Forza Horizon demo impressions

Vire said:
The game takes place in the Summer, so doubt it. Maybe on Mountain tops :P
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exactly. there are snowy mountain tops in the distance and weve been hearing for ages "if you see it, you can drive to it".






not getting my hopes up.
 
op_ivy said:
exactly. there are snowy mountain tops in the distance and weve been hearing for ages "if you see it, you can drive to it".






not getting my hopes up.
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Reminds me of the whole "trees grow with you" quote for Fable.

Best to not take things at face value.
 
op_ivy said:
exactly. there are snowy mountain tops in the distance and weve been hearing for ages "if you see it, you can drive to it".

not getting my hopes up.
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I think it's fair to say - judging from the demo - that that quote should really say "if you can see it, you can drive to it..........provided we haven't fenced it off and have built a road to it"

TDU this ain't.
 
watership said:
I know the concept of TDU was awesome, but neither game was remotely good :) Right? I'm not alone here right?
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Both TDU games were amazing I thought. Not a great driving model but expanded on the driving game genre making circuit racers look positively archaic. TDU 2 improved on TDU in almost every way but completely fumbled the "story" I drove every single Hawaii road in TDU 1 and every single one on Ibiza in TDU 2. Loved every second of it.

I like Forza Horizon based on the demo thus far.
 
This game is DIRT!

But not quite as good... playing with a wheels seems a bit off and there is that - driving feeling- that Dirt 2 has that this one lacks.
 
watership said:
I just realized I have no idea how the reviews will go for this game. Jeff really liked Forza 3 and Forza 4, but he likes a lot of flash with his other racing games, and he's said that he's really liked Need For Speed: Most Wanted. I feel he's going to be underwhelmed.
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Yeah, I can see that. But I did not expect him to like Forza 3 that much at all, so maybe he really digs it.
 
HeliosT10 said:
Got you a few answers from an audio designer.

Do the exhaust upgrades at least raise the volume/aggressiveness of the sounds? – This depends heavily on the car. In general the volume of certain components does increase with upgrades. This in turn drives the DSP harder and gives the car more of a race feel.

Is DSP still a feature in Horizon? – Forza Horizon features the same DSP as Forza Motorsport.

Where are the shifting effects? – This also depends heavily on the car. These have been tweaked for Forza Horizon and become more prominent as the cars transmission is upgraded.

Where are the exhaust pops,splutters and crackles? ? – Forza Horizon features the same pops, splutters and crackles as Forza Motorsport.




Hope the above answers are to your liking.

That Dawson's Creek .gif always cracks me up lol.
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THANK YOU VERY MUCH HELIOS!!

I'm so relieved it's not funny. I was worried that the audio would stay the way it is.

The AI cars sound so much better compared to the player car. I literally stood still on a dirt road at night and waited for the AI cars to drive past me so I could listen to them...

So, I guess the idea is for the stock production cars to sound 'normal' and for the audio to gradually 'get better' as you upgrade. This is most acceptable.

Happy times ahead..


Shaneus said:
I've just spotted one on eBay for a hundo... would you say it's worth picking up for the 360 given the only wheel I have is a G27 for PC/PS3? I've been itching to play FM4 with a wheel, but MS don't make it easy :(
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FM4 with a wheel is THE SHIT!
So much more thrilling and involving.
But yeah, if you can get a wheel, then get it. The MS pedals aren't the best though but you can work around it.
 
Reviews are in.

I read Polygon's review first and I just shook my head. The review kept making comparisons to Forza Motorsport games as if Forza Horizon = Forza Motorsport 5.

The game should be treated like a new IP.
 
IGN 9/10
The Verdict

If you love Forza 4, this is the perfect companion. If you love cars, this is essential. The school of thought may be that it’s hard to push racing games this late in a generation, but Playground Games hasn’t just moved the needle here. It’s buried it.

Ladies and gentlemen, the open road beckons. And racing developers of the world? Playground Games has just put you on notice.
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Bgamer90 said:
Reviews are in.

I read Polygon's review first and I just shook my head. The review kept making comparisons to Forza Motorsport games as if Forza Horizon = Forza Motorsport 5.

The game should be treated like a new IP.
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The comparisons are meant to explain why I think Horizon's design has problems, not why I think it should play exactly like a Forza Motorsport game.
 
I'm pretty surprised the reviews are high. I loved Test Drive Unlimited 1/2 so I like what I'm hearing.
 
KefkaTaran said:
The comparisons are meant to explain why I think the design has problems, not why I think it should play exactly like a Forza Motorsport game.
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I see. In some areas though, the review read a bit like you were going into the game like it was a typical Forza Motorsport game.

Just the overall impression I got. If you didn't really like it that's fine... you know, opinions and all that :P

Did you enjoy other sim/arcade blend racers (like the PGR games)?
 
Bgamer90 said:
I see. In some areas though, the review read a bit like you were going into the game like it was a typical Forza Motorsport game.

