Prepsi wrote:Except they didn't. New York, for example, is just a bunch of buildings haphazardly plopped all over the place with a statue of liberty somewhere. It has no personality, and is overall a complete eyesore. And when they do manage to make a interesting city that captures the real version's atmosphere, it's usually only a mile or 2 long ala San Fran. And, to be honest, if the map was the only problem with TC, I wouldn't have a problem playing it. But it's just so bland and unenjoyable (IMO) in so many more different aspects.
While that still isn't true (different landmarks, neighborhoods, and regions in each city are surprisingly well represented), you seem to care more about individual cities rather than the fact that the map is a huge number of different locations to explore. For the fact that LA feels really different from Detroit, which feels really different from Miami, which feels really different from New York etc, that makes it a map worth exploring, even if the cities individually are downsized. It's not necessarily the minute details, it's more about the variety. I could complain for hours and hours about how many things are wrong with Chicago, but instead I stop to appreciate what they have given the players to explore. And what they have provided is frankly amazing. And anyway, that's still what Forza is doing as well. For all of the buildings I saw in the demo, I saw many repeats of every single one except for a few landmarks. That doesn't detract from the map at all. It's still a cool environment that's fun to drive around. If they were supposed to be maps like GTA5 where every single building matters, then I would be annoyed. But as they stand, both maps are very convincing. As I've established already, my only problem with the map in FH3 is its size. Otherwise it looks like a great environment.
In terms of The Crew, I get that there are problems with the game, but obviously we have different priorities in our experiences. I care more about just being able to go out and drive. That's why I can look past the issues and really enjoy the experience. Whereas people who love Forza enjoy constantly having a challenge to complete or someone to compete with. That's why they put speedtraps, drift zones, and jumps all over the map with leaderboards; there will always be something for the player to do, and always something to keep the player's attention. A lot of people have a lot of fun doing stuff like that.
As a further note, I have never seen a better looking open world game, or racing in general for that matter! I couldn't care less about graphics, but my goodness, this game looks astonishing!