Forza Horizon 2 on the horizon! [XO,X360]

Demo is out.

I've used smart glass to download it, will play when I get home.

Reviews of the demo are super glowing!!
 
So good, really loads of fun. I have caught myself jumping off of cliffs only to go out of bounds for the demo area. Darn you demo!

Really quite good looking, much better than I was guessing it would look. So that is a nice surprise, can't wait to play with photomode.

Some things I like are that tuning the setup is easier to get to compared to FM5.

Off-road is a different animal when you turn on simulation steering, you seem to slide around much more and really have to think of where you are going to turn and then counter steer. Having done some off-road driving on farms, it feels fair in the game. (also have hit some trees while doing this in real life, darn they are hard on the AC coils)

I know some complain that you don't seem to slow down much, but I have noticed this in real life as well. When you transition off tarmac smoothly on to grass you really don't slow down. In FH2 I do find that acceleration is slower while off-road, and it seemed that top speed was slower as well vs running on tarmac.

My impressions so far - I love it, pre-ordered. ;p

Edit: A few more comments. Took a different car, and with that car I could feel that everything was different when going off-road. Speed was much more limited, oversteer was almost instant, suspension bounce was felt through the controller, etc. So just wanted to say those early impressions from the press must have been a different build or they did not fiddle with the settings.
 
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I'm not into car games really. Downloaded the demo to look at the visuals, anyway just to say there's pop in.

The visuals are very nice with a warm sunny look and it's clearly on the Forza 5 engine.

Also, I have noticed a couple games that used a cinematic intro or cutscene-into-gameplay to hair raising effect, one was a COD Ghosts sequence recently, and the into to Horizon transition-to-gameplay does the same (even though this idiot in the YT ruins the moment by decelerating right away). I really like this technique, it's different and awesome and I see more and more of it being explored going forward. Games dont have to just be this boring thing they can be stylized like a movie, an awareness that "this is cool".
 
Played through the demo last night. There is some pop-in and shadows suddenly becoming more defined as you drive closer but overall the game looks really nice. This is the 3rd game I’ve played that has really given me that ‘next-gen’ vibe on new consoles (other two were Infamous and Ryse) where it felt like something more than just an HD remaster of a 7th gen title. Driving is pretty arcadey but that is the style of game and for what it is it works well. There is a really good sense of speed in the game. My biggest complaint about The Crew was that the sense of speed was just awful, driving at 140 on the freeway in The Crew felt like going 80 while everyone around you is going 30. In Forza it really feels like you are driving at high speeds. Initially I was going to give this a pass but the demo was entertaining enough and since I am already sick of playing Destiny I may pick this up.
 
Ruiadas said:
Played through the demo last night. There is some pop-in and shadows suddenly becoming more defined as you drive closer but overall the game looks really nice. This is the 3rd game I’ve played that has really given me that ‘next-gen’ vibe on new consoles (other two were Infamous and Ryse) where it felt like something more than just an HD remaster of a 7th gen title. Driving is pretty arcadey but that is the style of game and for what it is it works well. There is a really good sense of speed in the game. My biggest complaint about The Crew was that the sense of speed was just awful, driving at 140 on the freeway in The Crew felt like going 80 while everyone around you is going 30. In Forza it really feels like you are driving at high speeds. Initially I was going to give this a pass but the demo was entertaining enough and since I am already sick of playing Destiny I may pick this up.
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Turn on simulation steering? For me it felt less arcadey, and with all the assists off it was good fun.

The loading (cars, shadows) in is not bad, something had to give somewhere I guess. Loading times are small, and everything is nice and fluid.
 
FH2 looks really interesting to me. I'm looking forward to the reviews. Right now, this is definitely the most appealing game on the One. The reactions from the demo seem very positive indeed :)
 
Jwm said:
Turn on simulation steering? For me it felt less arcadey, and with all the assists off it was good fun.

The loading (cars, shadows) in is not bad, something had to give somewhere I guess. Loading times are small, and everything is nice and fluid.
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Yeah the pop-in isn't bad and once you get into the swing of playing it isn't noticeable. Overall the game looks really good. Like I said, I am glad to see games that don't feel like I am playing a 7th gen game on my PC but feel like they are using the power in the new consoles more creativity.

I turned the driving assists off and it does feel better (from a pure driving standpoint) but this game seems more about going fast and blasting around Europe than replicating a track experience so the arcade feel fits better.
 
