Playground Games, made up of ex-Bizarre and Codemasters employees, take the wheel (pun intended) on Forza Horizon. You start out the demo driving the Dodge Viper GTS, eventually race in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR, and then finally go behind a Ford Mustang Boss 429. From the first race, which takes place on a dirt road, you can easily tell past DiRT developers helped on this game with the feel of the cars on dirt.

The controls feel solid when driving off-road, and the cars handle appropriately. The cars will get loose, but no so much that you feel like you don't have control of where it's going. Overall, the gameplay felt solid and nothing that casual racing fans can't the hang of pretty quickly.

You can change the difficulty of A.I. opponents and various assists to your own liking. Doing so will net you more credits and the same options are here from past Forza games. The credit system this time around works very similar to the way Kudos were handled in the Project Gotham Racing series. As previously mentioned, ex-Bizarre Creations employees worked on Forza Horizon, and that's the studio that developed PGR. You gain them from doing such things in races and free-roam like slingshots, getting top speed, and even sideswiping other cars.

Asynchronous gameplay does come into play in the demo and will probably factor in a lot once the game releases. You can choose to race your friends ghost for extra credits after every event. Beating their time will earn you even more credits to spend on cars. Both the rewinds (which is now the "Y" button instead of the "back" button) and racing line return. That can be messed with, as with past games, if you are not a fan of them.

Just from my time with the demo, it looks like you'll be able to drive to a lot of places in Colorado -- as the map does look to be pretty huge. After you complete the three races inside with the demo, you can free-roam around the area included; giving you the ability to try out those events again if you like or just try and get the lay of the land.

Some of the same assets are used from Forza 4, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The cars still look absolutely gorgeous, and the damage modeling looks improved and is actually quite nice (but you don't want to see too much of that). The overall look of the game is very appealing and vibrant; colors pop on the screen during the daytime setting. It's also pretty exhilarating to be in a race and then all of a sudden a plane fly right over you.

Hardcore fans of the Forza franchise might not like the route this game is taking, but it's still worth a try anyway, as it is definitely a more laid back experience. If you're somebody who is a fan of arcade racers but could never get into the series, the demo is just for you. Personally, after playing the demo, my excitement for the game multiplied by ten. You can tell that the group behind Forza Horizon know how to make a fun, successful, arcade racing game.

By mixing in the fundamentals of the Forza franchise, with open-world, and arcade goodness, you get a game that will surely rival Need for Speed: Most Wanted.

 

Be sure to check back later this month for our full review of Forza Horizon.