June 12, 2012 by Vinnie Leduc
Developed by Playground Games and Turn 10, the Xbox 360 exclusive Forza Horizon looks to shifts its competitive focus away from PlayStation 3 exclusive Gran Turismo and instead toward one of EA’s popular multiplatform racing series, Need for Speed. It’s still retaining the dedication to realistic driving mechanics and physics, a trademark of the Forza franchise, but its entry into the open world in Horizon indicates that perhaps the series is seeking a balance between (and samplings of) the best of both worlds.
We got our hands on a Forza Horizon demo at E3 for a couple of quick races, and what brief gaming we did see and experience was at least magnificent. Set during a festival in Colorado, Horizon looked beautiful and ran smoothly. A big part of the game isn’t just about racing though; players try to get Speed Points by pulling off various maneuvers while driving (hmm… sounds kinda familiar), such as a slingshot or sketchy pass (scraping another car while overtaking it).
In another attempt to appeal to what’s hot, Forza Horizon promises to feature plenty of dubstep bleeding ears in its soundtrack. So no cop chases and no spectacular crash cinematics, but authentic driving and awesome cars? I guess we’ll have a better idea of what Forza Horizon has in store for gamers when it’s released on October 23, 2012, for the Xbox 360.
