Forza Horizon 2 Review (Xbox One)
Submitted on: Oct 02, 2014 by Robert Kollars
Very few developers have the reputation that Turn 10 has of Microsoft Studios, and they have it for a good reason. Having churned out quality Forza racing titles since 2005, the studio has always found a way to make each new release feel fresh and redesigned, without sacrificing the core formula that has made the Forza Franchise so beloved over the last decade-plus.
In 2012 the studio branched off from the standard Forza racing genre and released Forza Horizon on the Xbox 360. It was a different take on the Forza series, that saw the user dropped into a open world racing festival type atmosphere, and gave them the ability to play the game as they saw fit.
Here we are two years later, and now Turn 10 and Playground games is at it again, only this time they have power of the Xbox One to accompany them along their journey. Now the question is, is the journey worth it?
In 2012 the studio branched off from the standard Forza racing genre and released Forza Horizon on the Xbox 360. It was a different take on the Forza series, that saw the user dropped into a open world racing festival type atmosphere, and gave them the ability to play the game as they saw fit.
Here we are two years later, and now Turn 10 and Playground games is at it again, only this time they have power of the Xbox One to accompany them along their journey. Now the question is, is the journey worth it?
Gameplay
Being just 2 years removed from its initial release, the developers had big shoes to fill, and boy have they filled them. Topping almost every aspect of its predecessor, Horizon 2 does so much right in the game-play department. From the difficult melding of arcade and simulation driving styles, to simplistic vehicle upgrades, the game is accessible to most, if not all types of fans. Whether you’re navigating through the tightly twisted turns of France, or ripping through the grape fields of Italy, the game offers fun at almost every turn. One can follow the storyline of the Horizon Festival in a linear fashion, or simply wreak independent havoc on the cities and countryside’s of the many different locals.
Initially you will find yourself sitting behind the wheel of basic vehicles, but as you progress you will have the ability to purchase or earn new rides by completing in-game goals. What’s nice about Horizon 2 is that even if you choose not to follow the predetermined path of Horizon champion, you are still given the ability to earn, purchase, and upgrade your cars. The game allows users to participate in side activities such and rival races, free roam, or online road trip. All of these events and activities will reward you in some form, and of course, there are hidden ways to earn a multitude of cash and cars without even entering a single event.
Forza Horizon 2 is an arcade racer at heart, but mixes in strong doses of simulation aspects to appeal to the hardcore crowd. It requires one to feather around the corners properly, use precision skills to pass someone cleanly, and if you turn assists off, you better understand how each car individually handles, and the layout of the course you are racing. Speaking of assists, the game offers up a wide variety of ways to race in both difficulty and style, and it is almost impossible for someone not to find settings that will suit them. You can literally turn off or on, and any combination in between, of assists, and those can be changed over the course of your time with the game at anytime.
One final word on the game-play, and that simply is this. I have never raced a game that offers so much fun and excitement, whether you are driving a high performance sports car, or an off-road vehicle such as a Jeep Rubicon. Each particular vehicle you purchase or win has its own distinct style, and offers their own brand of fun.
Being just 2 years removed from its initial release, the developers had big shoes to fill, and boy have they filled them. Topping almost every aspect of its predecessor, Horizon 2 does so much right in the game-play department. From the difficult melding of arcade and simulation driving styles, to simplistic vehicle upgrades, the game is accessible to most, if not all types of fans. Whether you’re navigating through the tightly twisted turns of France, or ripping through the grape fields of Italy, the game offers fun at almost every turn. One can follow the storyline of the Horizon Festival in a linear fashion, or simply wreak independent havoc on the cities and countryside’s of the many different locals.
Initially you will find yourself sitting behind the wheel of basic vehicles, but as you progress you will have the ability to purchase or earn new rides by completing in-game goals. What’s nice about Horizon 2 is that even if you choose not to follow the predetermined path of Horizon champion, you are still given the ability to earn, purchase, and upgrade your cars. The game allows users to participate in side activities such and rival races, free roam, or online road trip. All of these events and activities will reward you in some form, and of course, there are hidden ways to earn a multitude of cash and cars without even entering a single event.
