When the first Horizon was announced, it raised some concerns that the Forza banner was being used to prop up a racing IP that wouldn’t honor the heralded franchise’s namesake. When the game was released, however, it was clear that although different, Horizon was just as capable of creating proficient gameplay that’s a bit less dependent on the “science” of driving and more about the feeling. Pulling the right trigger became and expression of freedom. The freedom to either compete in races and move up the single player ladder, or the freedom to just keep that trigger pinned down while soaking in the scenic Colorado overlay. That same dichotomy is the key component of Horizon continuing to be a spirited “road less travelled” with H2.
What we’re getting with H2 is a gameplay experience that is built upon Forza 5’s efforts. F5 observed the series’ noted ability to strike an effective chord between sim and arcade. Not clipping an apex at the exact right angle won’t necessarily send you wildly out of line. Getting on the brake a little late into a turn graciously affords an opportunity to salvage decent momentum with good throttle-to-brake timing. Other titles on the more “realistic” side would make you pay dearly for such a momentary lapse. On the flip side, Forza has never allowed someone to hold the trigger wide open and make it out of any situation looking like a driving god. You still have to employ a general appreciation for the limits of speed and gravity. H2 adopts the same basic tenants with slight tweaks. I would describe it as being arcade-y, but not uncultured. Again, a decently accurate throttle-to-brake rhythm is at the heart of darting through traffic and zipping to the front. Much like in F5, the tactile response is increased with the Impulse Trigger design of the One’s controller. Feeling that extra rumble when the brakes lock up really helps with learning the limits of what you can and can’t get away with in different turning scenarios. The ante is upped with upgrades. This amazing feature in both run of games is back with the same breakdown of additional parts and levels. From the engine, to handling, to paint schemes and vinyls, it’s all open for adjustment. Installing racing dampers to “hug” the road better, swapping out the air filter, ratcheting on a turbo, and throwing a tribal design down the doors is just one simple example of creating a machine that’ll out perform “stock” competition. This can be taken a step further with advanced tuning options. Playing around with brake balance, gear ratios, tire pressure, et cetera looks intimidating from the onset, but the tools are surprisingly user friendly. The left side of the HUD constantly shows pertinent “Benchmark” stats that instantly show if the change you made will help or harm performance. And since this is Horizon, you can go straight from the garage to miles upon miles of varied driving paths to test out your changes before instituting them as a permanent part of that car’s setup.
One of my main criticisms of Forza 5 is the lack of that sensation of speed. Going 80 doesn’t seem that much different from going 180, outside of the inability to turn. Horizon 2 is much, much better at relaying acceleration. The first time you lay into a hypercar like the Koenigsegg Agera or the Lamborghini Veneno, you understand those rides are a wholly different animal than what can be found in B or C class ranks. I love this aspect of H2. It was one of the first indications that Turn 10 and Playground are continuing to push the gameplay aspect of their releases, and that H2 stands to be the beneficiary of their latest artistry. The One version of the game will receive the benefit of cloud based Drivatars. This system analyzes the tendencies of real players and converts them into the NPCs that makeup starting grids in offline races. The really awesome part is that the info you (and your friends) poured into F5 will go into the “construction” of these Drivatars. Transparency between the two IPs such as this helps when diving into the modes.
That freedom moniker I referenced earlier applies to how activities are offered, as well. This year’s Horizon Festival takes place in southern Europe across parts of Italy and France. Huge open highways perfect for hitting the RPM limit are met with the technical cornering of town/city streets that are connected by ocean side cliff roads, rally inclined dirt paths, and a few spots that are perfect for action movie style car stunts. When you’re good and ready, start your run at the Horizon podium! The main single player stock is Road Trip. The Festival’s climb up the ladder uses city “Hubs” as the rungs. Locales like Castelletto, Sisteron, and San Giovanni play host to Championships. 168 in total, amassing more than 700 individual events, you’re only required to win 15 Championships to reach the Horizon Final. Each ‘Ship consists of a handful of wickedly fun races that award points based on finishing position. The total at the conclusion of the collection determines the winner. Expect a decently wide array of different challenge types. Circuit races are lapped affairs that usually have a “grand prix” feel, with hairpin turns and consistent cornering demands. Point-to-Point contests are the bread and butter of this game, and make up most of the Championship checkpoints. Sprints “close” the roads to just the competitors, while Street Races keep the carriageways open to the public. Trail selections are P-2-P races that feature asphalt and off-road portions, while Cross Country is almost completely without pavement for more true rally. These are quite entertaining and can be frustrating at times if the pony you brought to the track isn’t built to handle the outdoors. My tuned up 2014 Stingray ‘Vette eats up roads, screaming in a plume of devilishly pleasing tire smoke. But the couple of Trail events I used it in were lessons in traction limits and had me rage tapping Y to rewind more times than I care to admit.
This would be a good time to explain how you can choose your own path to the Final. Before you travel to the next city to start the next ‘Ship, you get to pick what car/truck/SUV you’d like to use. The system is very similar to the one used in Forza 5. Luckily, you won’t be bored with the selection process in lieu of the insanely deep vehicle list. Hundreds of officially licensed whips make H2’s roster. Of course, heavy hitters of the car industry like Chevrolet, Ford, BMW, Ferrari, Volkswagen, and others brought dozens of their makes and models to the showroom. What I think is even more important, though, are the more obscure and unique choices that Turn 10/Playground were able to wrangle. The Bowler is a specialized off-road juggernaut that is more of a testament to how far automotive ingenuity has come than it is an exercise in practicality. This relatively unknown, but brilliant machine is put on display right alongside “sexier” poster cars like the Pagani Huayra and more “sensible” performance vehicles the ilk of a VW Golf R. All spectrum of the automobile industry is grandly represented.
