So the demo for Forza Horizon has come out and I'm wondering what you all think of it. I have been a big fan of Forza since 3. I thought 4 was one of the best games last year partly because I got really crazy with the simulation aspects of the game. But I was not particularly excited about Horizon because a more arcade feel to Forza felt like the wrong direction. The demo really impressed me though. I played half the demo with the default settings and the other half with more difficult settings (so simulation driving, manual transmission, harder opponents). I think both felt good which was nice to see. The default settings felt like a more arcade version of a Dirt game. The simulation version felt like a mix between Forza 4 and Dirt 3. Both driving styles made the cars feel lighter and turn sharper then the previous Forza games. In simulation mode the tail of cars kicked out a bit more then in the default mode.

I'm really happy with the demo overall. It felt enough like Forza that I enjoyed it but was arcade enough that it felt like a new experience.

I feel the genre itself needs its "COD 4" moment as it's all very stagnant at the moment xxxx

@Daryl said:

I feel the genre itself needs its "COD 4" moment as it's all very stagnant at the moment xxxx

I don't know what you're saying. Do you mean simulation racing games need a hugely popular game or just racing games? Or is there something else you're referring to with the COD 4 moment?

I came away knowing that my pre-order was entirely justified. I was extremely impressed with it to say the least.

The playing part was fine. The part where they made it like Dirt 2 was awful. Considering how elegant the UI has been in the Forza games, this seemed really terrible. I know it's a different kind of racing game, but it's not one I really want to play more of. Especially when criterion has a game coming a few weeks later

I think it is great. I love racing through the woods. Elevation and surface changes make Forza's physics much more enjoyable.

When I heard about the game and all the concepts I was worried that it couldn't live up to expectations I'm going to have for it. Being a lover of Test Drive Unlimited, Forza, and Dirt 2 (I like the presentation of it, overly XTREME yes, but you remember it).

Worries squished, I want this game NOW.

I don't know, I LOVED 2, 3 and 4 but I feel like Horizon is trying WAY too hard to be Burnout Paradise meets Dirt 2 / little bit of 3 and I've already played those games. I haven't pre-ordered it and typically only get 1 new game a year or so (I buy plenty of stuff on sale / reduced / etc). I guess I'm saying I'm glad this isn't the one I'm getting new this time around. It can definitely wait. Having to learn the fake map just to find events in Burnout Paradise really rubbed me the wrong way, so i'm not really liking the idea of doing that again.

@JasonR86 said:

@Daryl said:

I feel the genre itself needs its "COD 4" moment as it's all very stagnant at the moment xxxx

I don't know what you're saying. Do you mean simulation racing games need a hugely popular game or just racing games? Or is there something else you're referring to with the COD 4 moment?

He's saying open-world racing games need something to come along and change the way we look at the genre, the way Call of Duty 4 did for first-person shooters.

@HistoryInRust said:

@JasonR86 said:

@Daryl said:

I feel the genre itself needs its "COD 4" moment as it's all very stagnant at the moment xxxx

I don't know what you're saying. Do you mean simulation racing games need a hugely popular game or just racing games? Or is there something else you're referring to with the COD 4 moment?

He's saying open-world racing games need something to come along and change the way we look at the genre, the way Call of Duty 4 did for first-person shooters.

Maybe I'm just misinformed but isn't the open-world racer a fairly new genre? COD 4 came at a time when we had had first-person shooters for a while and the genre had become a bit stale. I don't think a game can really revolutionize a new, still developing genre.

@JasonR86 said:

@HistoryInRust said:

@JasonR86 said:

@Daryl said:

I feel the genre itself needs its "COD 4" moment as it's all very stagnant at the moment xxxx

I don't know what you're saying. Do you mean simulation racing games need a hugely popular game or just racing games? Or is there something else you're referring to with the COD 4 moment?

He's saying open-world racing games need something to come along and change the way we look at the genre, the way Call of Duty 4 did for first-person shooters.

Maybe I'm just misinformed but isn't the open-world racer a fairly new genre? COD 4 came at a time when we had had first-person shooters for a while and the genre had become a bit stale. I don't think a game can really revolutionize a new, still developing genre.

I'ts been six years since Test Drive Unlimited came out. TDU wasn't the first, but it was the first to really hint at how great the idea might one day become.

I was excited to get this demo, had high hopes since I love Forza and love the open world concept. I think it's an excellent sim racer, and it's about time Forza stepped up to the plate and added dirt to the game. And the scenery looks great.

That said, I think it still feels like a track racer with one huge intertwining track, not an open world game. It feels that way because it's just loaded with invisible walls and unbreakable fences to keep you on the road, just castrating the core benefit of an open world - the feeling of freedom, where an error will send you careening into the trees or off a cliff instead of into a track barrier. I'll still be getting the game for the combination of asphalt and dirt from a quality developer, which is just stupidly rare imo, so I'll see how I feel after that...but right now I'm pretty disappointed to trade real world tracks for an open world setting if they aren't going to offer open world freedom.