Forza Horizon 2 is an arcade racer at heart, but mixes in strong doses of simulation aspects to appeal to the hardcore crowd. It requires one to feather around the corners properly, use precision skills to pass someone cleanly, and if you turn assists off, you better understand how each car individually handles, and the layout of the course you are racing. Speaking of assists, the game offers up a wide variety of ways to race in both difficulty and style, and it is almost impossible for someone not to find settings that will suit them. You can literally turn off or on, and any combination in between, of assists, and those can be changed over the course of your time with the game at anytime.
One final word on the game-play, and that simply is this. I have never raced a game that offers so much fun and excitement, whether you are driving a high performance sports car, or an off-road vehicle such as a Jeep Rubicon. Each particular vehicle you purchase or win has its own distinct style, and offers their own brand of fun.
Career
The offering from Turn 10/Playground Games delivers its own version of career mode. Instead of racing a predetermined schedule or path, Forza allows players to jump around and enjoy all different types of disciplines at any given time. You can jump straight from off-road to street racing, to extreme off road, and back to road courses, and it all counts towards your final goal of becoming Horizon Festival champion. There are different championships, and within each championship one will find a set number of races. Each race will allocate a number of points towards the championship depending on how you finish, and as the winner is the racer who has accumulated the highest number of points at the end of each championship, aggregate style.
I am personally a huge fan of this style of “career mode,” as it doesn’t dictate what I do, or how I do it. The game lays the groundwork, and lets the user build it brick by brick, and at their own pace and style. One of the few knocks on this gem is that navigating your way through the map is a little messy at times, and sometimes you may feel lost. Once you truly understand it all, and grasp what the game is allowing you to do, than the world map becomes easy to read and understand.
You will notice that even in career mode, one can set and change the difficulty at any time, and of course the higher the difficulty, the higher the reward. In all my time with the game, the racing was fun, challenging, and fair. The Forza “Drivatars” return, and I felt like they raced aggressive, but clean. One has to earn the right to pass, but there are plenty of opportunities to do just that over the course of the race. Horizon Festival career mode will keep you busy for a very long time, and every twist and turn along the way is just as fun and beautiful as the previous one.
The offering from Turn 10/Playground Games delivers its own version of career mode. Instead of racing a predetermined schedule or path, Forza allows players to jump around and enjoy all different types of disciplines at any given time. You can jump straight from off-road to street racing, to extreme off road, and back to road courses, and it all counts towards your final goal of becoming Horizon Festival champion. There are different championships, and within each championship one will find a set number of races. Each race will allocate a number of points towards the championship depending on how you finish, and as the winner is the racer who has accumulated the highest number of points at the end of each championship, aggregate style.
I am personally a huge fan of this style of “career mode,” as it doesn’t dictate what I do, or how I do it. The game lays the groundwork, and lets the user build it brick by brick, and at their own pace and style. One of the few knocks on this gem is that navigating your way through the map is a little messy at times, and sometimes you may feel lost. Once you truly understand it all, and grasp what the game is allowing you to do, than the world map becomes easy to read and understand.
You will notice that even in career mode, one can set and change the difficulty at any time, and of course the higher the difficulty, the higher the reward. In all my time with the game, the racing was fun, challenging, and fair. The Forza “Drivatars” return, and I felt like they raced aggressive, but clean. One has to earn the right to pass, but there are plenty of opportunities to do just that over the course of the race. Horizon Festival career mode will keep you busy for a very long time, and every twist and turn along the way is just as fun and beautiful as the previous one.
Multiplayer
Just like to rest of Forza Horizon 2, the ability to race online is seamless and easy to do. Literally with one touch of the controller, you will find yourself ready to face other users, and during our testing it was flawless and fun. What’s even better is the fact that there are no lobbies, no waiting, just racing.
There are multiple online modes, including a co-op bucket list, in which you and a friend search for hidden exotic cars around the map, and each car has a certain goal that needs to be achieved in it while driving. It could be as simple as surpassing a certain MPH while in speed-trap mode, or hitting a certain number of big-air jumps during a designated time frame. No matter what, the bucket list is a lot of fun, and will keep you(and your friend) busy for hours.
