As the dust settles on the beautiful Colorado vistas, what’s left is something truly ground breaking and exceptionally exhilarating. And that “something” is Forza Horizon. Turn 10 Studios, who is famously known for what is arguably the best racing simulator on the market, has diverged from the Forza Motorsport series into the storyline-driven, open-world arcade area. Collaborating on the project is Playground Games, which is a studio formed from the expertise of various ex-Codemasters, Bizarre, Criterion and Black Rock Studio members, to name a few.
Forza Horizon is an open-world adventure tied in with a Motorsport festival extravaganza; mixing ecstatic spectators, adrenaline inducing races and a brilliant array of music. This sets the backdrop of the game and gives some context to all the high-speed antics.
Blasting through the sandy Colorado routes with your VW Corado VR6, you start the game off racing to the festival for a spot in the competition. As an obscure rookie, you compete for the crowd’s affection and respect. Ranked 250th on the participant roster your goal is to win the fans over by entertaining them and earning points. Typically this would include your burnouts, drifts, big air jumps, speeding, near-misses with traffic and more. This creates a purpose to free roaming and doesn’t end up just being a time filler.
Graphics are phenomenal, and that’s exactly what you’d expect from a Forza title. From the sepia hues of the sunset glistening off your paintwork, to the beams of your headlights on the tarmac at night, everything is beautifully polished.
The difference between simulation and arcade racing has never been this blurred before. Forza Horizon brings an unprecedented handling dynamic, as cars feel authentic, but not to a degree that requires an advanced level of skill to master. This degree of authenticity brings a sense of realism that exceeds all expectations from the “arcade racer” term that’s been slapped to the game ahead of launch.
Damage to the vehicles look great but sadly only extends to aesthetics with no simulated mechanical damage, which would have been fitting for the feel and realism of the game.
Customization is another element welcomed to Forza Horizon, with the familiar layout of automotive parts we’ve seen in Forza Motorsport 4 making an appearance, but unfortunately, no advanced tuning set up module is present.
Horizon captures the car culture with really great music. Artists include; Skrillex, Avicii, Foster the People, and Arctic Monkeys, amongst others. When driving your car, you can jam to a variety of different radio stations and choose the music that best fits your taste or mood. Whilst I love the music, it can become over-powering and I found myself lowering the volume to hear my car’s engine better – this is a racing game after all.
Most races comprise of the usual circuit races and sprints, but there are a couple of surprises too, such as Car vs. Airplane races or Car vs. Hot air Balloon races, which add an element of excitement and discovery. Tiered racing comes in the form of wrist bands and leveling up to a new colour wrist band opens up a new tier of races and challenges.
The greater area of Colorado seems pretty empty at first but the more races you do, the more roads (and off-road paths) you unlock. Forza Horizon is Smart Glass enabled so using your smart phone or tablet with the Xbox Smart Glass app, you can have the full map on your mobile secondary monitor, with full touch and filtering capabilities. Although a little bit delayed, this works well enough to aid your racing experience.
Multiplayer extends only to online racing, with a clever match-making lobby system where you can challenge racers to a vast array of racing events; along with a with a new jackpot style reward system. The social element is great, and the Rivals events seen in FM4 are featured in Horizon too. Beating a fellow racer’s time will notify them of the gauntlet set for them to regain their bragging rights.
One of the biggest disappointments and a possible deal breaker for many is that Forza Horizon has no option for split screen racing.
Other than the absence of split-screen, Turn 10 Studios have developed a game that not only fulfills your craving for speed, but also takes you on a journey, bringing a welcomed emotional connection to a racing title. Horizon may not be perfect, but what it does for the open-world racing genre is pretty damn impressive.
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