It just went from day one buy to rent and try.

@MildMolasses said:

The playing part was fine. The part where they made it like Dirt 2 was awful. Considering how elegant the UI has been in the Forza games, this seemed really terrible. I know it's a different kind of racing game, but it's not one I really want to play more of. Especially when criterion has a game coming a few weeks later

Yeah the only thing that bothers me with this game is that "edgy" festival crap. I guess that's the influence of the Ex-Codemasters guys on the Horizon team. I already loathed that stuff in Dirt 2.

@Magicallystoopid said:

When I heard about the game and all the concepts I was worried that it couldn't live up to expectations I'm going to have for it. Being a lover of Test Drive Unlimited, Forza, and Dirt 2 (I like the presentation of it, overly XTREME yes, but you remember it).

Worries squished, I want this game NOW.

I had the exact same hopes and dreams going in, and the opposite reaction to the demo.

@MildMolasses said:

The playing part was fine. The part where they made it like Dirt 2 was awful. Considering how elegant the UI has been in the Forza games, this seemed really terrible. I know it's a different kind of racing game, but it's not one I really want to play more of. Especially when criterion has a game coming a few weeks later

I also didn't like how they traded the elegance for the house party feel, but I could have put up with it for a game that successfully combined what Magicallystoopid describes.

Sadly for me, what Criterion serves up won't scratch the same itch, arcade all the way is a completely different idea than what I was hoping for from Horizon. You can put fun gamey stuff into a sim racer - an open world, assists if you want them, a Red Bull X1 Prototype, heck you could even have a little creativity and put a loop-the-loop or full-pipe tunnel in there somewhere off the beaten path. But you can't really put sim realism into an arcade racer in the same way.

@Daryl said:

I feel the genre itself needs its "COD 4" moment as it's all very stagnant at the moment xxxx

You won't be seeing any huge leaps in the genre until the next gen rolls around, those games always get a huge boost when new tech comes around.

As for the OP I think the whole point of this game was for mass appeal with its arcadey feel, don't worry your standard Forza games will still come out later.

I thought it was pretty good, I'll definitely be picking it up.

Though I do have reservations they are similar to those others here have already mentioned, I really didn't like the style of Dirt 2 but I wouldn't say Horizon has gone that far based on the demo, one more that I'll add however is the announcer lady, I feel she will get on my nerves after a while.

But the driving feels great as always, the game looks awesome and the soundtrack has potential.

Plus, racing an aeroplane is pretty fucking cool.

@Colourful_Hippie said:

@Daryl said:

I feel the genre itself needs its "COD 4" moment as it's all very stagnant at the moment xxxx

You won't be seeing any huge leaps in the genre until the next gen rolls around, those games always get a huge boost when new tech comes around.

As for the OP I think the whole point of this game was for mass appeal with its arcadey feel, don't worry your standard Forza games will still come out later.

I wasn't worried. I stated later in the original post that it was nice that when I changed the difficulty and driving mechanics to be more simulation-like it felt like a cross between Forza 4 and Dirt 3.

I do get where you guys are coming from about the whole "house party" feel to the game but I don't think it is as in your face as it was with DiRT 2. I think it totally works for the game and the soundtrack works superbly well when driving around the pretty, pretty scenery.

Such a pretty game. Pretty. Did I mention that it's a very pretty game?

@JasonR86 said:

So the demo for Forza Horizon has come out and I'm wondering what you all think of it. I have been a big fan of Forza since 3. I thought 4 was one of the best games last year partly because I got really crazy with the simulation aspects of the game. But I was not particularly excited about Horizon because a more arcade feel to Forza felt like the wrong direction. The demo really impressed me though. I played half the demo with the default settings and the other half with more difficult settings (so simulation driving, manual transmission, harder opponents). I think both felt good which was nice to see. The default settings felt like a more arcade version of a Dirt game. The simulation version felt like a mix between Forza 4 and Dirt 3. Both driving styles made the cars feel lighter and turn sharper then the previous Forza games. In simulation mode the tail of cars kicked out a bit more then in the default mode.

I'm really happy with the demo overall. It felt enough like Forza that I enjoyed it but was arcade enough that it felt like a new experience.

I agree with you almost entirely. I was hesitant going into the demo, but after a couple of races it really clicked with me. The driving feel is more loose than I'd like, but I'm sure I can get used to it. Also, that race against the P-51 felt really great.

Reminds me a lot of the PGR games with some Test Drive mixed in and a touch of Dirt. This is a good thing.

