Forza Horizon (Xbox 360)

Before forza horizon got released I watched quite a lot of game-play videos and I liked the look of the game. then I played the demo which made me pre-order a copy. but the thing is when I normally see a driving game that has forza in the title I usually stay clear of it as I find the forza franchise to be not my kind of game. I love driving games but I like driving games to give me a rush of adrenaline something that I just personally find lacking in the forza motorsport games. but in forza horizon I can drive a whole load of exotic cars at great speeds and drive round corners at a speed that I feel is realistic to the speed that I can drive my own car around a corner at speed in real life without sliding off the road. but as well as driving around corners the handling of each car feels unique and true to the way you feel the car should behave. if you are using the official xbox force feedback steering wheel with foot peddles then again the weight and feel of the road is spot on and the force feedback and rocking of the wheel when you go from smooth tarmac to bumpy dirt track is good without feeling that you have to wrestle with the wheel to keep control which you might find in other proper rally games. but not only is the game great with a wheel it also handles exceptionally well with the control pad. I find some driving games with a pad can make the car feel twitchy and not under your complete control but in this game its slick and smooth. the only problem with the pad is you wont get that feeling of driving on smooth tarmac and then rough dirt tracks. and when you get some air time you don't get the feeling of the steering wheel feeling light to turn but its still works really well with a pad.now for the game-play. you have single player campaign and on-line multi-player. in single player the whole map is opened up right from the start of the game so you can drive anywhere you want as long as it is on the roads but you can't smash through a crash barrier and go anywhere you want. but this is not a problem as all the roads in the game have been well designed and thought out so that you have twisty windy tarmac and dirt roads, long fast straight motorways and urban built up streets layouts. also dotted about the map are fast travel point that you have to pay for the fast travel using your game credits. but if you complete the 3 challenges at each of these zones then you can fast travel to these locations for free.along all the roads you will find discount signs that if you smash through you get a 1% discount on buying upgrades for you car like a new engine. there are 100 of these signs dotted about the map and finding them becomes a challenge in itself.there are also speed cameras and average speed cameras doted about on most roads and the object of these is not to drive slow but to drive as fast as you can past them and get the fastest speed that will be posted on your friends message board and asking them if they want to challenge your speed.as you drive about you will also come across lots of rival cars that are A.I. controlled. basically if you want to race one of these cars then you just drive up behind them and then you get told to press X if you want to race them. then you will start racing that car from where you are on map to a different location on the map and if you win you get cash credits to spend on buying new cars or upgrades.there is also a sort of xp that you can level up in the game. you don't get this by winning races you get it by showing off doing burnouts, drifting, near misses on cars, and getting air time to name a few. if you can link all these things together in chains without crashing into another car or crashing into a crash barrier then you get massive amounts of this xp that all goes towards you being the number 1 by the in-game fans.the other thing that will become available to you as you progress through the game are barn finds. at certain times in the game you will get told that there is a rumour that there is an old banger of a classic car in barn hidden in a shaded out part of the map. if you find the car at the barn then you get to keep the car after it gets restored for free back to its original state. there are 9 of these barn finds but they are not as easy to find as you might think.then there are the actual game races. they start with one or two and then you get more and more as you go through the game. each race can be entered at any time as long as you have the car class for that race. if you don't then you will get asked before the start of the race if you would like to buy one saving you any travelling about to garages to find or buy a new car. I find the races quite tough to get 1st place on the medium setting in some races. so the fact that there are a few more harder setting in the game shows you that its not a game that you can stroll through if you like a challenge.then last of all you have the free roam. yes just driving about in the map is a real pleasure in this game as you watch the the day turn to night while listening to the best music track list in a driving game to date. and that's coming from a middle aged guy that does like all sorts of music including new current dance and guitar bands. if I had to make a complaint it would only be that I'd have liked some form of urban hip-hop as well but that's only my personal taste.well I think I've covered single player so now onto on-line multi player.on-line is just the same map as in single player except there is no traffic on the roads. its just you and the 8 other people that might join on a server. now this might seem like a bad point to some but having no traffic actually makes multi-player a fun place to be. you can race in a completely different way and style from the single player map. doing drag races down the long empty motorways, drifting and cutting corners on the normal roads as you get the best racing line and try and beat your friends speed cameras times. if you can think up a game in your head to do with your friends then you can do it without getting stuck behind slow moving traffic and getting slowed down weaving in and out of cars. but even if you playing alone on multi-player you can still join in with other people doing whatever it is they are doing.but as well as free roam on-line there are loads of great pre-made games for you to join with up to 8 other players. like lap races, point to point races, cat and mouse, king (game of tag set in an arena.try and be 'it' and don't get tagged by someone else or they become 'it'), and infected (set in an arena, someone is infected and has to tag someone else to infect them. then all other infected players try to get the others that are still not infected until everyone is infected). coming 1st, 2nd and 3rd in all these games wins you random amounts of cash and cars every time you level up.and I forgot to add as well as buying new cars you can paint and decorate them anyway you want. you can join a car club share all your cars with the other club members so that they can drive them if they want. there is not the anywhere as near the amount of cars in forza horizon as in the other forza games. I think about 150 cars in the basic game without buying DLC.and as for weather. it is always a sunny day in forza horizon. but then I don't think you get much more than sun in Colorado in the middle of the summer which is where and when the game is set. so rain and snow just wouldn't fit in right in this game.and I also nearly forgot the graphics in this game will blow you away. the amount of detail on all the cars and the scenery in the world is top notch.so to end with I knew I wanted to write a review to let other people know that there is another driving game out there. but I knew it would be hard to write a short review without missing all the games features and content that the game has to offer. and to do that I would have to stop playing forza horizon and write this. and that was a big ask I'm telling you. but if you love just driving or messing about as well as racing then you really should own this game.

