Forza Horizon Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

[Steve_OS]

The Forza Horizon demo is available now for Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers (queue it up right here). It weighs in at 1.57 GB. Not a gold member? You'll receive it next week.

Get some racing in and post your impressions.

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.

[Tomba]

Re: Forza Horizon Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

It's a demo....



+ Color in the shade is correct
+ Night time driving is very well done
+ Textures on mountains is great
+ Cars are detailed
- Handling even with assisted is not smooth
/ Overall sense of speed is decent
- Terrains effects are very weak compared to games like Dirt3 or even Sega Rally
- Have a feeling that the overall "fall feeling" will get old quick.

Feels like a mix between all that is good with forza all that was good with tes drive unlimted and everything that was bad from rockstars racing game

[ECPackers]

i think the handling feels great, especially at speed...very sim style (as i'd expect of forza) instead of crappy arcade like....


this game seems pretty legit, i'm thinking it'll score in the mid-high 9's

[Smooth_Tee1]

Excited about getting the full game, the demo is great .. good to have that car detail from Forza in an open world, waiting to drive the other cars on game ,looks like it wil be a great game.

[pk500]

Re: Forza Horizon Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

A bit disappointed with this demo.

The environments are beautiful, and the concept of this game is very cool. But the driving model is mediocre. Very lazy, with a distinct lack of feel, even with all assists turned off. That phenomenon is exacerbated during off-road free roaming or races, as the force feedback is poor on dirt roads.

Forza always has placed its players into a physics purgatory. The game doesn't feature the ludicrous slides of an arcade racer, but it also never has featured the proper weight-based physics of a real sim.

This game is no different. It's a very somnabulent driving model. It lacks weight and feel.

But this game appears to include many fun race styles, unlockables and a huge variety of roads. Will be really fun to race online, especially against friends.

Hmm. I probably can overlook the sleepy, floaty driving model to have eight cylinders of fun with friends.

[TajDeni]

Re: Forza Horizon Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

anyone else receive an error message from x-live when attempting to download this demo?

[razorkaos]

in one word: amazing. when this game was anounced, i thought it wuld be a crappy copy of NFS, but i was wrong, and i cant tell how much i loved this demo. forza horizon can be one of the greatest games of the year. i like racing in different enviroments, and even loving the forza and gt series, im a rally games fan, and i like the fact that in horizon we have different kinds of tracks. and, on a sidenote, im brazilian, and after fifa 13s poor localization, i cant be happier about what these guys made with horizon. the game is fully localized to brazilian portuguese, and with a high quality, and believe me, its a rare case.

[pk500]

Re: Forza Horizon Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

Drove this baby for about another 75 minutes tonight, and I must admit it's REALLY growing on me.

The reason is simple: It's FUN as hell.

I approached my first experience with the demo this afternoon in the same anal, cynical fashion with which I critique any new racing game. How are the physics? How is the grip model? The weight? The tactile feel?

Yeah, I'd still like all of these to be a bit better in Forza Horizon.

But they're not. Yet the game is still fun as hell. This is such a complete package. So much to do, whether it's street racing, racing against a P-51 Mustang, finding accessory discount signs to smash, trying to beat Friends' speeds through speed traps, etc.

Perhaps my favorite thing to do is just free roam and find other fast cars to race or dodge in and out of traffic. Reminds of when I played GTA III and IV and spent more time running over pedestrians and cruising Liberty City than attempting missions.

The attention to detail is superb in so many aspects of this game. I've found myself stopping on the shoulder and using the free look to admire the scenery. I love how the headlight sensor automatically turns on the headlights at dusk. The lighting used in the transition from night to sunrise is beautiful. And the music selections rock. Great mix of techno and cool rock like Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys, Hives, etc. I'm sure there will be even more tunes in the full release.

I'd love for the driving model to be a bit closer to my personal nirvana for a console game. But I'm willing to overlook that just because this game puts a bigger smile on my face the longer I play it.

It's not iRacing. It's not TOCA 3. It's not Richard Burns Rally. It's Forza Horizon, and it's fun as hell. I think it will be a big hit with my two sons and with buddies. That's a winner.

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Forza Horizon Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

I'm in love. The game is everything I hoped it would be. The details of Forza just had a baby with Project Gotham Racing and Forza Horizon just popped out (makes sense with a lot of the old PGR team working on it).

