Forza Horizon Catch-All

LiquidMantis wrote:

Demo next Tuesday.

Youtube notes wrote:

Download and play the Forza Horizon demo on October 9!

The launch trailer for this year's hottest racing game is here! Don't miss the road-taming speed in this action-packed video, showcasing Forza Horizon in all its open road glory.

Players who download the "Forza Horizon" demo and then purchase and play the full game online will receive a specially designed 2013 SRT Viper GTS, celebrating Forza Horizon's "gone-gold" status. This rare liveried car will only be available to those who download the demo and purchase and play the game online. The "Forza Horizon" Xbox LIVE demo requires an Xbox LIVE account. To receive your free Viper you will need Gold member exclusive access.

Man, that really feels like two separate game. For the first minute of the trailer, I wasn't excited at all. For the second minute, I was.

Very much looking forward to the demo. Since I have to choose, I've been waffling back and forth over which to get this month, FH or Need for Speed: Most Wanted, as if it's a Very Important Decision. And now barring some unforeseen gross inadequacy in the demo, I've waffled back to FH, if all the preview information is correct, like importing FM4 layer groups and rewards for FM3/4 saves.

FH just looks like it has the element of surprise. NFSMW is too much of a known quantity—arcade racing, Criterion pedigree, improved Autolog, matured Paradise City—and while I've every confidence that it's going to be great, I feel like I know everything that's going to be in the box. Whereas I don't entirely know what to expect with a sim driving game in an open world—other than the fact that, as I realized over the last week or so, this is actually the car game I've wanted all my life: real cars, customization, realistic handling, but off staid tracks, with their curbs and catchment fences and tire walls and only-one-way-around, and on to the roads. Too much FM3/4, as enjoyable as they are, inured me to closed circuit racing—I demand junctions, highways, and terrified traffic.

It sounds like the demo is surprisingly extensive. I saw this in the FM.net forum, not sure on the actual source though.

The Absolutely Trustworthy Internet wrote:

In addition, the launch trailer also confirms the upcoming release of the “Forza Horizon” demo, which will be available to download on Xbox LIVE starting October 9. The “Forza Horizon” demo has been designed to whet fans’ appetite for open world automotive action that will be the centrepiece of the game. In the demo, players will get a chance to experience the Colorado of “Forza Horizon”, driving a number of different cars across a variety of different event types – from Horizon Festival events taking place in the dusty, dirt roads of the upper hills – to a climactic street race that find players winding up, around, and over the fictional Finley Dam.

Oh wow--this is suddenly at the top of my most-anticipated list. Hopefully this will mean I don't have to waste time on Fuel anymore

Looks like the demo is up. So far, I've been much more interested in NFS for my open world driving. Let's see if this changes that.

Anyone else given it a shakedown yet? It does seem the FFB is dead on the controller. I had an issue where it wasn't reading my gas pedal (turned out I needed to reseat the cable) but the brake was working and it does the usual "dump you into a race before you can do anything" Forza intro. So I just used a controller until I could get access to the options, thinking the config wasn't right. Anyway, the controller had no FFB at all, like I was reading in the forum. Anyway, once I got to the options and troubleshot my gas pedal issue, the wheel has a lot of FFB. Maybe that's just an issue with the demo then. I'm still not entirely sure about the physics and handling, I'll have to give it some more time. It does seem that the AI has all the cheats turned on, that's for sure.

So one comment on the Rivals stuff: TURN YOUR ASSISTS OFF CHROMETECH! I don't think I can touch you on the rally stage. I thought I was done with the demo until my friends leaderboard started getting populated.

To be honest I did not look at any of the settings. Just started playing. Not really enjoying it.

I was definitely there with you. While I'm not ecstatic with it, it has grown on me. Make sure you give it a decent shake and get out of the Evo. That's the worst of the three cars in the demo for feel. The Mustang and Viper you can only drive for the special events, but you can play a little in the Viper if you ignore the race, or at least a Rival challenge. There's a left turn before the end that will get you down to the base of the dam.

So the driving game I've always wanted was something with a bit more of a casual bent (i.e., something more to do than just serious circuit races) that drove like Forza. So all this game really had to do was feel like Forza and I would be pleased.

I am quite pleased.

