After enjoying the Paradise City of Criterion’s Burnout for so long, Turn 10 gives you another reason to love open world racing with the release of Forza Horizon. Forza Horizon changes up the pace from its traditional formula to give you a unique and yet similar racing experience. If you guys have visited Paradise City you should know what to expect here; Horizon is more of what I like to call a “cruise simulator”. The open world at hand provides a soothing cruise and the opportunity to race your way through the campaign.
Story wise it tries but it’s not as significant as other games in the genre; Forza Horizon takes place in Colorado at the Horizon Festival. It does a really good job in creating immersion and does feel like you’re in a very exciting event. Forza features races in a variety of courses usually in the city streets but your also going to encounter some off-road action, this blends beautifully with the new day and night cycles. Little touches such as planes flying around and announcements over the radio stations really do capture the whole essence of a festival; navigation is done all through the map and GPS system and it will let you know when certain races are open.
Little details which I really enjoyed were that there are abandoned cars around the city and if you get to them in time you get to keep them, pretty much its announced all over the radio stations in Horizon that if you get there first they are yours, and they are really sick rides. If you’re really a completionist then you’re going to enjoy this part of Forza. I truly was surprised at the idea because it’s like those old secrets; if you explore you get the loot. One of the weirdest parts of these hunts though is that you barely see any cars on the road regardless of where you’re at, especially in the city areas, it felt very bland and boring just cruising along and basically no cars on the street. You do see a bunch of racers driving along but they are few and far between and you see them partially around the festival zone. You can easily challenge the other racers to races if you seem them out on the road, for a few credit that is , but the main path of the game actually allows you to play some of them for pink slips. Besides those side races, the main circuit allows you to really put your skills to the test as you can gain more credits as you choose the difficulty levels and also from turning off driving assist.
While cruising the road you’re going to notice how polished Horizon is and how the colorful while racing at 150 mph , while the graphics are kept at top notch at all times the game really does fall short on sound effects and a lacking soundtrack, while you can just load up your own music. Personally I like to hear what the developers intended to do with their soundtrack, a bunch of dubstep is littered throughout Horizon. The DJ definitely makes up for most of the important things going on in the in-game radio stations. Sadly Forza Horizon doesn’t feature a local multi-player which is sad on all accounts because all other previous games have had it and it’s a bummer that most racers this gen have ended up with the same results. It does include your usual online multi-player with different options but come on for local multi-player it should have included at least a couple of main circuits without the open world aspect just so it can entertain your friends who are not really into racing games but would like to try.
Forza Horizon also features a bunch of customization options practically you can make any designs you want with just a few shapes and a imagination, i got so good at using the options that i even made a Dual Pixels Car in about 15 minutes . Hours can literally be spent trying to make something standout, and as always you can put the cars you made online and show them off, so you do get recognized. Overall Forza Horizon is a game you’ll enjoy just for cruising around or when you want to race someone it gives you the options, while the local multi-player is kind of non-existent it still gives you Forza in a much grander scale then ever before.
Pros
– Open World Racer, Go At your own Pace
-Fun customization for your car
-Different difficulty levels
Con
-No Local Multiplayer
-Bad Sound Effects
– Locales feel very bland
Verdict: 8.5 out of 10