The game is everything an "arcade" racer should be. Fun, fast, and fun.

Love the details like when it turns night and your dashboard glows. Love how there's different headlights. Love the real traffic. Love having other races go on while you're driving around. The free roam stuff is a winner. I spent 10 minutes trying to beat a speed trap time, that's just the demo messing around, can't imagine what retail will have to unfold.

I was going back and forth on getting this or NFS, was getting both but know I won't give both enough attention right away. NFS has been canceled for now and will pick it up later. Forza will satisfy all those racing needs.

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Forza Horizon Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

And the music selections rock. Great mix of techno and cool rock like Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys, Hives, etc. I'm sure there will be even more tunes in the full release.

Long time PK, how you been?

Anyway, yeah, just a bit

Forza Horizon Track List

Horizon Bass Arena:

Levels (Skrillex Mix) - Avicii

Reckless (With Your Love) - Azari & III

Cinema (Skrillex Remix) - Benny Benassi

Blind Faith (feat. Liam Bailey) - Chase & Status

Hot Mess (feat Elly Jackson) (Duck Sauce Mix) - Chromeo

Encore - Digitalism

The Power (feat. Dizzee Rascal) - DJ Fresh

Silicone Lube - Feed Me

Lies (Alex Metric Remix) - Fenech-Soler

Icarus - Madeon

Show Me A Sign - Modestep

Lick The Rainbow - Mord Fustang

Remanence (Junior Remix) - Mr Magnetik

Me & You - Nero

Reaching Out (Fred Falke Remix) - Nero

Blue Monday - New Order

Language - Porter Robinson

Everyday (Netsky VIP Remix) - Rusko

Somebody to Love (Sigma Remix) - Rusko

The Hope - Scuba

Bass 4 - The Hacker

Illmerica (Extended Version) - Wolfgang Gartner

Horizon Pulse:

Need You Now - Cut Copy

Awake - Electric Guest

Walking on a Dream - Empire of the Sun

Iron Deer Dream (Chad Valley Remix) - Fixers

Don't Stop (Color on the Walls) - Foster The People

Hawaiian Air - Friendly Fires

Hurting - Friendly Fires

No Love -Hooray for Earth

Over & Over - Hot Chip

Black, White and Blue - Ladyhawke

Let Me Go - Maverick Sabre

Paddling Out - Miike Snow

Life is Life (Yuksek Remix) - Noah and the Whale

Take A Walk - Passion Pit

1901 - Phoenix

Bom Bom - Sam and the Womp

Disparate Youth - Santigold

Spirit of the Night - Tesla Boy

Pelican - The Maccabees

Punching in a Dream - The Naked & Famous

Aroused - Tom Vek

Something Good Can Work (The Twelves Remix) - Two Door Cinema Club

Yeah Yeah - Willy Moon

Horizon Rocks:

R U Mine - Arctic Monkeys

Lonely Boy - Black Keys

The Infected - Four Year Strong

Back of your Neck - Howler

Give It Up - LCD Soundsystem

Bring Em Down - Lostprophets

We Bring An Arsenal - Lostprophets

Teenager - Mona

Animal - Neon Trees

Wildfire, Smoke & Doom - Pulled Apart By Horses

Lazy Eye - Silversun Pickups

Surrender - The Duke Spirit

Away from Here - The Enemy

Had Enough - The Enemy

Hate To Say I Told You - The Hives

She Bangs The Drums - The Stone Roses

Rock n Roll Queen - The Subways

Motoring - TOY

Bug - Wavves

Farewell to the Fairground - White Lies

Bite My Tongue (feat. Oli Sykes) - You Me At Six

Get Away - Yuck

[Dazraz]

Is it me or is this game eerily similar to Dirt 2, right down to the presentation. Anyway we know how that game ended up, with Codemasters reverting to a much more traditional rallying approach with Dirt 3. Forza Horizon is, to me, a spot of franchise milking. Sure if you like arcade racers it will be your thing but for me I will hang on for Forza 4.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Forza Horizon Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

I tried the demo last night and was left pretty impressed by Horizon. I love having an simcade racer where you can drive in the cockpit. For me this is a mix of old NFS + TDU + FM all rolled into one.

