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Sneak Peak: Forza Horizon
By Justin Banner
Honestly, every game has to do it. Change the norm to keep the audience going and racing games are no different. You have to change things or you'll fall behind. However, you could view the direction of Forza Horizon as a radical change. Set in a fictional area of Colorado, you have hundreds of miles of roads to explore that are both paved and unpaved, you still do have races to win, and cars to unlock and win. This time, however, there will be a bit of a story to go along with it, too.
To quote the fact sheet about Horizon: “{C}{C}{C}{C}'Forza Horizon' combines legendary 'Forza Motorsport' authenticity with a festival atmosphere and the freedom of the open road. Launching this October on Xbox 360, 'Forza Horizon' offers an immersive pick-up-and-play open-road racing experience and features the unrivaled realism, diversity and innovation that are hallmarks of the 'Forza Motorsport' franchise.” Probably one of the cooler changes is they have included is the day to night cycle that occurs during gameplay. The sun goes down, the moon goes up, and your lights come on. That whole festival thing they mention, it's a music festival that goes on in the middle of town and when everything goes dark, it lights up with neon, light shows, and even fireworks that you can see in the distance, too. It is set up to be a pretty immersive experience. So, what do I think? First, let me take you through the experience I had previewing the game.
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| First thing I see when I pull in is the Id Agency Ford Focus. |
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| Yeah, it is a bit more form than function, but it still looks very clean and well thought out. The roof racks could come in handy. |
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| I was then greeted by this old Austin. |
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| Which was tiny compared to this Mercury “Woodie” wagon! |
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| Needless to say, I was stunned by the cars outside. I don't think they were even part of the attraction of the Horizon event. They were just kind of there. |
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| Of course the modern cars were there to make sure you didn't lose yourself into a retrospective before heading in. |
