The Forza Franchise Is Back!

[motorculture]

Car fans around the world can breathe a sigh of relief – your latest fix of action packed virtual racing is here. Courtesy of Turn10, the latest rendition of the highly prized ‘racing simulator’ has opted to change the style of gameplay to something new. And we’re all for it.



Forza Horizons differs greatly from the previous games. It is not so much an extension of the previous game; more a branch off so to say. Gameplay has changed in a sense that there is an ‘open world’ method of browsing challenges and races. One can cruise the streets of Colorado looking for races that they can compete in to no doubt earn dollars, prizes and cars. Sounds good!



Visually, the game has changed a lot too. The cars look and feel more authentic, and less ‘sterile’. Turn10 and their passionate team have strived and slaved for hours rendering even more realistic models of our favorite vehicles, adding a few more cult classics to the mix that we’ve yet to see in any previous Forza game. All in all, it’s visually stunning. Even the scenery has had attention paid to it.



It’s all about the racing and feel of the game, which we will be discussing in another piece to come. We can say one thing however, the experience of piloting $500,000+ hypercars has not changed. It is still involving, fluid and seamless; which has grown to become the Forza Franchises trademark.



We’re looking forward to playing the game very soon, so keep your eyes peeled for our exclusive on how we feel the game plays. We will be bringing you videos and plenty of snap-shots very soon, and exploring what extras the game has to offer to ‘Forza tragic’s’ like ourselves.

Check out the official trailer below!



Forza Horizons will be released starting from the 23th of October.

[team_v]

Not sure how i feel about this one.
Will wait and see how it goes before i buy.

[Ryan_R]

Tried the demo and couldn't get the wheel feeling very good - had issues getting the wheel setup nicely in FM4 too. You'd think with a Forza logo on the steering wheel it'd work a better. Not to mention the clutch pedal was mapped to the handbrake

Got it preordered since a few friends will be getting it as well and TDU1 servers were shutdown last month.

Should be a good timewaster when not testing/playing Project CARS.

[MattyT]

I'll probably give this one a miss. Not a fan of open world stuff in general.

[THE_EGG]

Tried the demo and couldn't get the wheel feeling very good - had issues getting the wheel setup nicely in FM4 too. You'd think with a Forza logo on the steering wheel it'd work a better. Not to mention the clutch pedal was mapped to the handbrake

Got it preordered since a few friends will be getting it as well and TDU1 servers were shutdown last month.

Should be a good timewaster when not testing/playing Project CARS.

Sounds to me like you have a Fanatec wheel! I'm so jealous of you if you do have one. I really wanted the GT2 Porsche wheel but I never managed to save up enough (buying my car etc) to buy one before they became discontinued and eventually sold out. How do you find the wheel?


I must admit, I'm not a fan of open, sandbox style of racing games (exception being TDU1). I just want to choose my car, race it, upgrade bits on it, race it again and buy more cars. Not waste time driving around randomly finding different things to do. I hope Turn10 make another normal Forza game in the not too distant future.

[Ryan_R]

Yep, took the plunge earlier this year and updated from the Logitech G25 to the Fanatec CSR Elite + Clubsport pedals, shortly followed by the TH8RS 7+1 H shifter and a special adapter that allows me to connect it directly to the wheel for use on consoles.

Cost a small fortune and when I first tried it I wasn't sure it was worth it's price (definitely better, but wasn't sure if it was $1300 better). Anyway been using it for about half a year now and had a chance to try Project CARS with another G25 recently and the difference was massive, and now I completely agree with those who said the G25 feels like a toy in comparison with the CSRE. Don't get me wrong, it's still a great wheel to start off with and I was happy with it for 5 years of ownership but progress has been made. The CSRE also can emulate a G25 by entering "PS3 mode" (works on PC's in this mode with the G25 drivers installed).

