Forza Horizon Series Review (Xbox & PC)

Between sludge and sleet, asphalt and sand, Forza Horizon blurs the lines between conventional racing and dream-like realities of ultra vibrant festivities and fleeting moments of celebration and spirit, passion and excitement. A rebel with its finger on the pulse of originality, Playground Games removes the textbook jargon from a traditional, albeit limited format and transforms it into a bubbling pot of sandbox-curbed facets and high-octane fever dreams, not with the intent to requisition the spirit of racing, but to provide it with a well-needed facelift to elevate its greatest achievements and bring it to a new domain. It’s there, with the heart of the sport at the center of its world, where Forza Horizon finds its home away from home.

While it was Forza Motorsport that tapped into the slickness of racing and technological innovation, it was Horizon that pivoted the series into a world of flamboyance and adventure, dynamic gameplay and eye-watering sandbox mechanics. With a fresh lay of the land and a rolling saga of diverse challenges, pop-up events, and seasonal exploits that would allow its wheelers to explore vast open worlds and engage in troves of unique exhibits, Horizon set out to alter the formula and bring something new to the forefront of racing culture. And that’s exactly what it did: it turned the wheel towards a brighter, bubblier, and above all, better horizon—a place that could house hundreds of unique opportunities and veer into dozens of settings, challenges and sandbox creations.

As a spin-off series of the mainline Motorsport saga, Horizon has a lot going for it, not just with its spruced up formula and open-world approach, but with its natural ability to exhume quality ideas and tailor them to appeal to new audiences and fledgling veterans alike. From its humble beginnings as an experimental successor to its most recent slip into the underbelly of a booming hub of festive sportsmanship, Horizon has, as a result of its global success, become the Belle of the sandbox circuit—a staple among racing franchises, and not to mention a focal point for fans of the genre. And honestly, it’s almost too easy to see why it is as universally adored as it is. It isn’t that it’s a fun series; it’s that it continues to exceed its own expectations and latch onto fresh innovations and features, tracks and liveries. What’s more, it makes a genuine effort to broaden the scope with each passing chapter, with bigger worlds, better challenges, and more facets to customize and enhance. And that’s barely scratching the surface, believe it or not.

Of course, where Motorsport focuses on mirroring an authentic driving experience, Horizon instead chooses to abandon complexity and knuckle in on entry-level racing—an idea that allows even the most inept driver to experience a wealth of competitive content without needing a doctorate in the sport. All in all, it’s an easy series to drop into, and one that, frankly, you can soak up in a heartbeat with as little as a pinch of experience and a slither of enthusiasm. In other words, it doesn’t take an expert to score big or claim eternal victories. No, it asks only that you take the wheel and enjoy the thrill of the ride. And that, really, is something that Horizon excels in: finding the perfect balance between being a bashful excursion and an ideal starting point for newcomers.

The wealth of content that each Horizon installment brings to the table is reason enough to warrant your participation, that’s a fact. With hundreds of courses, speed traps, stunt jumps, hidden vehicles, jam-packed liveries and seasonal challenges to jump into right off the bat, the series essentially guarantees lofty career modes with plenty of avenues of play. For example, on one occasion, you might just find yourself behind the scenes of an action movie, filming stunts for a prolific celebrity, whereas on another you might just wind up with the chance to participate in a bottleneck event with a hovercraft. The point is, Horizon isn’t short on ideas, and it makes a fine point of illustrating that as frequently as possible with its festival settings and ever-evolving conveyor belt of activities and seasonal synergies.

Aside from its gut-loaded features and expansive map designs, Horizon has a great sense of what it takes to be an excellent candidate in the field of unorthodoxy. Again, while it isn’t the most authentic simulation series on the track, it is one that makes an attempt to lean into its kookiness with its chaotic nature and off-the-walls gameplay style. It isn’t Motorsport; it’s the younger, slightly more sporadic sibling that just wants to have fun and enjoy the journey. I can’t bring myself to complain about any of that. If anything, it’s a breath of fresh air that always feels welcome.

To add to its expansive list of features, Forza Horizon has a ton of expansions and weighty add-ons—Hot Wheels, LEGO, and Top Gear, to list just a few of its standout DLC. Combined with the vanilla versions of the mainline entries, Horizon has a huge amount of content for you to dig your heels into. In other words, it offers a lot of bang for your buck, with enough replay value to justify the price of admission.

Verdict

Forza Horizon is the perfect complimentary piece for its counterpart—a vital configuration that can and will continue to advance the world of racing as it moves forward with its plethora of creative lots and experimental liveries, challenges and events. It’s a world that, thanks to Playground Games’ formidable infrastructure and knack for fashioning jam-packed environments, has the potential to span dozens of iterations and still find fresh ways to spruce up the formula with new features. As for whether or not it’ll cloak the entire globe with its festival atmosphere is another question. For what it’s worth, though, I strongly believe that it has the assets and universal backing to steer into a wide variety of locations.

If you’re unfamiliar with Forza Horizon and want a quality alternative for the likes of The Crew, Burnout or Need for Speed: Heat, then you should definitely consider slipping into Xbox’s exclusive saga to test the asphalt for yourself. It’s festively apt, extravagantly boisterous, and above all, an absolute blast to blitz through from behind the wheel of its extensive collection of vintage classics, modern super cars and, weirdly, soap box Peel P50s.