Forza Horizon News Post

Forza Horizon Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

10:16 AM - October 9, 2012 by Steve_OS

The Forza Horizon demo is available now for Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers (queue it up right here). It weighs in at 1.57 GB. Not a gold member? You'll receive it next week.

Get some racing in and post your impressions.

Quote:


	Players who download the "Forza Horizon" demo and then purchase and play the full game online will receive a specially designed 2013 SRT Viper GTS, celebrating Forza Horizon's "gone-gold" status. This rare liveried car will only be available to those who download the demo and purchase and play the game online. The "Forza Horizon" Xbox LIVE demo requires an Xbox LIVE account. To receive your free Viper you will need Gold member exclusive access.

Game: Forza HorizonReader Score: 8/10 - Vote Now
Platform: Xbox 360Votes for game: 7 - View All

Forza Horizon Videos

Member Comments

# 1 Tomba @ 10/09/12 10:58 AM

It's a demo....

+ Color in the shade is correct
+ Night time driving is very well done
+ Textures on mountains is great
+ Cars are detailed
- Handling even with assisted is not smooth
/ Overall sense of speed is decent
- Terrains effects are very weak compared to games like Dirt3 or even Sega Rally
- Have a feeling that the overall "fall feeling" will get old quick.

Feels like a mix between all that is good with forza all that was good with tes drive unlimted and everything that was bad from rockstars racing game

# 2 ECPackers @ 10/09/12 12:33 PM

i think the handling feels great, especially at speed...very sim style (as i'd expect of forza) instead of crappy arcade like....

this game seems pretty legit, i'm thinking it'll score in the mid-high 9's

# 3 Smooth_Tee1 @ 10/09/12 02:20 PM

Excited about getting the full game, the demo is great .. good to have that car detail from Forza in an open world, waiting to drive the other cars on game ,looks like it wil be a great game.

# 4 pk500 @ 10/09/12 02:32 PM

A bit disappointed with this demo.

The environments are beautiful, and the concept of this game is very cool. But the driving model is mediocre. Very lazy, with a distinct lack of feel, even with all assists turned off. That phenomenon is exacerbated during off-road free roaming or races, as the force feedback is poor on dirt roads.

Forza always has placed its players into a physics purgatory. The game doesn't feature the ludicrous slides of an arcade racer, but it also never has featured the proper weight-based physics of a real sim.

This game is no different. It's a very somnabulent driving model. It lacks weight and feel.

But this game appears to include many fun race styles, unlockables and a huge variety of roads. Will be really fun to race online, especially against friends.

Hmm. I probably can overlook the sleepy, floaty driving model to have eight cylinders of fun with friends.

# 5 TajDeni @ 10/09/12 03:45 PM

anyone else receive an error message from x-live when attempting to download this demo?

# 6 razorkaos @ 10/09/12 05:32 PM

in one word: amazing. when this game was anounced, i thought it wuld be a crappy copy of NFS, but i was wrong, and i cant tell how much i loved this demo. forza horizon can be one of the greatest games of the year. i like racing in different enviroments, and even loving the forza and gt series, im a rally games fan, and i like the fact that in horizon we have different kinds of tracks. and, on a sidenote, im brazilian, and after fifa 13s poor localization, i cant be happier about what these guys made with horizon. the game is fully localized to brazilian portuguese, and with a high quality, and believe me, its a rare case.

# 7 pk500 @ 10/10/12 01:22 AM

Drove this baby for about another 75 minutes tonight, and I must admit it's REALLY growing on me.

The reason is simple: It's FUN as hell.

I approached my first experience with the demo this afternoon in the same anal, cynical fashion with which I critique any new racing game. How are the physics? How is the grip model? The weight? The tactile feel?

Yeah, I'd still like all of these to be a bit better in Forza Horizon.

But they're not. Yet the game is still fun as hell. This is such a complete package. So much to do, whether it's street racing, racing against a P-51 Mustang, finding accessory discount signs to smash, trying to beat Friends' speeds through speed traps, etc.

