Hello all.

Need For Speed: Carbon is the only racing game I've played with any seriousness and admiration. I've since sold that, and with Forza Horizon and Need For Speed: Most Wanted II releasing these past couple of weeks, I'm feeling a bit curious about possibly jumping into one.

Now, I like customization. I like tuning. I like swapping body modifications, dropping in different engines, swapping tires and rims and customizing the colors on my car(s). I also like arcade-style racing, (I don't like weighty racing engines like Need For Speed; Hot Pursuit used). Simply put: is Forza Horizon the game for me?

I thought Jeff said there wasn't much of that in this game?

Besides, if those are the things you really want then it seems like Forza 4 would be the way to go if you've never dived into that series.

Thanks for missing the entire point of my OP. In short, I'm not looking to dive into the Forza series. I'm looking to see if Forza Horizon has what I enjoy in a racing game. If not, I'll go back to a previous Need For Speed game. Track racing is also the worst thing ever.

If you like body kits or whatever, then yeah I don't think any game is going to meet your demand. There are some in Forza Horizon, but they're not great. However the game does have a lot of options for rims and you can swap engine parts, or entire engines to a degree.

@Napalm said:

Thanks for missing the entire point of my OP. In short, I'm not looking to dive into the Forza series. I'm looking to see if Forza Horizon has what I enjoy in a racing game. If not, I'll go back to a previous Need For Speed game. Track racing is also the worst thing ever.

Gross, yo. Track racing should be the only kind of racing. As much as I like Horizon, it's not a great sim.

@Napalm:

As far as I know you can still customize almost to the same extent as you could in Forza 4.

@MikkaQ said:

Track racing should be the only kind of racing. As much as I like Horizon, it's not a great sim.

I'm not looking for a sim.

I'm not looking for massive amounts of customization exclusively. I am looking for the ability to play around with parts of my car and not just be limited to, 'Rim Style A' and 'Rim Style B' and 'Engine 1 or 2' or 'Paint Color B and C'.

Also, nobody has mentioned how the driving feels. Is it arcade-y and slide-y? Or does it feel like Hot Pursuit, (slow and chunky)?

@Napalm: Read Jeff's review, he answers most your questions in there.

@zombie2011 said:

@Napalm: Read Jeff's review, he answers most your questions in there.

I already did, and no he doesn't.

@Napalm said:

@MikkaQ said:

Track racing should be the only kind of racing. As much as I like Horizon, it's not a great sim.

I'm not looking for a sim.

I'm not looking for massive amounts of customization exclusively. I am looking for the ability to play around with parts of my car and not just be limited to, 'Rim Style A' and 'Rim Style B' and 'Engine 1 or 2' or 'Paint Color B and C'.

Also, nobody has mentioned how the driving feels. Is it arcade-y and slide-y? Or does it feel like Hot Pursuit, (slow and chunky)?

Well it's simmy, so it handles like actual cars, for the most part. I mean it handles exactly like other Forza games do, the driving itself is untouched, so if you don't like sim racing games, it might not feel right for you.

For engine parts, almost every individual part is swappable (usually a stock, street, pro style of choice), plus you can do entire engine conversions on certain cars, which you can usually choose maybe 1 or 2 engines there. You can also do drive train swaps if you are crazy and want your GT-R to be RWD or something. In terms of the paint stuff, you can't get better than the Forza games, it's the same editor it's always been so you know... there are Michelangelos in there uploading some truly insane designs.

@Napalm said:

@MikkaQ said:

Track racing should be the only kind of racing. As much as I like Horizon, it's not a great sim.

I'm not looking for a sim.

I'm not looking for massive amounts of customization exclusively. I am looking for the ability to play around with parts of my car and not just be limited to, 'Rim Style A' and 'Rim Style B' and 'Engine 1 or 2' or 'Paint Color B and C'.

Also, nobody has mentioned how the driving feels. Is it arcade-y and slide-y? Or does it feel like Hot Pursuit, (slow and chunky)?

You should download the demo dude. That'll give you a better idea of the driving mechanics. I'll try my best to explain it though. So there are two driving models; normal and simulation. I only played with normal for a while so I can't speak to it too much. But the cars felt light and responsive. The handling favored oversteering even in AWD cars and it was pretty easy to get the back end to kick out for a drift. The simulation mode isn't that simulation based. The cars still felt light and responsive and they still favored oversteering. It's still easy to kick the backend out. The main difference between the two models is that the simulation mode feels a little more slippery as if you could lose traction and spin out a lot faster. The normal mode feels more forgiving. Both modes allow for really fast driving but the cars won't match the acceleration of more arcade racers like Need for Speed. Also with speed the cars well be harder to control and you may even feel as if the front of the car is hopping around because the car models still emulate some sense of realism where as in a Need for Speed game the cars feel grounded both at high and low speeds.