Just the overall impression I got. If you didn't really like it that's fine... you know, opinions and all that :P
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Totally! But I definitely wasn't approaching it that way. I dig Forza, but I generally am more into arcade racers, which is why I was so interested to see a game mash those two concepts together. Bummed that I didn't dig it as much as a lot of other reviewers seem to have.

And yeah, I enjoyed the PGR games. I think the way Horizon borrows from them by basically implementing a kudos-esque system is one of its best elements.
 
Eurogamer 9/10
Really thought they were going to slam the game after reading the first couple of paragraphs.
Forza Horizon is one of those games that tries too hard to look hip. Its characters and setting - a festival of music and motor racing - share the same sanitised vision of youth culture you see in ads for mobile networks. Its colour scheme is black with hot pink and every menu rests at a 15 degree angle. Achievements have titles like 'OMG' and '#WINNING'.

Perhaps it's trying to correct the famous lack of charisma of its parent series Forza Motorsport, from Microsoft's in-house team Turn 10. Or perhaps it's trying to cover up a strain of rank commercialism, since it's plastered in sponsor logos and invitations to buy tokens for shortcuts. An offshoot made by another studio - new UK outfit Playground - Forza Horizon comes across like a marketing drive first and a game second, tainted as it is with buzzwords like "brand extension" and "annual cadence".

Prepare to swallow your cynicism, however, because Forza Horizon is a quite brilliant racing game - one of the best of its generation. It's also a lesson in how to make that development model work to create something greater than the sum of its parts.
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I had zero interest in this game mainly because of the cartoony-like presentation seen in screenshots and the news of 30fps was a big turn off. Tried the demo last night and surprisingly enjoyed it. Usually when I download a demo I just play for a bit then erase it but not with this.

Nice to see some of the reviews are starting to come in and they're positive. I'll probably end up getting it.
 
bigtroyjon said:
Jeff's review is up on Giantbomb.

5/5
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Uh, I literally haven't read a damn thing about this game at all, but I like the sound of this. The last racing game I played and enjoyed was Blur because it felt like a blend of sim (as in, each card really did feel like it had it's own physics) and arcade (which a much stronger focus on Arcade compared to Project Gotham Racing). I know everyone is going to read this post and think "Dude? Blur? Really?" but some of the most fun I had in Blur was the special races that were just cards, no power ups.

Really need to try the demo to see just how sim-ish this game is, but I'm liking the sound of it so far.
 
Gamesradar - 4/5
Forza Horizon is a great departure from the core Forza Motorsport titles. If you’re blindly walking into the game without knowing that it’s less sim-driven and far more of a fun arcade racer with many of Forza’s trademark trappings--rewinds, color-coded tracking, and customization--you’re likely in for a rude awakening. It’s got its bumpy patches, but if you’re interested in playing a long, deep, and rewarding racer, Forza Horizon is a game worth putting in the mileage on.
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Aussie-gamer - 5/5
Forza Horizon is a fantastic celebration of all things automobile. It comes loaded with a fun, party atmosphere that nails the feeling of those years that we all go thorough: being free, on the open road with a bunch of friends for the very first time.
Coming from someone who’s not a huge fan of racing titles, Forza Horizon isn’t a ‘spinoff’ from the Motorsports roots, it’s an improvement on the tried and true process. If you’re looking for a serious racing game but want total freedom and hours of actual fun, Forza Horizon has set the bar very high – you’ll be hard pressed to find a better buy.
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Tomat said:
Uh, I literally haven't read a damn thing about this game at all, but I like the sound of this. The last racing game I played and enjoyed was Blur because it felt like a blend of sim (as in, each card really did feel like it had it's own physics) and arcade (which a much stronger focus on Arcade compared to Project Gotham Racing). I know everyone is going to read this post and think "Dude? Blur? Really?" but some of the most fun I had in Blur was the special races that were just cards, no power ups.

Really need to try the demo to see just how sim-ish this game is, but I'm liking the sound of it so far.
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It's really only sim-ish in the sense that the cars feel totally different and the physics change as you'd expect according to the type of ground you're driving on. I don't think it's quite as arcade over-the-top as Blur, though. Feels sort of like Forza car handling with Project Gotham Racing track/AI/kudos design layered on top of it.
 
it did look like a solid game from the demo, but i was expecting scores in the 8/10 range.
This is surprising.
 
ho now this is a pleasant surprise

I was dead set on Most Wanted 2, but these reviews have me thinking over my one racing game for this year.
 
watership said:
I just realized I have no idea how the reviews will go for this game. Jeff really liked Forza 3 and Forza 4, but he likes a lot of flash with his other racing games, and he's said that he's really liked Need For Speed: Most Wanted. I feel he's going to be underwhelmed.
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I've got a feeling FH may generally score highly on technical merit in the gaming press, but lose points for lack of variety and longevity. The festival/Dirt 2 atmosphere might polarise reviewers, too. It'll be interesting to see how it Metacritics.
Edit: wow - FH is reviewing really well. Congrats Playground/Turn 10!
 
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