If I had one complaint, it would be they should add a hardcore mode for the physics, it is still pretty arcadey even with all assists off. I know what they're going for, which is more about style than realism in which that succeeds. But it seems there are plenty purists whining that you can drive 150 mph on the dirt without losing control.

Also, there better be some sick jumps in the final game, lol.

@Daryl said:

I feel the genre itself needs its "COD 4" moment as it's all very stagnant at the moment xxxx

I kind of get what you're saying, though maybe more elegantly ;)

I'm groaning to myself as I type this, but Forza 4 was the "COD4" of racing games for me. That was the new benchmark for everything. You all know the story on that game, or you'd not be reading this! Racing games are based on something most games are not. Accurate representations of popular cars from the past. Thus, hardly any new model deserves a spot on a roster. It leaves the mechanics (Way over my head) and tracks to be added. This all sounds goofy but bare with me.

You won't see a true movement of this genre until the next generation Xbox system. Iteration on Burnout, Forza, Grid, and Dirt have led to the best racing games in video game history. I think that is more than enough to hold us over for a little bit longer. Lets not forget, Turn 10 Studios had been rumored to acquire Project Gotham Racing, and Forza Horizons is a 360 title done by another studio (Right?). You're gonna see a new kind of racing experience in the launch of these new consoles. Sony and Microsoft have the goods when it comes to racers.

Edit: Let me add, lighting and weather are two things that racing games don't have quite yet. Your car physics and careers have been nailed. It's always going to be the technical developers who find ways to push it forward with effects and graphical flare.

Very rarely am I in awe of graphics (especially this late into the generation) but damn that game looks gorgeous.

Also just driving around felt awesome; at one point I was on a dirt road at night and visibility was low and out of nowhere a car jumps out in front of me and I flipped my Mitsubishi over trying to avoid it. You alright game, you alright....

Also I am assuming everyone will immediately find all the upgrade signs right off the bat to get free upgrades for their cars.

I've got a sealed copy of Dishonored and Rage and a copy of Borderlands 2 in the xbox but I still wish it was october 23 today.

@Vinny_Says said:

Very rarely am I in awe of graphics (especially this late into the generation) but damn that game looks gorgeous.

The anti-aliasing in this game is probably the best I've seen in a racing game on the 360. The cars are super crisp.

Did not like it and im waiting for the new burnout game at the end of the month god only know why they keep calling it need for speed.

not tried it yet, but will it support the logitech DFGT. a racing game with out a wheel just doesn't do it for me anymore

Gameplay wise, the game felt solid and was pretty fun. I need to take a second tour of it, but nothing really bad cropped up.

But on the negative side; localization oh why fuck god why localization?! The Swedish voice over is fucking awful. The guy (or the "dj" as it were) that speaks first feels so "by the letter" translated. I mean, it's a guy speaking Swedish having a name more suited for someone from the US, which makes it feel like a shitty dubbed children's cartoon. And the instructor is voiced by a girl that sounds 21 at best, 16 at worst, and it feels like she's on the verge of going "Gawd, like, drive over to the next thing, like, whatever" or something. No way to turn that shit off? I hope the retail comes with English as an option because fucking hell that shit is horrible.

Let's just say I don't think I'll ever clamor for proper Swedish voice over for m-rated video games anytime soon. Holy hell.

@Bell_End said:

not tried it yet, but will it support the logitech DFGT. a racing game with out a wheel just doesn't do it for me anymore

The DFGT isn't compatible with a 360.

Just played the demo and really digging it. Never really got into racing games before, the last racing game I have significant time in is Virtua Racing for the Genesis. Hot Pursuit was good and played a good chunk of it, but never truly got hooked into the racing genre. One of these days also I will crack open my copy of Dirt 3, but other games just started piling up and that got pushed to the back burner. Also have Most Wanted pre-ordered so I hope one of these games will grab hold and maybe they can be a game I come to to break up all the shooters or RPG's I play.

Demo was fucked. Wow this game is great. To the people complaining about the Dirt 2 feel, while it does share some attitudes that Dirt 2 has, it is by FAR not in your face about it as much. It just seems to work for Horizon. Don't forget, that if you don't like the music in the game you can listen to your library on your PC. I do it while grinding in RPGs and it's great.

Overall it feels like such a refreshing entry in the racing genre. Definitely buying this.

Had a good time with the demo. Driving without assists still felt like Forza even though it's more forgiving on collisions and such. I love the Colorado setting, the traffic and day/night cycle, and even the music festival vibe wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I was tempted to pick this up next week, but hearing about the microtransactions for things like fast travel is really off-putting, in a Mass Effect 3 multiplayer kinda way. With so many other games coming out, I'll probably wait for a price drop down the road.

Edit: and they just announced a $20 expansion for the game not even out yet. What the fuck?