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I preordered my LE Forza Horizon and rec'd a DLC code for a Dodge Challeneger. YUP...they spelled Challenger wrong...lulz
Maybe I will use it the dodge modern muscle race....Comment
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yes I told jms about the preorder when i saw it at bb
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Forza Horizon a new class of racing game that retains spirit of series (preview)
When it comes to racing games, Turn 10 Creative Director Dan Greenawalt doesn’t buy the whole arcade vs. simulation issue. He doesn’t see the two as distinct, antagonistic genres. One isn’t better than the other. A racer is a racer, he said, it’s just the motivation that’s different.
That’s how he reconciled Forza Horizon as being part of the Forza brand despite its new open-world approach. “The series has always been about bringing gamer culture and car culture together,” Greenawalt said at a recent demo in San Francisco. “There’s the quality, innovation, social features to get them talking.”
That essential dialogue is in the overriding DNA of the series, and after playing Forza Horizon for more than an hour, Greenawalt makes a convincing argument that it exists in this spin-off.THE IDEA OF MOTIVATION: Although it’s an “action racing game” (his words), the title still retains that love of cars and racing, but instead of the obsession over the fastest lap time, Forza Horizon focuses on exploration. That’s going to be the motivation for players to drive through the 65 different terrain types of Colorado, where the games is set.
Also included in the campaign is a legitimate story. Its centers on the Horizon Festival, which is a fictional event based on a outdoor megaconcerts such as Bonnaroo or Lollapalooza. As a male driver, players enter the celebration which draws racers and acts from around the globe. They’ll immediately be drawn into the fiction after seeing Darius Flynt, last year’s champion, cruising around the Colorado road.
Players can’t really customize their avatar. He’s just a silent stand-in for the player as they progress through the festival unlocking wristbands that open up more and more events. Each wristband — there are at least eight — has a rival. In the offroad race, I was involved in I beat Ramona Cravache in her Ford F-150 SVT Raptor. After the match, she challenged me one on one for pink slips. After a few tries, I beat her and added her car to my garage.SURPRISING NARRATIVE: I was surprised to see how in-depth the narrative is with Forza Horizon. A lot of extra work was put in to the cut-scenes that advance the narrative and introduce new competitors. This part of the game seems like it won’t be a throwaway. It’l be an integral part of the experience. It shows the color at the Horizon Festival, which also acts as the central hub for the campaign.
It’s here where players can do the things you expect in Forza games. At Horizon, they can paint their cars, upgrade their vehicles and set up races. In addition, there are also Outposts scattered throughout Colorado that let players Fast Travel to different parts of the map. It’s especially useful because Forza Horizon’s vision of Colorado is expansive.A DIVERSE ENVIRONMENT: There aren’t many notable landmarks per se but the team at Turn 10 and Playground Games, the main developer, spent three weeks in the Centennial State capturing the feel of the region. It’s filled with places like winding mountain roads, flat plains, city streets, deserts, aspen forests and barren red rock landscapes.
Interestingly enough, players can explore these all and they don’t have to worry about falling into a ravine or getting stuck. The game will automatically teleport players out if that happens. It’s either that or they can reverse time and activate rewind to get out of the situation.THE RIGHT FEEL: When it comes to the feel of the title, Playground Games nails the cars. Unlike most arcade racers, Forza Horizon takes the track data from Forza Motorsports 4 and the team applies it to this open world game. That means every car handles differently.
And what’s even better, each vehicle from trucks to sedans to supercars all have a role when it comes to races. Obviously, one wouldn’t want to use a Porsche in an offroad race on gravel. A four-wheel drive vehicle would be better. This helps players build relationships with more than one vehicle. As for car damage, it does exist — you see windows break and doors crumple — but it doesn’t affect the handling of the vehicle. It’s cosmetic.
That’s a credit to a team, which is made up of former members of Bizarre Creations, Black Rock Studio and Codemasters. It’s a new studio full of industry veterans and that experience shines through in the beautiful look of the game and some of the creativity in the structure.HOW PLAYER PROGRESSION WORKS: As I mentioned before, Forza Horizon has a Festival Progression, but in addition, it also has a separate Player Progression track. The latter advances the story while the other focuses on your experience points and player level. They both reward players with vehicles but it’s done in different ways.
In Player Progression, players can expect the typical advancement. Each competition provides more experience points and credits. Those credits go toward the purchase of new cars or upgrades. They can compete in the following events:
1. Regular closed course races
2. Photography competitions, where players go out and take pictures in the gorgeous Colorado environment.
3. Street Races. These are spontaneous events that happen when players are wandering around the countryside and run into a computer-controlled racer.
4. Style Events. Borrowing a bit from Project Gotham Racing, this mode gives players points based on the tricks they perform while they drive.
There are also random opportunities for competition strewn around the world. For example, players will see metered boxes that measure speed. It tracks how fast players are going and registers it online. Often, they can see how their speed stacks up with friend’s and try to maintain a lead or beat a buddies’ speed score. Elswehere, they can search the world for barns that hold secret cars. These found vehicles can be fixed up by the local mechanic Dak. He’ll even give players a quick history on the car they just found. All of this reinforces the exploration that’s one of the touchstones for the game.ADVANCING THE STORY: The other side, the Festival Progression, relies on Popularity Points. Those are tallied up during normal driving from area to area. As players speed across Colorado, they get points by performing any one of the 35 tricks available to them. They can drift or have near misses weaving in and out of traffic. Great drivers can chain tricks together to form combos. Those combos multiply the Popularity Points as players follow the guidance line from one event to another. Eventually, they’ll earn enough points to unlock special races called Showcase events. They’re more cinematic and unusual.
The Showcase race I competed in was a battle of the Mustangs but it’s not what you think. I was in Mustang Boss 429 and I was up against a P-51 Mustang. That’s a World war II era plane. Yes, I was racing a fighter plane to checkpoints on a curvy road using a vehicle that cornered like a bus. I had to break early and will my vehicle around bends while my rival buzzed by me. It’s a surreal experience but I won.
Players can expect similar types of races in other Showcase events. I’ve been told there’s one against helicopter and another going head to head with a hot air balloon.Lastly, when it comes audio, Turn 10 and Playground Games were very specific when it came to picking a soundtrack. That’s important because Forza Horizon is based on a music festival, so they enlisted the help of British DJ Rob da Bank to curate the driving music. He pulled together 60 tracks done via a faux radio station. That’s a good for five hours of music or so.
That adds up to a different Forza experience on the surface, but at its core, Forza Horizon seems like it sticks to the mission of the franchise. It helps foster gamers’ relationship with cars but it looks like it will do it in a refreshing way when this upcoming entry is released Oct. 23 on the Xbox 360.
BONUS POINTS
What about Kinect? Yes, there is Kinect support for Forza Horizon. No, it’s not going to be like Kinect Joy Ride or Autovista. Playground Games tones down the motion control and sticks with the voice. Using the sensor, players are able to ask the Kinect to get directions to a specific location. All they have to say is “GPS festival” and the guiding line in the game will point players to the direction of the Horizon Festival.
Hot imports incoming. Like in previous Forza games, players who have Forza Motorsports 3 or Forza Motorsports 4 saves will be able to import that into the game. The game will give you rewards such as cars based on your level in the previous game. Players can also take their liveries from one game to another. So it pays to work toward that level 999.
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Id buy that for a dollar
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What I'm starting to think is it's just a whole bunch of different arcadey events. No story or anything, just all these different types of events at the festival that you can choose, plus the open world aspect.
I have to disagree with the first line of that article. Arcade and sim racers are completely different genres.Comment
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