When not trying to capture the Festival crown, there are plenty of other opportunities to whet your speedy appetite. Just cruising actually affords quite a bit to do. Skill points are back, but get an elevated role this time around. Each Skill rank awards a point to be used towards unlocking Perks. Things like increased drifting payouts are common “cheap” options, but more advanced unlocks that identify important Drivatars during casual trips cost several Perk points. Other impromptu activities will be familiar to veteran Horizon drivers. The tag team of Speed Traps and Speed Zones are back to being time consuming champs. Their placement along the roads seems to be even more carefully thought out than they were in 2012. Very few are on a dead straight. Most will have you “rinsing and repeating” endless pass throughs to see just how much on the edge you can get the car without wiping out. Head to Head races are also on the come back. Again, with the One version, you’ll be battling Drivatars in 1v1 heats. Your on-board, voice activated navigation assistant Anna will highlight “Pro” level H2H opponents that offer top level XP points. The only annoyance is that the game doesn’t display the car and class of the other driver. It would be nice to know that they have you beat by a class or two before you initiate the challenge. A simple addition to their “call tag” would solve this problem.
Showcase Events and Barn Finds continue the string of Horizon holdovers. Showcases are the car vs. other mode of transportation races that combine circus level presentation with advanced level driving demands. As not to spoil the surprise, I won’t go too deep in individual vehicles and what other machines you’re pitted against. What I will say is that Turn 10 and Playground did a better job at keeping the two paths more interwoven this time. The other transport will cross over and switchback much more often in your field of view that in the first game, which can be kind of jarring if you’re not prepared. Ever so often, you’ll be alerted of a possible hiding spot for some classic car that has been abandoned in a barn. Your mission, should you chose to accept it, is to search the highlighted area of the map for these automotive treasure chests. They pretty much work the same way they did in the original. Although, the metal Easter eggs are much more well hidden and might take some “creative” driving to get to the exact location. A notable new kid on the track is Bucket List. These are challenges featuring some of H2’s most exotic rides fit for an episode of Top Gear (U.K. version, of course. NEVER the U.S. spinoff). One might have you attempting a crazy MPH mark at a predetermined checkpoint and the next might be finding a path from point A to point B within a time window that sticking to the suggested GPS route can’t handle. Again, I’ll keep the specifics to myself as to not spoil any surprises, but a few of them are the most difficult and most rewarding things you’ll do in the offline land of Horizon 2. This is by far the best new addition to the franchise, and puts an exquisite layer of icing on an already delicious single player cake.
The online component utilizes the exact same world as offline. Freeroam is the backbone in which the entire experience is tethered. Up to 12 of your Xbox LIVE friends can join in on a session, and the Leader of the lobby has administrative control over what individual events will be taking place. All race types from Road Trip are available, as is your entire garage with all the additional parts and tuning options you may have previously set. Having a tuned car that you’re comfortable driving is essential to competing at a high level in standard races. If the group feels like being more casual, check out King and Infected. King is a vehicular version of tag. One person “holds” the crown at a time, amassing points with each second they have the distinction. Tapping them snatches the crucial object away and you’ll have a few seconds of invulnerability to get away from the mob that usually accompanies a transfer. Infected turns this convention on its head. At the start, one person is a four wheeled zombie and their goal is to crash into the other drivers to “turn” them. Be the last survivor standing to win! The Freeroam system is really awesome and works well for two reasons. For one, every person in the session doesn’t have to participate in the events. If the upcoming race doesn’t do anything for you, just don’t acknowledge the sign up notification that appears along the top of the screen. You’ll remain in the same lobby, and everyone will be back in the open world as soon as the event is over. Secondly, offline progression shows up in Freeroam, and vice versa. This is a great way for a group of people to share tips, line up and trade runs at aforementioned Speed Traps/Zones, and help each other locate items like Barn Finds and XP/Discount/Fast Travel boards. The other way to play on LIVE is Online Road Trip. This quick option puts together four events at random amongst the possible interwebs match types and adopts the same points scale as offline “solo” Road Trip to determine the winner. Just to clarify, wins in the online version do not count towards single player progression.
Horizon 2’s presentation is the best in the Forza brand to date. That aforementioned sensation of speed in enhanced tenfold by the breathtaking backdrops. Endless, lush fields of green, gold, and violet sweep through among jagged cliff faces and staggered mountain ranges. The foliage is so believable that even while going breakneck speed, it doesn’t become a flat mush of forested mass. Simply panning your eyes across the upper third of the screen and seeing the attention to detail put into recreating what can actually be found in that part of the world is just one example of the great work H2’s design team put into the visual package from top to bottom. And dynamic events like weather changes show great prowess. The rain effects are impressive. What’s more impressive is immediately after it stops pouring, the road has that “glassed over” look and feel. When the sun peeks out, and the asphalt shines like a sapphire highway, it creates a moment that truly pushes the limits of photo realism. Audio shares in similar affluence. The “blend” is near perfect. Layers and layers of sounds from the engines and ambiance compliment one another without sounding crowded. And little nuances like lowering the music volume level during a Speed Zone so you can get a better roar from the motor and really key in on that driving moment ratchets up the proficiency of the sound mix. Speaking of which, just as the first, H2 has an amazing soundtrack. Previous stations such as Pulse and Bass Arena are met by newcomers in Ninja Tune, Innovative Leisure, and others. Expect a wide range of genres and artists, from EDM acts like Chromeo and Jungle, to rock bands such as The Clash and Bass Drum of Death. There’s even an entire station devoted to classical pieces that set the mood during a casual stroll across the picturesque Euro vistas.