Only thing I don't like about Fanatec is the fact they're still only based in Germany which would make support/warranty issues tough. Their drivers/firmware aren't always that fantastic either, which is why I've never updated the software for my device since it works (I've read of others who updated and lost features or things felt worse), so it's worth doing a lot of reading and picking up a wheel that doesn't have hundreds of posts complaining about it Looks like I made a good choice.

[motorculture]

We all know you eager driving enthusiasts are keen to get your mits on the latest release from the Forza Franchise. But, is there anything that’s marginally different about the latest version?

You bet there is. It isn’t just the gameplay style, but everything from dirt roads to night time driving has been added to the latest incarnation of the award winning series.



So how can the best driving simulator, get any better? Well, the game has changed its format. It isn’t aimed to be an improvement on the last game, more of a branch off. Using a tweaked engine, the guys at Turn10 Studios have figured how to incorporate an open-world style of play into the game.



The player, when not racing of course, has the ability to free-roam. There are countless miles of city streets, busy B roads and even canyon passes. What can you do whilst you’re out on the prowl? Search for races, or just have a bit of sideways fun. It’s entirely up to the player.



Two huge factors we are truly looking forward to testing are the new dirt roads (complete with their own physics engine) and the night time driving experience.



Many of us have been craving that extra dimension to the game, and this time around Turn10 have delivered the goods. Not only is the dirt road physics engine going to change things up, but there are countless miles of winding dirt back roads that one can race along.



Even add a bit of dusk to the picture to get that true mountain run theme. Creating your own little drift / rally circuit by taking specific roads in a circuit will certainly add a lot of fun to the playability aspect of Forza Horizon.



Another cool new feature is the night time experience. We all know that cruising around at night adds a level of feel to driving, even if it is a computer simulation. That moment when you catch headlights in your rearview mirror, or at the opposite end of the scale, the moment you catch taillights on the uphill dash. These small quirks will provide us with a totally new Forza Experience.

So what are you waiting for? Pre-order your copy now! The game is set to be released on the 20th of October.

Check out the official Forza site - Forza Horizon | Australia - Xbox.com

And catch the official launch trailer below!

[Ryan_R]

Just curious as to what sort of sponsor you are?

Figured you were for Ch 73 with the Shannon's supercar showdown posts but not sure what they have to do with this video game...

again, just curious.

[THE_EGG]

I decided to give in and buy Forza Horizon a couple of days ago. I didn't have great expectations for it, but it is certainly much better than I thought it would be.

Pros.
- The open roam is actually pretty decent and has it's purposes for it, not just a gimmick.
- THEY HAVE THE CITROEN DS3 RACING :OOOO
- Voices sound pretty natural and real. No stuttering etc
- Good music available.
- Uses Forza 4 customization and upgrades.
- Good atmosphere/graphics (apart from the rims that turn into 2D at speed)
- Loading times are improved

Cons.
- Does not appear to have any where near the number of cars that were in Forza 4
- AI plays dirty and spins you out (just not as good as Forza 4)
- Cars feel relatively easy to control, even with the driving aids turned off (could be a 'pro' if you aren't great at racing games). Still not as real feeling as GT5 (in my opinion anyway). Forza 4 felt more realistic in the driving experience.
- Damage is only cosmetic (could be 'pro' if you like crashing).


I wouldn't say it's better or worse than Forza 4 but it's certainly different and aimed at a different audience. It is a lot more laid back and doesn't have me on the edge my seat like some races did in Forza 4.

7.5-8/10 from me

[Ryan_R]

Yeah good sum up, the physics aren't pro but they are predictable and credible which is all you can ask for in a game like this. My only -ve's are the small map (only just over 200 miles of road compared to 1000 miles in TDU1), and the photo mode (I could upload photos to FM.net (which you then have to download and re-upload somewhere else for permanent sharing), and after you fill up your slots you have to delete them in-game, which I'm unable to do thanks to an error). Not too worried about the number of cars since there's a nice collection there.

Here's some of my photos: