Not so long ago, the next part of Forza was released, but this time it’s not Motorsport, but Horizon. It was praised long before its release. The developers’ promises of an open world, a gorgeous car fleet, tuning, new ideas and a rethinking of the arcade racing genre really evoked only positive emotions. The people who worked on this game have already created a lot. For example: Blur, DIRT, Burnout, PGR and even Test Drive. But usually, such a combination doesn’t turn out well, and before playing Forza Horizon, I jokingly said: “What kind of horizons are these?” No one has ever dared to mix things up like this before. So how did this mix turn out? Is it better, or, as is often the case, worse than the original?
It turns out Horizon is the name of a fictional racing festival. You can draw parallels with other racing games: the open world is like Test Drive, and the festival itself is like NFS ProStreet. But this is not copying or creating a hybrid from other people’s ideas, it’s a breakthrough and the opening of new horizons that we were told so much about. This is truly a “wild” Forza. Why? Because it broke free. The developers took the most interesting features from NFS and DIRT and smartly implemented them into the game. The game doesn’t make you a racer, but just a car enthusiast who loves speeding at high velocities. And racing against a plane, for example, is just mind-blowing. I’ll simply say that the game provided a ton of positive emotions, fun, and stunning beauty.
And I want to immediately move on to what matters most to most players — the gameplay. It’s just incredible: rich, vibrant, gorgeous, exciting, colorful... There aren’t enough words in the Russian language to describe this gameplay! This mind-blowing gameplay is complemented by the festive atmosphere, which is so rarely found in modern racing games.
The setting and game design are top-notch. It’s been a long time since we’ve had this in games: friends invite you to a party with lots of races, music, and, of course, girls. It really draws you in. Also, the game has awesome car handling physics. The races themselves are standard: sprint, drift, circuit races, rally, and checkpoint runs. But they’re presented in a new, fresh, and joyful way.
The car fleet is quite familiar to Forza fans, but for me, it was a discovery. Looking through it, I thought: “These are really interesting cars, if only there was tuning...” But then I unexpectedly find this tuning in the game. My God, I was as happy for those three body kits and a whole bunch of rims as if it were my own mother. It was a wonderful moment. But later, when I learned that the tuning was supposed to be like in NFS Underground 2, I was shocked. Could decent tuning really return to modern racing games? But unfortunately, the developers rushed to finish the game because of the release of NFS Most Wanted (2012). Why did they do that, since NFS is not a competitor to Forza? Yes, exactly, not the other way around. Forza turned out to be much better than its potential competitor, despite the lack of police, because it’s more interesting and closer to the soul. And besides, it’s only available on Xbox 360.
The absence of police is justified by the fact that they simply aren’t needed. Because you’re racing on an incredibly beautiful track, with a river roaring on the left, leaves rustling in the wind on the right, and you’re driving a Ferrari, not just anywhere, but into a sunset bursting with colors. The cars are so beautiful you want to lick them.
Speaking of sunsets. If you’re tired of the hustle and bustle, no one stops you from just driving around the city alone. The world around you is constantly changing, sparkling, and always impressing with its views. The constant change of scenery from dusty roads to suburbs only increases interest in the game. And even though the world is small, it’s much more interesting and diverse than the boring island from Test Drive Unlimited. Dynamic day and night cycles are also one of the game’s features. Depending on the time of day, the traffic on the roads and the number of people around will change, and the party atmosphere keeps taking on new forms.
The music is just an incredibly successful selection of Dubstep, Drum&Bass, and tons of great background tracks. Artists like Nero, DJ Fresh, and Skrillex are not uncommon here. And honestly, it pumps you up and adds even more fun and novelty.