Perhaps my favorite thing to do is just free roam and find other fast cars to race or dodge in and out of traffic. Reminds of when I played GTA III and IV and spent more time running over pedestrians and cruising Liberty City than attempting missions.

The attention to detail is superb in so many aspects of this game. I've found myself stopping on the shoulder and using the free look to admire the scenery. I love how the headlight sensor automatically turns on the headlights at dusk. The lighting used in the transition from night to sunrise is beautiful. And the music selections rock. Great mix of techno and cool rock like Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys, Hives, etc. I'm sure there will be even more tunes in the full release.

I'd love for the driving model to be a bit closer to my personal nirvana for a console game. But I'm willing to overlook that just because this game puts a bigger smile on my face the longer I play it.

It's not iRacing. It's not TOCA 3. It's not Richard Burns Rally. It's Forza Horizon, and it's fun as hell. I think it will be a big hit with my two sons and with buddies. That's a winner.

# 8 ExtremeGamer @ 10/10/12 06:06 AM

I'm in love. The game is everything I hoped it would be. The details of Forza just had a baby with Project Gotham Racing and Forza Horizon just popped out (makes sense with a lot of the old PGR team working on it).

The game is everything an "arcade" racer should be. Fun, fast, and fun.

Love the details like when it turns night and your dashboard glows. Love how there's different headlights. Love the real traffic. Love having other races go on while you're driving around. The free roam stuff is a winner. I spent 10 minutes trying to beat a speed trap time, that's just the demo messing around, can't imagine what retail will have to unfold.

I was going back and forth on getting this or NFS, was getting both but know I won't give both enough attention right away. NFS has been canceled for now and will pick it up later. Forza will satisfy all those racing needs.

# 9 ExtremeGamer @ 10/10/12 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pk500


	And the music selections rock. Great mix of techno and cool rock like Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys, Hives, etc. I'm sure there will be even more tunes in the full release.

Long time PK, how you been?

Anyway, yeah, just a bit

Quote:


	Forza Horizon Track List Horizon Bass Arena: Levels (Skrillex Mix) - Avicii Reckless (With Your Love) - Azari & III Cinema (Skrillex Remix) - Benny Benassi Blind Faith (feat. Liam Bailey) - Chase & Status Hot Mess (feat Elly Jackson) (Duck Sauce Mix) - Chromeo Encore - Digitalism The Power (feat. Dizzee Rascal) - DJ Fresh Silicone Lube - Feed Me Lies (Alex Metric Remix) - Fenech-Soler Icarus - Madeon Show Me A Sign - Modestep Lick The Rainbow - Mord Fustang Remanence (Junior Remix) - Mr Magnetik Me & You - Nero Reaching Out (Fred Falke Remix) - Nero Blue Monday - New Order Language - Porter Robinson Everyday (Netsky VIP Remix) - Rusko Somebody to Love (Sigma Remix) - Rusko The Hope - Scuba Bass 4 - The Hacker Illmerica (Extended Version) - Wolfgang Gartner Horizon Pulse: Need You Now - Cut Copy Awake - Electric Guest Walking on a Dream - Empire of the Sun Iron Deer Dream (Chad Valley Remix) - Fixers Don't Stop (Color on the Walls) - Foster The People Hawaiian Air - Friendly Fires Hurting - Friendly Fires No Love -Hooray for Earth Over & Over - Hot Chip Black, White and Blue - Ladyhawke Let Me Go - Maverick Sabre Paddling Out - Miike Snow Life is Life (Yuksek Remix) - Noah and the Whale Take A Walk - Passion Pit 1901 - Phoenix Bom Bom - Sam and the Womp Disparate Youth - Santigold Spirit of the Night - Tesla Boy Pelican - The Maccabees Punching in a Dream - The Naked & Famous Aroused - Tom Vek Something Good Can Work (The Twelves Remix) - Two Door Cinema Club Yeah Yeah - Willy Moon Horizon Rocks: R U Mine - Arctic Monkeys Lonely Boy - Black Keys The Infected - Four Year Strong Back of your Neck - Howler Give It Up - LCD Soundsystem Bring Em Down - Lostprophets We Bring An Arsenal - Lostprophets Teenager - Mona Animal - Neon Trees Wildfire, Smoke & Doom - Pulled Apart By Horses Lazy Eye - Silversun Pickups Surrender - The Duke Spirit Away from Here - The Enemy Had Enough - The Enemy Hate To Say I Told You - The Hives She Bangs The Drums - The Stone Roses Rock n Roll Queen - The Subways Motoring - TOY Bug - Wavves Farewell to the Fairground - White Lies Bite My Tongue (feat. Oli Sykes) - You Me At Six Get Away - Yuck

