DSP member/alum featured in Forza Horizon video

[pk500]

Hey! Look who's featured in this developers' video for the upcoming Forza Horizon: DSP member/alum Brian Ekberg, known as BBReBozo around these parts.

Way to go, BB, you filthy animal!

[GB_Simo]

Demo's out, cats. Figured we might as well keep things in this thread, since it was the only one my search turned up.

If the demo is any guide at all, Forza Horizon is what you get when you cross Dirt 2 with Forza 4. It's the game Black Box thought they were making when they developed NFS ProStreet. As far as presentation goes, the menus and pre-race briefings are Dirt 2 - same style, same font, same everything, to the point that if you stuck them side by side and asked me to say which was which, I might struggle. The overall feel is better than that, though. The basic premise is that you're at a festival celebrating all that's wonderful about the motor car, which helps things to feel a bit more cohesive than Dirt's global meanderings and detached paddock areas. It also feels less...I don't know, annoying. Less "Heyadam, totally rad! Post that on YooToob!" and so on.

Or something like that.

Handling has the weight and general feel of Forza 4 but with a greater degree of assistance, again like the Dirt games. With all assists off, you can still feel the game helping you out when you try to accelerate off a turn, this being particularly noticeable in the off-road events. Really, it's probably necessary to make the whole experience worthwhile - I wouldn't like to think about how many very pretty cars I'd already have destroyed if I was weaving in and out of traffic using Forza 4's handling model - and it makes for an instantly accessible, fun experience. Once you complete a race, it opens up into a Rivals Mode event, so you can go back and have repeat attempts at the course without having to contend with opposition AI; that leader board element we all enjoyed so much in 4, that nod to the success of EA's Autolog, is still there.

Only played through the demo once but I'm really, really enjoying it so far.

[Teal]

Wasn't even on the radar; dammit. Now it may very well be. It seems faster than previous Forza's, and there's no denying the zen of simply driving around when you don't feel like racing. It's a beautiful, beautiful game to boot. I've already got NFS:MW (aka Burnout Paradise 2) preordered, so I'm not sure about having two racing games right together. But this one's cool.

I'm thinking they may have toned down the 'sim' aspects of traditional Forza a bit, as well. But if you can drive all those roads that were 'boxed out' for the demo, then man...that's pretty impressive.

[Dave]

I agree with pretty much everything you said, Simo. I had a chance to play through it at an event last week and was very pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had.

[pk500]

I'm 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. And Microsoft's version of Autolog is very fun, as Adam said.

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

I know I would have more offline fun with F1 2012, especially after Codemasters releases the uber-patch. But Forza Horizon will draw much more online attention. I miss playing a good group game online with DSP cats that doesn't require Ben Hur-like devotion to playing nearly every night, upgrading player ratings to remain competitive, like Madden, NHL, FIFA and Tiger Woods.

[Teal]

I don't know if I'll get this or not. I'm definitely getting Need for Speed: Most Wanted, however, which is going to have a rich online component. Guess it depends on how much interest Horizon gets in here.

[pk500]

I don't know if I'll get this or not. I'm definitely getting Need for Speed: Most Wanted, however, which is going to have a rich online component. Guess it depends on how much interest Horizon gets in here.

Will EA release a Most Wanted demo? I really need to decide between Most Wanted, Horizon and F1 2012, as I have room in my budget and available time for just one racing game.

F1 2012 is just $39.99 this month with a coupon from the Best Buy Gamer Deluxe magazine. But I bet Forza Horizon will be $29.99 on Black Friday. Will it still have DSP legs by Thanksgiving?

Decisions, decisions.

[Teal]

Don't know, Paul. But if there's a Burnout: Paradise demo, just download that, and imagine it with better physics, real cars, and cop chases, and you'll get the gist of it. I'm really looking forward to it. But I understand the constraints on the 'glut'. Just too much good stuff in the queue. Of course, not being a big F1 fan, I have very little interest in the F1 game. I'm actually more interested in their little F1 kart racing game...

[GB_Simo]

Is it not the Grand Prix Legends situation again, PK? When first released, you couldn't feel those cars either, since there was no FFB at all. You could see and hear how they were behaving, though, as a means of compensating for the tactile feedback you'd lost. This is where I might have a leg-up over you, in that I used to race GPL, rFactor and so on without FFB and got used to those compromises, but I'm not finding Horizon's handling that bad at all. I think it's ideal for the kind of game Horizon is - jump in and have fun if you're not a petrolhead, gain a little reward for that extra bit of touch and finesse if you are.

If, of course, you're already ahead of me on the Rivals board for the off-road race, ignore all of the above

[pk500]

If, of course, you're already ahead of me on the Rivals board for the off-road race, ignore all of the above

Are you high?