That looks very cool :yes:

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner.
 
One thing I have noticed, is how the shadows move with time-of-day. So I feel like this is part of the of the shadow pop, as you have a tree in the distance that has a shadow, but as you get closer it then pops to the correct time placement.

Also can be an ugly effect on the mountain rock faces, so it could just be accelerated time for the demo maybe. If you sit still and watch the shadows move, you will see them tick 3 to 5' maybe across the ground with each change.

@Cyan - look at the metal work on that train, so cool.
 
I loved the Eurogamer performance video ... Just gave me the perfect Test Drive 2 vibe that I've always wanted to recapture somehow, and only NFS III close to nailed. I am less convinced about the off-road parts, particularly the way the tracks are just going through everything willy-nilly I really just don't dig, and in FH1 I already didn't like the off-road either. The cockpit view lights and shadow of the dashboard seemed a bit flat, but that could just have been the time of day, will look closer later. But apart from the weather effects outside of cockpit view looking disappointing (wet surface and spray effects are a bit out-of-date imho), and a bit more people, animals, swaying trees and such would have been nice, I think the rest of the game looks very nice and I would very likely get it if I had a One if the demo didn't disappoint. Perhaps I'll try the demo on the old 360. That launch unit is still refusing to die ;).
 
Arwin said:
I loved the Eurogamer performance video ... Just gave me the perfect Test Drive 2 vibe that I've always wanted to recapture somehow, and only NFS III close to nailed. I am less convinced about the off-road parts, particularly the way the tracks are just going through everything willy-nilly I really just don't dig, and in FH1 I already didn't like the off-road either. The cockpit view lights and shadow of the dashboard seemed a bit flat, but that could just have been the time of day, will look closer later. But apart from the weather effects outside of cockpit view looking disappointing (wet surface and spray effects are a bit out-of-date imho), and a bit more people, animals, swaying trees and such would have been nice, I think the rest of the game looks very nice and I would very likely get it if I had a One if the demo didn't disappoint. Perhaps I'll try the demo on the old 360. That launch unit is still refusing to die ;).
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no 360 demo, I believe,,, and yes the ONE demo is sublime
 
Jwm said:
One thing I have noticed, is how the shadows move with time-of-day. So I feel like this is part of the of the shadow pop, as you have a tree in the distance that has a shadow, but as you get closer it then pops to the correct time placement.

Also can be an ugly effect on the mountain rock faces, so it could just be accelerated time for the demo maybe. If you sit still and watch the shadows move, you will see them tick 3 to 5' maybe across the ground with each change.

@Cyan - look at the metal work on that train, so cool.
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Yup, aside from taht, what REALLY impresses me about the game are the character models of actual people.

They do look like actual people, :smile2: easier said than done I guess, no game -or very few- I know of give me that feeling tbh. Just imagine Skyrim with those models
 
I saw the choppy shadow movememt in a driveclub tgs gameplay video too. That's weird because games like gta 5 do not do that.
 
Eurogamer 9/10

All in all, it's a new, friendly context for multiplayer racing that's in total harmony with the solo game's adventurous, celebratory tone. In the original Horizon, as terrific as it was, the festival theme felt like a marketing hook first and a clever game structure second. In Forza Horizon 2, it's more like a philosophy, an outlook, a mood that has seeped right through to the core of the game and infused the whole thing with a pure, escapist joy.
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Polygon 7/10

The excellent foundation below Forza Horizon 2's open world and the experimentation that it occasionally encourages at least provide a reason to race there. But that same open world serves as a less well-executed space to race and drive than the tracks that have defined previous games, and the open-world activities can't quite make up the difference.
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Better yet...
Videogamer – 8
Eurogamer Italy – 9
Joystiq – 4/5
Polygon – 7
Eurogamer – 9
IGN – 9
TheKoalition – 9.5
CyberShack – 4/5
GodIsAGeek – 9
TotalXbox – 8
ShopTo – No score
Xboxlife.dk – 9
Eurogamer DE – 9
Insidegames.ch – 9
PPE.pl – 9
Destructoid – 9.5
Games Radar – 4/5
NZ Gamer – 8.8
Shacknews – 8
EGM – 7.5
Gamesmurf – 8
Z-Giochi – 8.5
Gamer365 – 9
Click to expand...
 
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