# 10 Dazraz @ 10/10/12 10:28 AM

Is it me or is this game eerily similar to Dirt 2, right down to the presentation. Anyway we know how that game ended up, with Codemasters reverting to a much more traditional rallying approach with Dirt 3. Forza Horizon is, to me, a spot of franchise milking. Sure if you like arcade racers it will be your thing but for me I will hang on for Forza 4.

# 11 CaptainZombie @ 10/10/12 10:43 AM

I tried the demo last night and was left pretty impressed by Horizon. I love having an simcade racer where you can drive in the cockpit. For me this is a mix of old NFS + TDU + FM all rolled into one.

Some of the Codemasters guys are on this team and you can tell the work they contributed with, the menu's. LOL! These menus look so close to the Dirt franchise its not even funny.

The Colorado scenery is just plain beautiful to drive around and enjoy the visuals. Even seeing the birds flying in the sky is a nice touch. I think the visuals are a slight downgrade from FM4 in some areas but not anything that would detract me from loving this game. For a racer, the 30FPS works really well having this locked in. The night and day cycles are an awesome addition to the Forza franchise.

Some have complained about the soundtrack reading around, it doesn't bother me one bit and actually like it. I wonder if the cars will have louder sound effects to match FM4 in the retail version. My only complaint is that I wish the crashes felt more like I was crashing into another vehicle instead of just bouncing off the vehicle and continuing on. Granted this is more on the arcade side, but would of been cool.

Racing planes is a neat idea and I can't wait to see how it is in the full game. I also do like Rivals based on your friends list. Also incorporating speed trials based off of your friends list with the speed traps is cool too, which is right out of Paradise City.

One other thing, which arcade racer gives you 200 fully modeled cars with cockpit views and gearbox out of the box? Then add the overly priced season pass to add even more vehicles, this is a nice overall package.

I felt like there was something missing, but with this being a demo, I can't quite put my finger on it. I think the addition of cops would of been cool, but that could be in Horizon 2. I still want to see NFS:MW, but to me that game from all the videos I have seen is a re-skinned Paradise City considering how much time I spent playing it single player and with many friends off of OS.

Do we know if there is any kind of replay engine for this game? This would be awesome if there was one.

# 12 ExtremeGamer @ 10/10/12 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dazraz


	Is it me or is this game eerily similar to Dirt 2, right down to the presentation. Anyway we know how that game ended up, with Codemasters reverting to a much more traditional rallying approach with Dirt 3. Forza Horizon is, to me, a spot of franchise milking. Sure if you like arcade racers it will be your thing but for me I will hang on for Forza 4.

Former members of Codemasters and Bizarre Creations made the game, so it would make sense to have a Dirt influence.

