There is a good argument that Forza Horizon 2 is the greatest racing game ever made. Or, should I say....there was. Playground Games has managed to improve upon a nearly-perfect thing. There are so many nice touches here and there that may not be immediately apparent, but help the driving experience feel that much more fun and real. Chief among these additions is the work that's been done on the audio. With the addition of a Groove Music channel streaming your own mp3s as the in-car radio, Forza just got a lot more personal. Unfortunately, I haven't yet gotten a chance to fully utilize this, as you have to unlock the "station" through progression, but reports there are that it works as it should. Until then, I'm left to amuse myself with the game's soundtrack, and with "X Gon' Give It to Ya" as the first song that came on the radio, well, mission accomplished there. The audio improvements aren't just to the music, though. In watching the game's completely awesome E3 trailer way too many times as my hype train for this blazed full steam ahead, I had taken notice of how terrific the multi-channel audio was with proper doppler effects, location-specific engine/exhaust noise, etc. It's an impressive listen, but I assumed it was just cleverly applied cues for the trailer that wouldn't make their way into the actual game.
Thankfully, the real thing is just as much the eargasm. The neighboring condo units are about to hate me, because I'm going to keep the audio cranked for this game. When it's this good, how can you not? Reminiscent of PGR games long gone, the ticking combo meter in drift zones brings the nostalgia rushing back, and I find myself appreciating some tire/engine noise that hasn't really been realized this well since NFS: Shift. Guttural big-blocks roar forward and aft as we jockey for positioning during a race. I splash through a puddle, and I hear a mechanical ker-chunk as I gear down to climb the hill ahead. To add to the sensory overload, we drive into the rain, which splats and streams off of my windshield in stunningly realistic fashion. I can hear my tires hydroplane around a corner in a bit of mind-trickery that makes the game's forgiving arcade handling seem much less so in the moment as the race intensifies. During the race, the sun emerges from the clouds, rays of light shine through the trees, and the wet tarmac glistens as I cross the finish line. It's beautiful. All of it.
MS apparently spent a chunk of change and time battling the generally murder-y Australian wildlife to capture a Summer's worth of Australian skies to create the sky in Horizon 3, and the results are incredible. Even on my launch Xbox One running through a 2011 mid-range Samsung TV, the game is jaw-dropping. I'm betting you could toss my now-dated setup in some Best Buy running this game and pretend it's a showcase for a 4K HDR TV/Xbox One S bundle, and very few would question it. The lighting/skybox in this game is simply that good. It's hard to describe the way the setting sun pleasantly glows and blankets the world in a orange/yellow hue or seeing the arc of a rainbow under the rolling clouds mid-race, but I found myself bordering on "double rainbow guy" territory with how much I was appreciating the virtual vistas. Playground seems quite aware of what they've built, and has made it a point to try and capitalize on it with the new addition of "beauty spots", which highlight some of the prettiest parts of the map. In the immortal words of the Ryckert family, "look at it".
To do precisely that, Horizon 3 has the great Photo Mode I've come to expect from the series. I've always enjoyed taking in the virtual environments, and those times when everything comes together for the perfect shot are extremely satisfying. The dynamic weather, day/night cycle, and the varied action inherent to playing the actual game makes everything feel that much more fleeting and special, as that great picture you timed just right will never happen again and can't really be replicated. Playground has taken this a step further with "drone mode" this time around. Yes, you have a virtual drone you can fly around the entire map. While you unfortunately cannot presently take pictures from this mode, the live-action nature of this adds a really cool layer of depth to this world. I found myself playing virtual director and turning my drone into a chase cam on random cars. There's something oddly peaceful about watching Drivatars cruise around pseudo-Australia or letting the drone just hover to watch the waves crash on the beach next to your Lamborghini. It makes for one hell of a relaxation simulator, and I don't think I'll be the only one who captures video of it and turns it into a live wallpaper.
They have addressed the "dude" issue from Horizon 2 as well. For those of you who didn't play that game, arguably the worst part of it was that 1) the game made you the most generic of white males and 2) that the other NPCs called you "dude" in virtually every bit of voicework. It got very old very quickly. Thankfully, this time around, they've given you more options on both your character and name. The character select isn't a character creator or anything; it's instead a small collection of near-avatars you get to choose from that look like a stereotype-heavy MTV Real World cast. While it's not exactly what I'd call a huge win for diversity, it's at least a welcome step in the right direction of inclusivity. Better still are the options for your name. You get to choose between either having the game refer to you by your actual name (which, in practice, is simultaneously cool and creepy) or by your choice of an assortment of nicknames. That you can make the game call you El Pollo Diablo the whole time is delightfully dumb.
As far as performance and gameplay, it's running at a consistent 30 FPS (it's supposedly unlocked and 4K on PC, FWIW). Much like Horizon 2, the framerate on the console version is rock-solid to where I don't find the FPS offputting at all. Coming off of the 60 of Forza 6, it is a little bit noticeable, but personally, I'm more than happy to trade a little FPS for the fantastic overall visual package. That's a personal preference thing, I suppose, but I doubt many would contend that Forza 6 is a better-looking game (even though it was no slouch in that department). Everything is up to the quality you'd expect from the series and races are mostly structured the same, except with a bit more customization on routes now that you're running the festival. The game has arcade-y handling by default (for better and worse), so don't expect off-roading and puddles to bog you down as much as Forza 6 and you'll probably enjoy it just fine. Much of the car list that's been in the past few Forzas returns, plus some region-specific vehicles like Utes and gameplay-relevant vehicles like off-road race trucks. Somewhere, Ivan Ironman Stewart is smiling.
Forza Horizon 3 is something special. It's a must-own for anyone with an Xbox One. I can't vouch for the PC version (though I certainly hope it comes though). The map is huge and offers a variety of enjoyable terrain to drive in and behold, with both urban and rural areas to gleefully tear through at high speed. Still, I think half of me was ready to get territorial about Horizon 2 because I loved that game and its setting so damn much, but all I can come up with in the way of complaints about Horizon 3 is that...uh...um...I want to visit Australia now? I've been fully prepared to enthusiastically crown HITMAN my 2016 GOTY for some time, but now I'm forced to seriously reconsider. Horizon 3 is a visual marvel, tackles what few qualms there were with its predecessor, and adds some fun features on top of it all. It's an absolute triumph.
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