FORZA HORIZON 3
Microsoft races into the Universal Windows Platform
SPEED: THE SENSATION, the rush, the feeling as your body is held captive by the forces acting upon it—it’s addictive; it’s pure adrenaline. The invention of the car stimulated this human desire, making it accessible to all, and video games have always sought to emulate that experience, to put you in the driving seat, to immerse you in the world, but within a far safer environment. One without risk.
ForzaHorizon3 is the third in Microsoft’s Horizon series, designed as an open-world, arcade-like driving game experience. However, it’s best to understand ahead of time that this is as much a simulator as James Corden is a basketball player. It has sim elements littered here and there, yet it falls short of the likes of ProjectCars, or even GranTurismo. Weight distribution, dynamic tuning of vehicles—there’s a plethora of things there, but everything is over-emphasized, or run on rails. It’s rare to flip a car, and it’s entirely possible to drift around the whole map in a single go, if you so desire.
The absolutely phenomenal number of cars all have their own personality, their own feel—you can tell the difference between the Corvettes and the F100s, in speed and in handling—but there’s little really to differentiate them from similar counterparts. The engines also sound crass and bland. The spitting snarl of the Jaguar F Type’s eight cylinders as it shifts gears is absent, replaced by some dull generic tone that can be found emanating from 50 other cars in the game. The V12s are monotonous, and it’s only the 4x4s and modern pickups that house more realistic sound valves—even the glorious Holdens lack the bite they’re so notorious for.
Is that to say it’s a bad game? Not at all— if you’re after a quick blast around an open world, ForzaHorizon3 is perfect. Jump in, choose your car, and drive around, no holds barred. Want to head to the desert? Sure. Rainforest? Just set that in your sat-nav, and drive. Fancy some beach drag chaos? We can do that, too. The open sensation is huge and imaginative—each time you turn a corner, and approach from a different angle, it’s like an entirely new set of roads laid out before you. The game modes and challenges are equally thrilling, if not a little puerile. The game rewards you for near-misses and head-on collisions, drifting around corners, smashing through property, and getting caught by speed cameras. The races themselves leave a lot to be desired, the progression is almost immediate, and there’s little build-up or sensation of progress—most of the game’s high-end cars are within spitting difference, and with little difference between them.
If you’re after a game where you can jump in and have a mess around online, with your friends, on different platforms, wherever you are, ForzaHorizon3 is for you. But as driving simulators go, it lacks the immersion and depth that we’ve come to expect from the Forza series. Yet, with the likes of ProjectCars weighing heavy on the minds of most PC gamers, it’s a tall order to fill—one we’re hoping subsequent patches and DLCs will fix.