# 13 ExtremeGamer @ 10/10/12 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainZombie


	I tried the demo last night and was left pretty impressed by Horizon. I love having an simcade racer where you can drive in the cockpit. For me this is a mix of old NFS + TDU + FM all rolled into one. Some of the Codemasters guys are on this team and you can tell the work they contributed with, the menu's. LOL! These menus look so close to the Dirt franchise its not even funny. The Colorado scenery is just plain beautiful to drive around and enjoy the visuals. Even seeing the birds flying in the sky is a nice touch. I think the visuals are a slight downgrade from FM4 in some areas but not anything that would detract me from loving this game. For a racer, the 30FPS works really well having this locked in. The night and day cycles are an awesome addition to the Forza franchise. Some have complained about the soundtrack reading around, it doesn't bother me one bit and actually like it. I wonder if the cars will have louder sound effects to match FM4 in the retail version. My only complaint is that I wish the crashes felt more like I was crashing into another vehicle instead of just bouncing off the vehicle and continuing on. Granted this is more on the arcade side, but would of been cool. Racing planes is a neat idea and I can't wait to see how it is in the full game. I also do like Rivals based on your friends list. Also incorporating speed trials based off of your friends list with the speed traps is cool too, which is right out of Paradise City. One other thing, which arcade racer gives you 200 fully modeled cars with cockpit views and gearbox out of the box? Then add the overly priced season pass to add even more vehicles, this is a nice overall package. I felt like there was something missing, but with this being a demo, I can't quite put my finger on it. I think the addition of cops would of been cool, but that could be in Horizon 2. I still want to see NFS:MW, but to me that game from all the videos I have seen is a re-skinned Paradise City considering how much time I spent playing it single player and with many friends off of OS. Do we know if there is any kind of replay engine for this game? This would be awesome if there was one.

You got another 360? Please re-add me!! I thougth you were out of the 360 market for good LOL Always good to have more friends to compete with for this game!

# 14 CaptainZombie @ 10/10/12 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExtremeGamer


	You got another 360? Please re-add me!! I thougth you were out of the 360 market for good LOL Always good to have more friends to compete with for this game!

Yeah I did this past weekend. Give me credit, i haven't had a 360 since last December.

I had PS3 network issues a few weeks ago for 2 weeks, so it really was irritating when you have downloads taking 100,000 minutes on a 30mb connection.

I'll add you.

# 15 CaptainZombie @ 10/10/12 12:10 PM

# 16 lnin0 @ 10/10/12 05:10 PM

While the Forza physics engine has been toned down it still has that distinctive Forza weight and feel to it. The game itself looks beautiful and it is fresh change of pace driving a car instead of a torpedo. A happy addition to the sparse sim-cade genre and a bit of soul for a series that has always struggled to find one.

I wish we could get a bigger taste of the game, especially the multiplayer, customization and the full scope of the map. All are going to be big factors to the longevity of this game.

Is there a way to trigger on the spot races with the AI you see driving around? (like flashing headlights at them?)

Has anyone figured out how to get over to the small track section on the right side of the map? It is visible so I assume there is a way to unlock it .. or maybe its just an oversight.

# 17 pk500 @ 10/10/12 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lnin0


	While the Forza physics engine has been toned down it still has that distinctive Forza weight and feel to it. The game itself looks beautiful and it is fresh change of pace driving a car instead of a torpedo. A happy addition to the sparse sim-cade genre and a bit of soul for a series that has always struggled to find one. I wish we could get a bigger taste of the game, especially the multiplayer, customization and the full scope of the map. All are going to be big factors to the longevity of this game. Is there a way to trigger on the spot races with the AI you see driving around? (like flashing headlights at them?) Has anyone figured out how to get over to the small track section on the right side of the map? It is visible so I assume there is a way to unlock it .. or maybe its just an oversight.

"Sim-cade" -- perfect description, dude.

# 18 18 eighty 5 @ 10/15/12 08:46 PM

For an open world racer Forza Horizon is looking fantastic. The ambience of the visuals lend themselves well to a party racing vibe but also for casual, virtual wind in your hair exploring. The visuals are stunning and the handling of the cars is more than adequate for this type of game. The noticeable weight is obvious through the controller and makes the statement that these cars are built only for the road, as opposed to other titles which make the vehicles look like cars but by the way they handle it becomes evident that they are actually hover crafts in disguise.

Already, for me, this game has entered the genre of laid back, play for fun titles like TDU and the Skate series, even Just Cause 2. Great games that provide virtual worlds where most of the fun is directed by the player and not the strictures of progression driven by the game. I think FH is more about the experiencing of driving for the fun of driving rather than the fun of racing, but you still get that too.

FH is a good deviation, feels and looks like quality so far.

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Forza Horizon Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here