responded perfectly. It’s necessary to have the wheel respond instantly when you need to avoid hitting a car. NFSU2 is even more fun when used with the wheel, and you will feel the impact of hitting other cars. I think this is what I needed to make me finish Level 5 and see if Brooke Burke will give me a hickey after 100% completion. If you have surround sound stereo, a nice TV, and this wheel, it makes for a incredibly immersive experience.
Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition
. My first experience using this with the ForceShock wasn’t all that positive. But I was using a muscle car in Detroit; the weather was snowing and the car didn’t have great handling. When I switched back to my Luxury car model, everything worked fine. This game is even more intense than NFSU2 due to the level of cross-traffic and variable paths through the wide open cities. After a few practice sessions, I was swerving through cars on the freeways and cutting corners just fine.
Burnout 3: Takedown
. Out of all the games, I doubted whether I would really use the wheel with this one. After I used nearly the same ForceShock settings I used on NFSU2, it was a fun experience. Like NFSU2, I never made it to 100% completion and I think the wheel will help me get there. However, out of all the games I played, Burnout 3 sends the weakest Force Feedback signals to the wheel.
Project Gotham Racing 2
. Before Forza and RSC2, this was the top racer on the Xbox, and the one I looked forward to using with the ForceShock. My experience was mixed, perhaps because I hadn’t played PGR2 in a while. PGR, as most racers know, is a very fickle game that you can master only through doing power slides around very tight corners. Using the Xbox controller, this depends on the gamers hitting a button at precisely the right moment; some cars require just a slight touch, others require pressing it for a couple of seconds. With PGR2 I started out using a Porsche Carrera on the Ultimate tracks and found my car sliding around in circles when I stepped on the brake. I skipped back down to the beginning levels and tried a Ford Focus. The result was better there; I was able to slide around corners pretty well. But anytime I moved up to the more advanced cars, I had severe control issues. Maybe I just need to play the game from the beginning and learn all the nuances with the wheel. PGR2 sends very strong force feedback to the ForceShock wheel, and I found it to be overpowering with Fanatec’s recommended settings. I had to dial down the force feedback settings.
In summary, I do love using the ForceShock with every game that I mentioned, except for PGR2. The wheel seems perfectly tailor made for both Forza and Rallisport Challenge 2. For Need For Speed Underground 2, Midnight Club 3, and Burnout 3, I would say that the wheel does make playing these games a bit harder, but at the same time, it’s more fun. I am looking forward to the Xbox versions of Burnout: Revenge and Need For Speed Most Wanted; hopefully the game makers will test their products using Fanatec’s wheel. Nuff said.
