Forza Horizon
As a spinoff to the popular Forza Motorsport racing series, the reception to Horizon was rather...lukewarm, at best. With an emphasis on showcasing, arcade-esque handling and drifting, it came across as a quick cash in by non fans, while something of a travesty for Forza purists. But then Horizon is a spin off, it does not say Forza 5 anywhere in the title and shouldn't be judged as such. Luckily Horizon does enough on it's own merits, as well as retain a lot of the good qualities of a Forza game, to make it worthwhile.
The initial premise of Horizon is that it is an open world racer set in Colorado. Taking place in the 'Horizon Festival' it is essentially an excuse to attract the best cars, best drivers and music artists to attend. All well and good but the game ties something of a story around it. You, the silent, almost Levi-esque looking male model, is a newcomer to the festival and decides to enter the competition. You have an attractive, supportive female manager but I mean, you're only a newcomer, you're not going to get that far right....? Your race rivals certainly don't think you can beat them right...? The no.1 race driver in the world, Darius Flynt is there, but there's no way you could beat him............right? It's generic drivel that never manages to engage your interest unless you are 11 years old, and such fantasies of entering an event like this, winning fame and glory, beating your trash-talking rivals, winning the girls and all the best cars in the world is a constant in your head.
The actual Horizon festival serves a purpose beyond providing a background to the hugely inconsequential 'dudebro' storyline. It's a central hub where you can buy cars, tune them, paint them, join car clubs and collect coloured wristbands whose ascending coloured ranks unlock increasingly difficult racing events which are dotted around the world. These events can range from typical circuit and point to point races, street races where civilian traffic is involved but the payout is much greater or showcase events which can pit you against other vehicles like hot air balloons or a biplane to see who's the fastest. Make no mistake, these events are scattered around and the intent is for you to drive to them, as fast travel spots are fairly limited and they can cost a lot to use. But you won't mind the driving, as it's just that good.
The same physics engine from Forza 4 is mostly intact, but it is still absolutely more forgiving. The world, much like the car models themselves, is gorgeous to look at. Visually, Horizon is up there as one of the best looking racers ever. However, it also adds to the fact that the roads are open and seem built for for speed than technical cornering, which ultimately does create a different driving experience than any of the main Forza games. Not saying it is a bad thing, again, it is a different game altogether. Like many open world games, there's an awful lot to see and do and the tempation is strong. Unlocking events, setting off speed cameras against your friends to see who's the fastest, scouting the land for hidden cars, it's all very satisfying. One of the best features is the rivals mode, basically a way of competing for the best times with those on your friends list or, failing that, against a stranger close to you on the global leaderboard. It's a great way to maintain a rivalry with someone even when not playing directly against them.
The music's awful. There are 3 radio stations (dubstep, electronic and rock) with no real stand out tune among them and a lot of the music just awful unless you're really into something like 'Iron Deer Dream (Chad Valley Remix)'. And seriously, one track by Lost Prophets is bad enough but two? Come on....There's not a lot of it too, so expect a lot of repeats. If I hear The Hives one more fucking time...
Retaining some of the goodness from it's father series, while doing enough to carve out it's own identity, Horizon is a joy to play if you can look past the brash, immaturity that is smothered in it.
8/10
Sidenote: I'd like a sequel that takes the Festival global, different races in different cities, with it's own native speaking DJ's and music acts. Basically I want a direct remake of Metropolis Street Racer/PGR2.