Forza Horizon (X360)

[MisterNoisy]

Good god, this is a fun title.  The Forza driving model and art assets applied to an open world damage-off racer is more fun than it sounds like on paper.  Am I the only one here playing it, or is anyone else on board?

[Yegolev]

I haven't investigated but I saw the advertisement recently.  How much sim is in it?  I get the idea they are moving toward the arcade racing end of the slider.  I also miss the paint shop from Forza while playing GT5, what's the deal there?

[MisterNoisy]

It's definitely more of an arcade racer - Stability Control is on unless you select the 'expert' difficulty and 'sim' steering, and performance-affecting damage is out - but otherwise it feels much like the other games in the FM series as far as driving goes.  All the usual driver aids from dynamic racing line to Traction Control can be disabled, etc. and you now earn cash for doing stunts (drifting, air, etc) as you would in a PGR-style game.  

The visuals are great, though the wide-open vistas and day/night cycle did force them to drop to 30FPS.  You can leave the tarmac now, and there are varied surfaces to drive on, though they just drive like slippery tarmac mostly.

Paint shop/livery editor is still in there, with the added benefit of being able to import decal groups you made in FM4 into the game.

The car list is about 1/4 the size of FM4, but there's a very aggressive DLC schedule in the pipeline, with a $50 'season pass' that presumably gets you everything but the forthcoming $15-20 rally expansion.

[Yegolev]

Doesn't sound like my sort of game.  I didn't think GT5 had nearly enough car-tuning options.

[MisterNoisy]

Doesn't sound like my sort of game.  I didn't think GT5 had nearly enough car-tuning options.

No doubt - the car modification/upgrade stuff is still in from FM4, but the ability to actually tune cars is out.  That said, I'm still having a ball.

[proudft]

Wow, I forgot about this.  The 30 FPS might be an issue - I'll have to try out the demo to see I guess.  But I looooove Forza 4 (and didn't tune my cars   ) and driving in the traffic on that Japan Mountain is one of my favorite parts.


Edit: oh wait, maybe I'm using the wrong terminology - I do do the swapping out of engine parts, tires, etc, but not the balance-suspension-like-this, adjust downforce tuning bullshit.   But I usually just do it by the same formula - max out brakes, then suspension, then gearing, then whatever points are left for whatever class go into engine.   So I wouldn't be heartbroken if that was gone.

[MisterNoisy]

Wow, I forgot about this.  The 30 FPS might be an issue - I'll have to try out the demo to see I guess.  But I looooove Forza 4 (and didn't tune my cars   ) and driving in the traffic on that Japan Mountain is one of my favorite parts.


Edit: oh wait, maybe I'm using the wrong terminology - I do do the swapping out of engine parts, tires, etc, but not the balance-suspension-like-this, adjust downforce tuning bullshit.   But I usually just do it by the same formula - max out brakes, then suspension, then gearing, then whatever points are left for whatever class go into engine.   So I wouldn't be heartbroken if that was gone.

This might be just the game for you, then - the street race events have you alternately tearing through suburbia or blasting up the mountains through traffic in cars you can add parts to to your heart's content - I've got a '67 Beetle modded up to B500 that's a terror on short tracks.  Only disappointment for me was that my current actual car isn't in the game, as it was in FM4.  :(

[Yegolev]

I'm the sort of guy that would spend a couple hours fiddling with individual gear ratios, spring stiffness, camber/toe-in, etc.  /neckbeard