We'll see on the handling. Much like F1 2012, I just don't get the kind of tactile feel for the road that older racing games provided. Games such as Vanishing Point, F1: Championship Edition, F1 2002, MotoGP, Metropolis Street Racer, Tokyo Xtreme Racer, Project Gotham Racing, Colin McRae Rally and TOCA 3 all had far more "weighty" physics and grip models than most of the crop of recent racing games for this console generation.

No question racing games have progressed in graphics, features and depth in this generation of consoles. But I'm starting to believe they're regressed where it really counts -- physics and tire models.

I definitely want to give Forza Horizon a much more in-depth spin. I really like the vibe. The music, the cars, the scenery, the variety of races, open-world nature of the game. And if it catches Xbox Live fire at DSP (gasp! -- does that happen with ANY game?), all the better.

[Zeppo]

... that doesn't require Ben Hur-like devotion to playing nearly every night, upgrading player ratings to remain competitive, like Madden, NHL, FIFA ...

I don't know where you get your information, but I enjoy all three of those games and they require nothng like what you describe. Not even in the slightest. Pure fantasy land, man.

[pk500]

... that doesn't require Ben Hur-like devotion to playing nearly every night, upgrading player ratings to remain competitive, like Madden, NHL, FIFA ...

I don't know where you get your information, but I enjoy all three of those games and they require nothng like what you describe. Not even in the slightest. Pure fantasy land, man.

Sent you a PM. Don't want to derail this thread.

[vader29]

Wasn't planning on picking this one up but I love the demo, feels like Dirt 2 which is one of my all time favorite racers.

[pk500]

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 DSP buddies. That's a winner.

P.S.: Adam, your times are mental, as usual. Well done. I know the manny tranny slices time from every run, but you're unconscious, matey.

[J_Cauthen]

I had fairly low expectations for this game, realizing it was going to be designed with arcade style handling in mind. The handling model is exactly how I thought it'd be. I can still feel the assists, even with the controllable assists turned off, but there's enough of a proper handling reward there to make you feel engaged.

What I wasn't expecting is the "fun" factor that pk500 touched on... it's really there! My Fanatec pedals are still inoperable because of a broken off allen set screw that's going to require the services of a machinist to repair. My left hand is in a cast after I broke my 5th metacarpal, along with my right clavical, in a bicycle wreck Thursday evening, so it's really rough sledding with my restricted thumb motion caused by the cast. Even at that, I still find an inexplicable hook with
Forza Horizon.

The wheel experience will be the real acid test for my ultimate satisfaction with this game. I suck at racing games with a thumbstick, even with a fully healthy and unrestricted hand. Still, this game has loads more potential than I'd have ever dreamed

[Dave]

I really didn't expect to like the demo as much as I did last night.

It is like someone played the same driving/racing games as me and picked out good parts from a lot of them before adding unique features. Test Drive Unlimited? Check. The good parts of NFS ProStreet? Check. Stylish menus like Dirt? Check.

The Forza franchise always delivers in one key way for me--you can tell the people making the games truly love cars. It really shines through.

Damn, I didn't want to buy this game!

[pk500]

Mend quickly, John!

[Teal]

Yeah, I'm impressed...dammit. Another likely purchase...(sigh). I love/hate Fall.

[pk500]

Yeah, I'm impressed...dammit. Another likely purchase...(sigh). I love/hate Fall.

Your gaming budget must be inching closely to the U.S. deficit total.

[pk500]

As I drove free-roam around the back roads last night, I thought a "tag mode," in which one car was "it" and had to be tagged by other cars, would be really fun to play online.

Arcade-ish as hell, but so what? It would be fun.

[Teal]

Yeah, I'm impressed...dammit. Another likely purchase...(sigh). I love/hate Fall.

Your gaming budget must be inching closely to the U.S. deficit total.

My birthday is in October, and I get cash. It's a perfect combination!

[Pete1210]

Any chance there would be an active group here racing online with this? If yes that would influence my purchase decision. I miss online racing with friends.

[dbdynsty25]

My birthday is in October, and I get cash. It's a perfect combination!

What are you, 10? You get cash for your birthday? From who? I thought that went away after you figured out Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny didn't exist. Guess I'm just deprived.

[Teal]

My birthday is in October, and I get cash. It's a perfect combination!

What are you, 10? You get cash for your birthday? From who? I thought that went away after you figured out Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny didn't exist. Guess I'm just deprived.

LOL, nah, my mom and dad continue to insist on giving me 'something' for my birthday, and, since I don't ever know the answer to the question 'so what do you want for your birthday'...they give me money. Just one of those things...

Don't worry, I get shirts and ties and old guy crap from everyone else...lol

[pk500]

Birthday presents? At your age? Damn, you Rebels are old-school.

On my birthday, my parents and family give me ... phone calls.