Hitting the original Xbox in 2005, 'Forza Motorsport' gave 'Gran Turismo 4' a run for its money thanks to its varied selection of cars, realistic handling and, most of all, its damage system.

Fast-forward four years and the latest title in the series, 'Forza Motorsport 3,' is about to launch.

Drawing a crowd for most of the day at rAge 2009, Forza 3's driving wheel and seat combination made for interesting viewing. But the real test would come when we get into the seat ourselves.

The main menus reflected the series' focus on accessibility — with a white and minimalistic background reflecting Turn 10 Studios' focus. With cars such as a Mini Cooper, Ferrari California and an Audi R8 to choose from, there was something for most people.

The biggest addition to the game would be in the form of a few new assists, such as the self-explanatory auto-braking feature, as well as the new rewind feature, swiped from 'Race Driver: Grid'.

The rewind feature works in the same way, allowing you to go back a few seconds in gameplay to correct any errors made. The only difference between 'Forza's implementation and 'Grid's would be that there seems to be no limit as to how often you can use the feature.

The game itself looks gorgeous, with beautiful reflections and smooth 60 frames per second gameplay. 'Forza 3' shows no signs of slowdown even during intense pack racing.

And intense these races are, thanks to the opponent artificial intelligence — with drivers often pushing us off the race track and refusing to yield during an overtaking manoeuvre.

Crashes are bound to happen as a result and we were generally pleased with the damage effects — with huge paint scrapes, smashed headlights and heavily crumpled hoods all affecting the car's handling and speed. Our only qualm was that damage wasn't always accurate, such as headlight crumpling even though it wasn't actually hit.

Dangerous opponents and dodgy damage aside, the game handles just as well as its predecessor, with cars displaying none of the 'brake 10 metres before the corner and you'll be fine' tendencies as 'Grid'.

All in all, we're pleased with almost everything that 'Forza Motorsport 3' has to offer — maybe Turn 10 Studios wasn't lying when they said that no racing game can match up to it... 'Gran Turismo 5', the next move is yours.

Look out for 'Forza Motorsport 3' to hit stores on 23 October

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Forza Motorsport 3 With a racing wheel gripped and pedals pumped, we take Forza Motorsport 3 for a test drive.

In video: rAge 2009 Gamers all have different reasons for going to rAge; from the serious to the hilarious. [Videos]