Forza Horizon 2

A sequel that does what it set out to do, raise the bar.

Every element in Forza Horizon 2 adds up to an exceptional experience. The story isn’t over the top so as to get in the way of racing, driving feels as good as it ever did in Forza Motorsport, there’s a ton of things to do, and the game looks absolutely beautiful — especially the long-awaited dynamic weather system. Forza Horizon 2 is a must-have on the Xbox One.

“Forza Horizon 2 is light on challenge, heavy on fun, delivering one of the most exciting and enjoyable racing games in years.”

Forza Horizon 2 is a spectacular achievement for Playground Games, and a game that makes you feel like part of a community, even when you’re not playing with anyone; a game that captures the joy of driving, and more importantly, sharing that joy with others. It feels like the kind of game Microsoft has been trying to make for years, one that finds success in its mechanics, but is defined by its community, one less a collection of random players, and more a club of enthusiasts.

The story in Forza Horizon is thin, but that’s ok, as the game shines where it should, on the virtual road.  You are a random driver who has been invited to participate in a series of races held during the Forza Horizon Festival in southern Europe.  As you progress you earn coloured wristbands that will eventually give you access to the Horizon Finale.  Yep, it’s that simple.  There are a lot of in-game cinematics that pop up after each championship or road trip to help keep you involved in what is going on.  I found the story, if you can call it that, as well as the cinematics, to be a side d...

The first Forza Horizon set a new standard for open-world racing games, and Forza Horizon 2 has comprehensively updated that standard. The location is right, the car list extensive, the handling nuanced but accessible, and the visuals are excellent. Above everything it’s always fun, whether you’re in a ludicrous Land Rover race or sniffing out a hidden Barn Find. Forza Horizon 2 is Test Drive Unlimited, PGR, Smuggler’s Run, and Forza Motorsport all crammed into a T-shirt cannon and fired into your face. It wears its inspiration on its sleeves but damn if that’s not a killer combination.

Was it not for what feels like an overly-long period of hand-holding when you first start out and some other noted minor issues, a perfect ten would have been on the cards here. Forza Horizon 2 is easily the Xbox One’s best driving game and also easily one of the finest, expansive, and most enjoyable racing games of all time. Before writing that sentence, we did indeed consider all of the great games that fall into the category. Whether your favourite is Stunt Car Racer, Out Run, Ridge Racer, Burnout, Project Gotham Racing, Blur, any Need for Speed game, Gran Turismo, or good old Metropolis St...

If you like racing or driving and have an Xbox One or Xbox 360, this is a must buy.

Despite its namesake, Horizon 2 seems to fit alongside competition like Need For Speed: Rivals - with its next-gen visuals and features also preparing a head-to-head bout with Ubisoft's The Crew. But as outlandish as the action may get, the strength of the Forza tradition provides a link for simulation fans to hold onto.

This review was made possible due to a review copy by Microsoft Studios.

Forza Horizon 2 successfully captures the feel of the original Horizon title, and in fact, surpasses it in every way. Forza Horizon set out to give racing fans the opportunity to enjoy the Forza series in an open-world environment, and with the addition of a vast and beautiful locale, multiplayer options, both online and in single-player mode, and all of its activities, Forza Horizon 2 is yet another sequel that vastly improves on its original.

Horizon 2 gets the basics right: It’s a great core driving experience with plenty of variation to the events, a respectable catalogue of cars and a large map to explore, but there’s significantly more to it than that. The online system, friendlist leaderboards and clubs system are all relatively unobtrusive if you don’t want to use them but impressively powerful when you do and, although they still go big on the DLC car packs, the return to a lack of micro transactions is very welcome too.