So this game is one that isn't out to replace Forza 4 or be the next in the series; lets get that clear right away. If I were to get Forza 4 and Horizon as a gift together I shouldn't be disappointed because they are 2 different, albeit similar, targets.What is the same?The most important bits are the same between the 2 games that you would want the same:- The graphics engine: Superb renderings of cars; inside and out. Racing from within the car you can see a full working dash complimented by brilliant exterior visuals.- The physics engine: These cars handle brilliantly, plain and simple. Not that the cars actually handle well; they handle how they are supposed to handle. Playing with a force feedback wheel (unfortuantely microsoft dont make the one I have anymore, it's brilliant) you get a superb sense of the grip in the wheels and the road surface.- Difficulty settings - those familiar with 4 will be instantly familiar with HorizonWhat's different?- Racing style; Horizon is an open road and off road thriller, compared to the track racer that is F-4. You must dodge cars, drift round dirt tracks and go as fast as possible through speed cameras.- Damage; car damage is merely cosmetic in Horizon; the focus is on the fun- Customisability; severely limited in Horizon compared to F-4; but doesn't detract from the game as it shifts your attention to the Horizon festival and the content, as opposed to tuning the car for an extra 2mph top speed.- Sound track: The Horizon soundtrack is one of the best in racing games of late that I've witnessed.If you're looking for a racing simulator for the Xbox then look no further; there is Forza. If you want on-track action and extreme tuning of your cars then you go for Forza 4. If you want an open road adventure with the thrills of a more casual but equally realistic physics simulation then go for Horizon. If you're like me; you'll have both.Once I had seen Forza 3; I knew my GT days on PS3 were over... Forza 4 reaffirmed that and Horizon has given the Forza series just what it was missing. So; this game is not the next in the line for Forzas; it is here to run alongside, and be brilliant all on it's own.Season Pass for DLC will be one to consider, but I was nor overly impressed with Forza 4 SP so I will probably give that a miss and pay for car packs as and when I want them.This game does the Forza brand proud by mixing things up and providing xbox owners with something that resembles Burnout Paradise; but feels like Forza close to heart.

Absolutely poor excuse quality, the disc is scratched all over but luckily Xbox one/Series only uses the disc as a key, amazing classic game. The item was described as Used, good and cannot be further from the truth, no original case at all just some low quality thin black case that looks absolutely awful which is also covered in scratches and dents. Do yourself a favour and buy it from CeX instead, at least they'll quality check to make sure you're not paying £14 for something with the quality expected from a ripped movie back in the 2000s, all that was missing is a piece of paper saying Forza Horizon in the case or some poorly printed cover art, save your money and buy elsewhere. Had I known it was going to come in a terrible looking cheap tacky black case I wouldve just not bothered.