Some of the Codemasters guys are on this team and you can tell the work they contributed with, the menu's. LOL! These menus look so close to the Dirt franchise its not even funny.

The Colorado scenery is just plain beautiful to drive around and enjoy the visuals. Even seeing the birds flying in the sky is a nice touch. I think the visuals are a slight downgrade from FM4 in some areas but not anything that would detract me from loving this game. For a racer, the 30FPS works really well having this locked in. The night and day cycles are an awesome addition to the Forza franchise.

Some have complained about the soundtrack reading around, it doesn't bother me one bit and actually like it. I wonder if the cars will have louder sound effects to match FM4 in the retail version. My only complaint is that I wish the crashes felt more like I was crashing into another vehicle instead of just bouncing off the vehicle and continuing on. Granted this is more on the arcade side, but would of been cool.

Racing planes is a neat idea and I can't wait to see how it is in the full game. I also do like Rivals based on your friends list. Also incorporating speed trials based off of your friends list with the speed traps is cool too, which is right out of Paradise City.

One other thing, which arcade racer gives you 200 fully modeled cars with cockpit views and gearbox out of the box? Then add the overly priced season pass to add even more vehicles, this is a nice overall package.

I felt like there was something missing, but with this being a demo, I can't quite put my finger on it. I think the addition of cops would of been cool, but that could be in Horizon 2. I still want to see NFS:MW, but to me that game from all the videos I have seen is a re-skinned Paradise City considering how much time I spent playing it single player and with many friends off of OS.

Do we know if there is any kind of replay engine for this game? This would be awesome if there was one.

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Forza Horizon Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

Is it me or is this game eerily similar to Dirt 2, right down to the presentation. Anyway we know how that game ended up, with Codemasters reverting to a much more traditional rallying approach with Dirt 3. Forza Horizon is, to me, a spot of franchise milking. Sure if you like arcade racers it will be your thing but for me I will hang on for Forza 4.

Former members of Codemasters and Bizarre Creations made the game, so it would make sense to have a Dirt influence.

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Forza Horizon Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

I tried the demo last night and was left pretty impressed by Horizon. I love having an simcade racer where you can drive in the cockpit. For me this is a mix of old NFS + TDU + FM all rolled into one.

Some of the Codemasters guys are on this team and you can tell the work they contributed with, the menu's. LOL! These menus look so close to the Dirt franchise its not even funny.

The Colorado scenery is just plain beautiful to drive around and enjoy the visuals. Even seeing the birds flying in the sky is a nice touch. I think the visuals are a slight downgrade from FM4 in some areas but not anything that would detract me from loving this game. For a racer, the 30FPS works really well having this locked in. The night and day cycles are an awesome addition to the Forza franchise.

Some have complained about the soundtrack reading around, it doesn't bother me one bit and actually like it. I wonder if the cars will have louder sound effects to match FM4 in the retail version. My only complaint is that I wish the crashes felt more like I was crashing into another vehicle instead of just bouncing off the vehicle and continuing on. Granted this is more on the arcade side, but would of been cool.

Racing planes is a neat idea and I can't wait to see how it is in the full game. I also do like Rivals based on your friends list. Also incorporating speed trials based off of your friends list with the speed traps is cool too, which is right out of Paradise City.

One other thing, which arcade racer gives you 200 fully modeled cars with cockpit views and gearbox out of the box? Then add the overly priced season pass to add even more vehicles, this is a nice overall package.

I felt like there was something missing, but with this being a demo, I can't quite put my finger on it. I think the addition of cops would of been cool, but that could be in Horizon 2. I still want to see NFS:MW, but to me that game from all the videos I have seen is a re-skinned Paradise City considering how much time I spent playing it single player and with many friends off of OS.

Do we know if there is any kind of replay engine for this game? This would be awesome if there was one.

You got another 360? Please re-add me!! I thougth you were out of the 360 market for good LOL Always good to have more friends to compete with for this game!

[CaptainZombie]

You got another 360? Please re-add me!! I thougth you were out of the 360 market for good LOL Always good to have more friends to compete with for this game!

Yeah I did this past weekend. Give me credit, i haven't had a 360 since last December. I had PS3 network issues a few weeks ago for 2 weeks, so it really was irritating when you have downloads taking 100,000 minutes on a 30mb connection.

I'll add you.