Well I had fun. I actually really like the Evo here, even more than in FM4 as it drives great on the dirt, sliding around corners and then going right where you point it. I just spent most of my time tooling around the roads. AI use their indicators when turning and changing lanes, which is great. They'll flash their lights if you're heading towards them in your lane, and even seem to move out your lane if you're coming up behind them on the freeway section—though not nearly fast enough, so maybe those were just coincidences. And it's great seeing leaves kicked up by tires—haven't seen that Rallisport Challenge 2. I only wish you could use the horn (left thumbstick click?) and turn on/off your lights manually (right thumbstick click?) and flash your brights (d-pad up?).

I'd love to see what the hub/menu parts of the game are like: buying, garage, upgrades, livery editor, and so on. But the driving fast and smashing stuff is solid, and that's about 90% of the game, innit.

Hard to say how usable the Speed Wheel will be outside racing. The Message Center is navigated with the triggers, rather than the bumpers, if you're using the Wheel, thankfully. I'd like to have seen that patched into FM4. Because of the radio functions, there's no free look, only look back. If you're using the clutch, then you don't get a handbrake. And weirdly, you can't toggle the car view in the car select/choose colour screen. It's just X on the controller, but not available when using the Wheel. Well I'll probably just use the controller most of the time anyway.

zeroKFE wrote:

So the driving game I've always wanted was something with a bit more of a casual bent (i.e., something more to do than just serious circuit races) that drove like Forza. So all this game really had to do was feel like Forza and I would be pleased.

I am quite pleased.

Likewise.

zeroKFE wrote:

So the driving game I've always wanted was something with a bit more of a casual bent (i.e., something more to do than just serious circuit races) that drove like Forza. So all this game really had to do was feel like Forza and I would be pleased.

I am quite pleased.

Yay! This is what I want to hear.

Still no FFB in the demo?...I cannot play without FFB anymore.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: I thought I'd be posting here about how much the festival crap, like the unskippable intro movie, makes me want to barf—but to the game's great credit, I actually completely forgot about that. I mean, it's all there and probably more un-ignorable in the game proper, but the "after-taste" of the demo is simply enjoyable bombing along beautiful winding roads. I guess I can stomach the 'tude. Plus the day-glo banners facilitate easy readability of the game world, so that helps.

MisterStatic wrote:

Still no FFB in the demo?...I cannot play without FFB anymore.

Great with the wheel.

MisterStatic wrote:

Still no FFB in the demo?...I cannot play without FFB anymore.

I'm getting FFB on a game pad without problems, though the amount of feedback as the plane buzzes you in the mustang event is annoying.

You know, in hindsight I'm so accustomed to the wheel and Buttkicker that the controller FFB may have been normal but just seemed dead in comparison.

LiquidMantis wrote:
MisterStatic wrote:

Still no FFB in the demo?...I cannot play without FFB anymore.

Great with the wheel.

The force feedback on my CSR seemed the same as in Forza 4 (at least, as much as I can remember -- it has been a few months since I played though).

zeroKFE wrote:
LiquidMantis wrote:
MisterStatic wrote:

Still no FFB in the demo?...I cannot play without FFB anymore.

Great with the wheel.

The force feedback on my CSR seemed the same as in Forza 4 (at least, as much as I can remember -- it has been a few months since I played though).

Oh, I just realized I read Mantis' original report wrong. Got it, I'll have to try tonight.

Tried the demo. It's like a fun Need for Speed where the driving makes some semblance of sense.

Also, I have NO IDEA how to drift. In any game. Ever. Can someone give me an idea how the hell you do that without just doing a 180? Because I've tried doing handbrake-assisted turns, and it ends with me slamming into a wall. Or I end up getting an ULTIMATE DRIFT when I really was just trying to brake in a RWD car.

The vibe the game's shooting for though... I feel like the full version should come with an Ed Hardy t-shirt, some Bud Platinum and a couple hits of MDMA.

Looking for some enablement from the demo, but while I wait for it to download (and I get an opportunity to play it, more's the point) what are your impressions?

I'm coming at it from the perspective of I skipped FM4, as I had fatigue after FM3 (still trying to get all the races done) and I was worried FM4 was just 'more of the same' as it was with GT2 going to GT3.

Given this is open world, how's it made the transition? Can you grab bite sized chunks, or is it lengthy road sections/challenges?

I know the easy answer is 'play the demo', but like I said, getting to it is a lot harder than reading about it here.

