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Forza Horizon 3 Review

Forza Horizon 3 Review

High-Octane in the Land Down Under

The hills and plains of Colorado provided a great introduction for blazing untrodden trails in Forza ‘s first open-world racing experience. The coasts of Southern France and Northern Italy offered a gorgeous backdrop to showcase stunning vistas and polished vehicles, the perfect venue for a sequel. But it is the Land Down Under that rises above the rest, placing Forza Horizon 3 in the highest class thanks to its loaded features and endless hours of joy riding. It supplies a satisfying blend of thrilling races, fun multiplayer diversions, and casual countryside roaming whenever you desire.

The steering wheel is nudged slightly for the first couple of hours as the game introduces different car types and how they handle on various terrains. As you gain credits, experience, and unlock new Horizon Festival venues, undiscovered events will continually get peppered around the map of Australia’s southeastern coast, a microcosm of the country’s different landscapes where beach fronts, farmlands, lush rain forests, and the rugged outback are all accessible to your driving whim.

In past Forza Horizon games your main goal was to win races set up by the festival architects. This time around, you are big boss in charge of the festival, ready to put your stamp on every event. But don’t get too worried about being bogged down with clerical work, because even as the head honcho, your main job is still to drive around winning races. What your seniority does allow you to do is tweak the parameters of each event. So instead of a broad car selection with clear weather conditions, you can change it to perhaps a Dodge vs. Chevy exclusive showdown at night in torrential rain in a one lap dash rather than the standard three laps. Every race and challenge you complete will earn you fans on top of the cash and XP, and it is the fans that boost the festival’s reputation, which in turn allows you to upgrade festival sites or erect new ones. It’s a relatively linear progression, but it does give you a extra goal to continually work towards on top of winning races.

Forza Horizon 3 Screenshot

The extra vehicular activities are just as enticing as the races, which is why Horizon is Horizon and not simply another Forza Motorsport game. There are boards to smash, ramps to launch off, speed traps to trigger, classic cars to find hidden in barns, bucket list challenges to attempt, and plenty more, all with tangible rewards. Each level gained allows you to spin a prize wheel for more credits or a rare car. The credits can be used to purchase hundreds of different vehicles or customize a personal favorite with upgraded parts. Skill points are acquired by drafting, drifting, catching air, doing “landscaping” (i.e. smashing through things), and other maneuvers, that when chained together can amount to a hefty total, provided you don’t smash into something hard before the points are awarded. Breaching the skill point threshold gives you a token to unlock passive perks that further improve your acquisition of wealth. There’s always something fun waiting around every bend, and the constant stream of rewards makes it hard to turn off the engine.

Forza Horizon 3 Screenshot

The benefits and fun are bolstered when you join other players on the road. For the first time in the series, up to three friends can join your campaign, not only to race, but also just to cruise around Australia and tackle every single event available in the solo mode. The Online Adventure allows up to 12 player matches in some pre-scripted events, but the most entertainment is found in the Playground – an arena style construction zone where games of Infected, King, and Flag Capture can be played, all tasking you to “tag” other players and win the round.

Forza Horizon 3 ‘s slice of Australia is massive, and every inch is absolutely gorgeous. There were several times I was tempted during a race to hit the brakes and take in the sights, but thankfully this is an open-world game, so after the race I was able to cruise around at my own pace, discovering more secrets to tick off my progress list in the process. Forzavista lets you give each vehicle a close inspection, but the new Drone Mode allows you to take control of the gadget and check out the sites from above. It grants a new perspective, but it wasn’t long before my interest waned and I buckled back in to my driver’s seat to hit the road.

Forza Horizon 3 Screenshot

Driving around is a delight for the ears as well. Each engine has a distinctive purr, or a growl if you’re behind the wheel of an off-road beast. The screeching around paved asphalt corners tightened my grip with each narrow turn, but digging up gravel on a dirt road or plowing through fields or outback brush provided an equally satisfying sound. Of course you can crank the radio station to several different channels, with upbeat tunes blasting through the speakers, unless you’re tuned to the classical station. But you know, there was something satisfying about Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 filling the airwaves while I launched off a ramp and soared through the sky in cinematic glory. There’s a wide selection of tracks, but if you’re planning on dozens to hundreds of hours behind the wheel, you’ll find yourself channel surfing after hearing the same song for the umpteenth time. You can avoid the playlist redundancy if you’ve got yourself a Groove Music subscription, streaming whatever music you want.

Forza Horizon seems to get bigger and better with each new entry to the series, and Forza Horizon 3 is by far the biggest festival yet. It’s hard to imagine where developer Playground Games will go if they are given the green light for Forza Horizon 4 . But there’s little need to worry about that, because we have been blessed right now with the must-have racing game of the current generation, so fun and addicting that it just begs you to take on one more event or cruise through one more gorgeous slice of Australia.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.9 Graphics
The occasional smashed environment not obeying the laws of physics is a fractional criticism to what is easily the most beautiful car racing game to date. Just look at the clouds! 4.8 Control
The basic driving controls are easy to pick up, and the customizable difficulty settings allow you to tweak the amount of assists to suit your skill level. 4.6 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The music library is varied, though the tracks will eventually get repetitive after racking up a few hundred miles. 4.9 Play Value
With so much to do and rewards at every turn, every second cruising around Australia is time well spent. 4.8 Overall Rating – Must Buy
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 – 1.9 = Avoid 2.5 – 2.9 = Average 3.5 – 3.9 = Good 4.5 – 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 – 2.4 = Poor 3.0 – 3.4 = Fair 4.0 – 4.4 = Great 5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

  • With more than 350 of the world’s greatest cars and an open world map twice the size of the previous game, Forza Horizon 3 is literally the largest Forza Horizon game ever created.
  • Forza Horizon 3 features six different Australian ecotypes, from the vast and rugged outback to the beautiful skyscrapers of Surfers Paradise, plus lush, wild rainforests, sandy beaches, and more.
  • In addition to creating your own races through Horizon Blueprint and car customization, you can now choose your driver character, create vanity license plates, add new body kits and even select your own car horn sounds.
  • Forza Horizon 3 adds several new ways to drive and race, including Danger Sign Jumps, Convoys, and Drift Zones.
  • Choose from eight diverse radio stations, or create a custom station from your own music collection with Groove Music.
  • In addition to 12-player multiplayer, 1000-player Clubs, and seamless matchmaking, Forza Horizon 3 introduces four-player career online co-op with cross-play (available at launch), enabled through Xbox Play Anywhere.

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