Another option available online is once again the ability to create a car club. Once the club is created, members can join, and the group can race other groups for skill points and online supremacy. The club can have up to 1,000 members, and allows the user to decide what type drivers he wants in the “club.” Overall the online portion is pretty straightforward, but offers a solid and unique racing experience.
Just like to rest of Forza Horizon 2, the ability to race online is seamless and easy to do. Literally with one touch of the controller, you will find yourself ready to face other users, and during our testing it was flawless and fun. What’s even better is the fact that there are no lobbies, no waiting, just racing.
There are multiple online modes, including a co-op bucket list, in which you and a friend search for hidden exotic cars around the map, and each car has a certain goal that needs to be achieved in it while driving. It could be as simple as surpassing a certain MPH while in speed-trap mode, or hitting a certain number of big-air jumps during a designated time frame. No matter what, the bucket list is a lot of fun, and will keep you(and your friend) busy for hours.
Another option available online is once again the ability to create a car club. Once the club is created, members can join, and the group can race other groups for skill points and online supremacy. The club can have up to 1,000 members, and allows the user to decide what type drivers he wants in the “club.” Overall the online portion is pretty straightforward, but offers a solid and unique racing experience.
Final Thoughts
If you were one of the fans who felt Forza 5 was a bit dull and lifeless, than it would be a disservice to yourself not to pick up Forza Horizon 2. Excitement is there to be had and almost every turn, and the game is so fun and deep, it makes it hard to put the controller down. Whether it’s furthering your festival progress, racing your rivals or simply driving to your next location, the game is beautiful to see in motion, and just as fun to race. The developers have eclipsed the original release in almost every way possible, and this is a title that is not to be missed. The racing is exciting, the visuals are often jaw dropping, and the depth of the title will have you wanting more the minute you turn the system off.
If you’re a fan of the first Horizon title, or just Forza in general, than Forza Horizon 2 is a must own exclusive.
Learning Curve – If you’re new to the series, the driving nuances will take a bit to understand and get under control. If you’re familiar with the Forza series, than you will feel right at home.
Visuals – In motion, the game is almost photo realistic, and standing still, it’s just about as nice. The locations are stunning, the car models are authentic looking, and the day-to-night transitions are outstanding. Let us not forget the weather effects either, because they are handled just as superbly.
Audio – The cars sound authentic, and the festival crowd is energetic and on point – at far as we could tell from sitting in a car at least. The soundtrack coincides nicely with the overall festival atmosphere, and storyline voice-acting comes across organic.
Value – Forza Horizon 2 is deep and unique, and well worth the full retail price. There are very few titles, let alone racing titles, that pack this much value into one game, but Forza Horizon 2 does so almost perfectly.
Score – 9.0 (All-Time Classic)
If you were one of the fans who felt Forza 5 was a bit dull and lifeless, than it would be a disservice to yourself not to pick up Forza Horizon 2. Excitement is there to be had and almost every turn, and the game is so fun and deep, it makes it hard to put the controller down. Whether it’s furthering your festival progress, racing your rivals or simply driving to your next location, the game is beautiful to see in motion, and just as fun to race. The developers have eclipsed the original release in almost every way possible, and this is a title that is not to be missed. The racing is exciting, the visuals are often jaw dropping, and the depth of the title will have you wanting more the minute you turn the system off.
If you’re a fan of the first Horizon title, or just Forza in general, than Forza Horizon 2 is a must own exclusive.
Learning Curve – If you’re new to the series, the driving nuances will take a bit to understand and get under control. If you’re familiar with the Forza series, than you will feel right at home.
Visuals – In motion, the game is almost photo realistic, and standing still, it’s just about as nice. The locations are stunning, the car models are authentic looking, and the day-to-night transitions are outstanding. Let us not forget the weather effects either, because they are handled just as superbly.
Audio – The cars sound authentic, and the festival crowd is energetic and on point – at far as we could tell from sitting in a car at least. The soundtrack coincides nicely with the overall festival atmosphere, and storyline voice-acting comes across organic.
Value – Forza Horizon 2 is deep and unique, and well worth the full retail price. There are very few titles, let alone racing titles, that pack this much value into one game, but Forza Horizon 2 does so almost perfectly.
Score – 9.0 (All-Time Classic)
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