Prederick wrote:

Also, I have NO IDEA how to drift. In any game. Ever. Can someone give me an idea how the hell you do that without just doing a 180? Because I've tried doing handbrake-assisted turns, and it ends with me slamming into a wall. Or I end up getting an ULTIMATE DRIFT when I really was just trying to brake in a RWD car.

Enter a turn with your wheel turned into it then tap the brake (to push weight on the front axel) and then hit the gas until you loose grip in your rear wheels. Once you start sliding steer away from the turn to prevent you from spinning out and throttle the gas to control the speed of the spin. It comes down to just getting the right combination of counter-steer and gas to maintain the drift angle.

With all the car guys on this forum, I'm sure someone will correct me and explain it more clearly but give that a try for now.

I'm not a drifter, but Horizon loves the Scandinavian flick. Basically turn away from the turn to transfer weight to the inside, then turn back in with some trailing throttle to transfer weight to the outside and unweight the rear tires. Use countersteering to try to keep the car pointed at the apex. So far it seems like Horizon's "physics-lite" model isn't near as prone to snap-back on corrections, although that may be mostly the Evo.

m0nk3yboy wrote:

Looking for some enablement from the demo, but while I wait for it to download (and I get an opportunity to play it, more's the point) what are your impressions?

I'm coming at it from the perspective of I skipped FM4, as I had fatigue after FM3 (still trying to get all the races done) and I was worried FM4 was just 'more of the same' as it was with GT2 going to GT3.

Given this is open world, how's it made the transition? Can you grab bite sized chunks, or is it lengthy road sections/challenges?

I know the easy answer is 'play the demo', but like I said, getting to it is a lot harder than reading about it here.

There are three races in the demo, plus rival challenges, and they're all 3-4 minutes. Maybe there are longer races in the full game. But if you want, you can tool around the open world, exploring and driving to your heart's content—plus your "stylish" driving earns you points, which apparently could be enough alone to buy new cars without even entering events.

From my perspective, as much as I've been looking forward to Dishonored, I don't have the time for it since babby was formed. Forza Horizon is going to be my only game purchase for a few months, since it'll be fulfilling for 20 minutes (likely) or 2 hours (unlikely).

I would say the demo has no big surprises. As a more hard core Forza 4 player, Horizon's Forza physics light is not as appealing to me, but it isn't bad. I don't have the money to drop on it right now, so I plan to skip it and stick with F4, but with a slightly different financial situation I would be all over it. It seems like it hits its target well, I'm just not quite the target.

Gravey wrote:
m0nk3yboy wrote:

Looking for some enablement from the demo, but while I wait for it to download (and I get an opportunity to play it, more's the point) what are your impressions?

I'm coming at it from the perspective of I skipped FM4, as I had fatigue after FM3 (still trying to get all the races done) and I was worried FM4 was just 'more of the same' as it was with GT2 going to GT3.

Given this is open world, how's it made the transition? Can you grab bite sized chunks, or is it lengthy road sections/challenges?

I know the easy answer is 'play the demo', but like I said, getting to it is a lot harder than reading about it here.

There are three races in the demo, plus rival challenges, and they're all 3-4 minutes. Maybe there are longer races in the full game. But if you want, you can tool around the open world, exploring and driving to your heart's content—plus your "stylish" driving earns you points, which apparently could be enough alone to buy new cars without even entering events.

From my perspective, as much as I've been looking forward to Dishonored, I don't have the time for it since babby was formed. Forza Horizon is going to be my only game purchase for a few months, since it'll be fulfilling for 20 minutes (likely) or 2 hours (unlikely).

Thanks Gravey, just the perspective I was looking for

I find myself somewhat conflicted about this game after playing the demo. It doesn't feel as tight as FM4 and yet it feels way better than most of the other racing series out there. I am not sure if I will buy it or not.

I did have a bit of an epiphany while playing it though. It feels like an early trimmed down version of a next gen Forza engine. Has me hoping that FM5 will be a launch title for the next gen Xbox next year.

Giant Bomb gives the game five stars.

This game looks A LOT like Dirt 2.

Someone got Dirt on my Forza! I'm going to give the demo another shot, but for the few minutes I played I was a bit underwhelmed by the driving, and overwhelmed by the presentation.

Grubber788 wrote:

Giant Bomb gives the game five stars.

This game looks A LOT like Dirt 2.

They have a quick look video, too.

I preordered NFS on PC instead of this, but the GB review at least has me interested. Might put it on my Christmas list. Be an excuse to get the wheel back out again.