During the madness of E3 I got a chance to sit down and play Forza Horizon 2, Microsoft’s next entry into the world of open world racing. I have to say that I was quite excited to get a chance to do so as the first game on the Xbox 360 was one of my favourite racing titles in the past few years. To finally get to play the long rumoured sequel kind of brought out the racing game fanboy in me, but I did manage to look at the game objectively and I have to say that the at this juncture things are looking GOOD.
A new setting has been introduced this time around as the game leaves the confines of Colorado and takes place in Europe. This new location adds some great scenery, from quaint towns, mountain vistas, to stoic vineyards and rolling farmland. The demo track that we got to race on was only a minuscule slice of what was to come and even it had a wide array of scenery to sample.
First off, for those “tech-hounds” out there, Forza Horizon 2 runs in native 1080p at 30fps. Now, I know that most people say that the holy grail of games run at 60fps, but after playing with the three different cars (Chevrolet Corvette, Nissan Skyline and Lamborghini Huracan) I was somewhat impressed by the stability and speed of the on-screen action. Cars move quickly about the screen, and this includes when me and the other cars took a timely shortcut through a vineyard, ripping up row and rows of grapevines. On a side note, during a special event at E3 I had a chance to speak with one of the dev-team members and he stated that the draw distance is about 100ikm, which is damn impressive to say the least.
The biggest addition to the gameplay, and the visuals, are weather and night racing. As we raced down the track we were hit with a sudden summer storm. The rain effects were amazing and when I switched to the in-car view and I was amazed to see the water being washed off the front window by the windshield wipers. If you watch how the rain affects the ground, you can see it fill the cracks of the street, or in between bricks on a cobble street road, and then start to pool on the ground. Heck, even different cars kick up spray differently. Its details like these that are quite amazing and should make you appreciate the work that went into it. It should quiet the nay-sayers out there who have been complaining about weather not being in past Forza games. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to play a track at night, but I have to say that I have faith that it will look just as good the day time driving.
Of course I am sure the biggest question is how the game feels as you drive. Well, I am happy to report that it smooth and responsive. It took me a bit of time to get used to the twitchiness of racing through the twisty mountainous sections and get used to cutting through a picturesque vineyars or farm land, all the while sitting behind the wheel of a very expensive street car, but it didn’t take me long to get into the groove and start passing cars along the way. Traffic plays an important part again as you’ll be dodging in and out of incoming traffic, as well as those that hog your same direction lane. You’ll also find some alternate paths along the various routes too, as was evidenced by an off-road section that ran below and parallel to the road we were racing on.
Given that Forza Horizon 2 is founded on Forza 5 technology, drivatars are included in this open world sequel, and they add to the unpredictability when racing offline. Offline opponents will race where your friend’s race….so if one of your online friends tends to race on more shortcuts their drivatar will do so when you race offline. It’s kind of neat given that the open setting of Forza Horizon 2 will allow for more evidence of how your friend’s drivatars race on track when you are playing offline.
If my time with the demo was indicative of what the final game is going to be like, I have to say that I am even more excited to play the game when it launches this September. For those looking for even more detailed information about the development and details of the game, I had a chance for a “Behind Closed Doors” meeting and will be posting that interview in the next week, so feel free to check back then.
