FORZA Horizon 3 Review

Forza Horizon 3

Review

Forza 3 Horizon is by far bigger and better than any previous Forza title.  Without adding too much to the game they have improved upon just about everything in a “just expand what already works kind of approach” and it pays off.  I feel like I’m getting all the fun and enjoyment I have had from previous games but with a lot of bonus features like a bigger open map (Compared to its predecessors Forza Horizon 2) better graphics and sounds, new and shinier cars you can’t really go wrong.

The game is set on the continent of Australia and at times it’s breath-taking.  Forza Horizon 3 introduces for the first time HDR or high dynamic range, this means better colours, better contrasts and really just visuals that make you think, I really wish I could be there right now.  At 30fps I find myself often just getting in my car and wandering around the towns, outback and rainforests just admiring the scenery listening to my favourite tunes on the radio, throw into the mix dynamic weather and the new global illumination the overall scenery and atmosphere of the game is second to none.  And of course while you’re exploring you have the ability to go off road and capture your favourite moments with your camera or drone.

When you take your eyes off of the visuals and get into the gameplay, you find yourself trying to gather fans in order to setup events across this sections of Australia, complete races and challenges to earn money levels and fans in order to progress to other parts of the map and unlock cars and customisation options.  

On top of this scattered throughout the map several things make a return from previous titles such as barns that house unique cars, stunt jumps, xp boards etc. so you are never short on things to do.  The game also has a 12 player lobby system meaning you can drive around and complete missions or just drive around and explore with friends or strangers if you prefer, so the world doesn’t seem lifeless.

Of course Forza is at the end of the day a Racing game and no racing game is worth its dollar without a wide selection of cars and customisation options.  Just about every type of car you can think of at this point is in the game and if you have played Forza before you will know there is no one better around than offering a more diverse range of cars, however it’s the car customisation than is impressive with different tabs covering every way possible to tune your car just right and make your ultimate ride.  

This attention to detail is not just found in the car customisation, you can choose your own character with a name that is mentioned quite often by your GPS, (extremely funny if you call yourself Dingo as I did) but its felt throughout the entire game and it really feels like the developers have taken into consideration what fans wanted to see from the title and are very eager to progress the franchise in the right direction (Unfortunately game creators going in the opposite direction from what fans want is all too common in games these days) but Forza doesn’t follow suit.

I found it difficult to criticise any part of this game but in the interest of a more balanced review I would say that the games story is its weakest point.  In the fact that you can progress through the story really quickly if you choose to just using super cars and custom races to shorten them and the games and you can gather fans extremely quickly.  I know that it’s a choice to do this and no one force you to play this way but I would like to see fans only awarded for pre-made championship races so this way you are forced to take the longer way round and it also forces you to purchase cars so you can compete in the different races as with custom blueprint races you can set every race to super cars if you want to.  So overall a small criticism but it’s all I could find to criticise.

The thing I enjoyed most about the game overall is how immersive it feels, it’s not just a big open but empty space.  Players can set up a convoy of AI players so you’re not travelling alone, radio stations keep up to date with things you have done throughout the map and even the small things like the change of lighting to reflect the terrains all adds to the realism of the game.

FORZA HORIZON 3 is a wonderful immersive open-world racing game that has taken the good points from its highly rated predecessors but has expanded them to create an all-around excellent game.  Car selection and customisation, coupled with the beautiful and diverse open world in the picturesque towns and postcard scenery it’s officially my favourite racing game in a long time.

SCORE 8/10