Forza Horizon

Horizon is a spin-off game in the Forza series. Horizon is inspired by more recent racing games and takes the series in an open-world style game, racing in street circuits and point-to-point events.

The game is set at a fictional racing festival in a region inspired by Colorado. You gain reputation by winning events and driving dangerously. You are awarded points and achievements for drifting, drafting, jumps, near misses, destroying road signs etc. Reputation is an side-goal; you will progress by winning races.

You must drive to the events, and are guided by a mini-map and GPS. Personally, I think this style of gameplay is boring; I would much rather just race without the distractions. You can quick travel to certain locations for a small fee, but to use the 'Fast Travel Anywhere' feature, you have to pay real money!

When driving around, you can gain points for driving dangerously. Additionally, you can look out for billboards to smash which give you discounts in the upgrade shop, or speed through Speed Traps (Speed cameras). When you pass the speed cameras, you are informed of your position on your Friends Leaderboard. I always like it when there's social challenges built into games, so this is a nice touch.

The game has all the difficulty options the main series has, so you can change assists for ABS, brake assist, Traction Control, Racing Line, and Flashback. Despite games like this usually being geared towards Arcade-style racing, Forza Horizon keeps the handling feeling like a true Forza game (although I think it is slightly more forgiving with the handling – you are encouraged to drift after all). I was surprised to see the car customisation too, so you can apply different types of paint and decals to your car, although it's not a feature I spent too much time with.

Forza Horizon is a good racing game, but I'm not a fan of this overall style. I want to race, not drive for a few minutes to find the next stage of the game. I'm not much of a fan of the presentation either; it has too much of a "bro" attitude which is best left to games like Need For Speed.