HXR Preview: Forza Horizon 3 Really Is Something Special


We seem to have hit the demo season of late on the Xbox One, what with demos of both Forza Horizon 3 and FIFA 17 now being available to try out on the console. Forza Horizon has always been my favourite side of the popular Forza series, with the horizon side always having more of a fun arcade feel to over its more serious motorsport themed sibling in the franchise. I don't tend to spend that much time on racers these days in truth, with the last time a racer really had me hooked being a small game called Split Second. A game which focused a lot more on the fun and crazy side of racing, rather than what grip tires I needed, or what gear I was in before reaching a tight corner. Forza Horizon strips away all this stuff and throws not only a gorgeous setting to you but also the same fantastic gameplay that we've come to expect from any of the Forza games over the years.

Loading up Forza Horizon 3, the game will allow you to live the dream, well as long as that dream is how cool life would be if you had a bucketload of cash to buy cars, while also being dropped into (sometimes) sunny Australia. Starting off the demo (seen below) you're given a decent sized tease into what the full game will offer you later this month, with a bunch of different cars and races on offer to you in this demo. Once the below introduction is out the way, you're given the chance to explore the game a little, while also trying out a few other races and improvements that this Horizon offers you.

The downside to this demo is with it being a just that, you can't go back to where you left off first time around if you turn the demo off. On the upside to this, that is also telling me Forza Horizon 3 is a game I can't get enough of already. I've loaded up this demo a handful of times now, each time loading it up and beating the introduction I've had a different experience once it was out the way. The setting of Australia is gorgeous, and with a drone and photo mode in the game, the game ends up having this second mode in which you will find yourself taking some glorious images like the ones seen in this post. The new drone option available for the first time in Horizon 3 is a bit advanced for me. In the hands of Forza players who have the skill to use such things, this looks to add even more to the game when it fully releases.

In summary, Forza Horizon 3 looks to not only have excited me for the full release but also others who never really had it scheduled into their gaming calendar. Playground Games look to have a massive hit on their hands come September 27th, and I'm pretty sure that reviews coming out around release will pretty much say just that. Certainly download the demo if you haven't already. But be prepared to stretch that tight gaming budget that you have already in this busy period, as the pull to pick up the full game after playing this will be there.