As far as I know you can create tuning set-ups for cars with as much customization as you saw in the previous Forza games which, with the brief time I spent with it, seemed pretty involved. I haven't messed with the tuning too much in this game though so I can't really speak to it. But if you are looking for tuning it looks like Horizon will give you that option.

Again, you should really download the demo if you can. That will tell you a lot about the game.

@JasonR86: I don't think there's any actual tuning in the game from what I can tell. Like you can add parts on and stuff, but I don't think you can determine gear ratios or stuff like that anymore.

@Napalm: @MikkaQ said:

@JasonR86: I don't think there's any actual tuning in the game from what I can tell. Like you can add parts on and stuff, but I don't think you can determine gear ratios or stuff like that anymore.

Yeah, I just checked and you're totally right.

If you think NFS Hot Pursuit was too realistic then you'll probably not enjoy this.

There is a ton of modification you can do to cars in Horizon. You'll absolutely be doing engine swapping, determining the best sort of aspiration for your car, mucking with tire size and differentials. Lots of car-centric stuff.

There is no tuning, however. You won't be adjusting the minutiae down to the pound per square inch, or the specifics of your ride height (though you can adjust the ride height).

I'd say Horizon splits the middle on that stuff. You'll find a wealth of upgrades and combinations of possible set-ups for each car. No two builds of a single car are exactly alike. The differences are noticeable, too, between a car specced for horsepower and a car specced for suspension and handling.

As far as the racing goes, you'll find that it's a pleasant mix of weighty, physics-based realism and accessible, manageable escapism. In point of fact, the driving mechanics are the most fun I have with the game. Just cruising is just so pleasurable because the cars feel just right. You won't be taking corners at plus-100 miles an hour, but you'll still be able to drift to your heart's content or experience a rushing sensation of speed on the open flats.

Horizon's a blast, man. A real treat.

@MikkaQ said:

Well it's simmy, so it handles like actual cars, for the most part. I mean it handles exactly like other Forza games do, the driving itself is untouched, so if you don't like sim racing games, it might not feel right for you.

Horizon does NOT handle like the rest of the Forza series. PGR 4 might be a good comparison.

You have to brake for corners and drifting takes finesse, not a button press. It's definitely more 'sim' than Hot Pursuit.

@SushiX said:

@MikkaQ said:

Well it's simmy, so it handles like actual cars, for the most part. I mean it handles exactly like other Forza games do, the driving itself is untouched, so if you don't like sim racing games, it might not feel right for you.

Horizon does NOT handle like the rest of the Forza series. PGR 4 might be a good comparison.

You have to brake for corners and drifting takes finesse, not a button press. It's definitely more 'sim' than Hot Pursuit.

The handling for Horizon in the simulation mode isn't that far off from the handling of Forza 4 in simulation mode. The cars just feel lighter, drift easier, and oversteer more.

@JasonR86 said:

@SushiX said:

@MikkaQ said:

Well it's simmy, so it handles like actual cars, for the most part. I mean it handles exactly like other Forza games do, the driving itself is untouched, so if you don't like sim racing games, it might not feel right for you.

Horizon does NOT handle like the rest of the Forza series. PGR 4 might be a good comparison.

You have to brake for corners and drifting takes finesse, not a button press. It's definitely more 'sim' than Hot Pursuit.

The handling for Horizon in the simulation mode isn't that far off from the handling of Forza 4 in simulation mode. The cars just feel lighter, drift easier, and oversteer more.

Maybe that's the case yeah. I use a wheel and simulation settings, and everything definitely feels Forza as hell though. I wouldn't notice the difference other the increased ease of drifting, which I try to avoid anyway.

@SushiX said:

@MikkaQ said:

Well it's simmy, so it handles like actual cars, for the most part. I mean it handles exactly like other Forza games do, the driving itself is untouched, so if you don't like sim racing games, it might not feel right for you.

Horizon does NOT handle like the rest of the Forza series. PGR 4 might be a good comparison.

You have to brake for corners and drifting takes finesse, not a button press. It's definitely more 'sim' than Hot Pursuit.

I was going to say. I played a lot of Forza, Forza 2 and Forza 3, but Horizon (from my limited experience with the demo) did not feel like those games. This is with the assists off, by the way. Let me rephrase that: There's a noticeable difference, at least to me.

Thank you for all the rec's guys, but I've made my decision. I'm going to go ahead and pick up the original Need For Speed: Most Wanted, then move onto Carbon and then Undercover. I'll end up picking up Forza Horizon early next year. I know the early Xbox 360 NFS titles has exactly what I'm looking for, so I'm going to go with those for a safe bet.