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Forza Horizon 2 Demo |OT| "Where we're going, we don't need roads."

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
I played it at work for a bit today. I was really impressed. I loved Horizon, and this is better in so many ways just from the demo.

I'll need more to sway me to get an Xbone, though.
 

Vestax

Banned
Got a chance to play it tonight. I'm loving the whole Festival plot, right up my alley. The IQ is very good, but it doesn't give me that "wow" factor. The pre-rendered models look great, as they should, but the actual gameplay IQ is above average, but I would not say amazing. This is a true successor to FH tho.
 

Vestax

Banned
Just started the demo. Holy FUCK at that intro...the music...the sounds...the graphics...pure ecstasy.

Yes! The intro was fantastic. I was cooking while loading, and I literally had to stop to watch the whole thing, I thought it was going to be the typical intro. Loving the whole ambience.
 

Navy Bean

Member
Demo was even better than I expected (and I loved FH1). Great sense of speed and great balance between being in control and slightly out of control of the cars. And the first off-road race was awesome. May upgrade to the Deluxe version.
 

stitch512

Banned
The demo is excellent. The handling is much better than what I was expecting and the IQ is fantastic. I got all achievements for FH1, looks like I will have even more of a great time getting them all for FH2 :).
 
guys!

settings/difficulty:

drivatar = Pro
braking = ABS off
steering = Simulation
traction control = Off
stability control = Off
shifting: do as you please
driving line = Off
damage & tire wear = On

settings/hud:
Map = Off
lap time/positio = off
wrong way = off
speedometer = Off

you thank me later

I'm perfectly fine with the default HUD, it adds to the cheerful festival atmosphere. And I tried driving with simulation damage on. Nope! All the bumps and unsmashable trees wreck my engine in no time. Playing with simulation damage turned on is a must in Motorsport, to avoid bumper cars, but in Horizon I just want to relax, and not worry about restarting/rewinding as much.

I'm even considering double-dipping with the digital edition, although I already paid off the physical copy.

Nah, I'll just buy the extras, and keep the disc in my Xbox, it's not like I'll want to play anything else when it arrives. Still, Microsoft, now it's time to bring that DRM back as an option for those of us who want it.
 

mike4001_

Member
What the....they still haven't added that since launch? Are they afraid of it or something? Kudos for all the updates...but damn, no screenshot? Damn.

I highly expect that for next month.

They now have the snap center in place where you can start the video recording with pressing the X-Button (for non Kinect users).

Now its just one more step to make the Y Button for screenshots.
 

glaurung

Member
OK guys. Playing this demo was the first time I felt that I don't regret buying an Xbox One.

The soothing 1 to 10 intro video was great. But once it stopped and the game switched to actual graphics, the cars rolling off the ferry and suddenly you get the button prompts on screen - my jaw was properly on the floor.

Played everything in one sitting. Did not find all the billboards nor all the roads - there are some side roads that don't show on the map and I did not care to go after all of them.

Other than that? Amazing. The radio stations give me the vibe from SSX3, the cars are heavy and the landscape is amazing.

Incredible demo.

If I didn't have a physical copy pre-ordered (standard), I'd jump on buying the ludicrously overpriced digital Ultimate edition.
 
No way I'm turning damage on - too many bumper cars Drivatars both in races and in free roam.

Also noticing a lot of LOD or pop-in from cars on the road. Not subtle.

And handling is again going to take some getting used to after Forza Motorsport 5 all of these months - its a different beast in Horizon. Had to do the same retraining in the original game too - so once I have some quality time with the full game I know it'll click. I don't think I noticed much rumble except when off-road. No shifter rumble or impulse triggers? Not sure.

And there's something about the daytime lighting that seems off - maybe its a lack of shadows? Or just weird ones? Love how winding the city bits and coastal roads though.

Regardless, the demo doesn't seem to allow suspend/resume when booting the console back up from sleep, so I doubt I'll put much more time into it. Seriously looking forward to the full, unlimited game in two weeks.
 
No way I'm turning damage on - too many bumper cars Drivatars both in races and in free roam.

Also noticing a lot of LOD or pop-in from cars on the road. Not subtle.

And handling is again going to take some getting used to after Forza Motorsport 5 all of these months - its a different beast in Horizon. Had to do the same retraining in the original game too - so once I have some quality time with the full game I know it'll click. I don't think I noticed much rumble except when off-road. No shifter rumble or impulse triggers? Not sure.

And there's something about the daytime lighting that seems off - maybe its a lack of shadows? Or just weird ones? Love how winding the city bits and coastal roads though.

Regardless, the demo doesn't seem to allow suspend/resume when booting the console back up from sleep, so I doubt I'll put much more time into it. Seriously looking forward to the full, unlimited game in two weeks.

I'm surprised you need to get used to the handling. It's much closer to mainline this time than Horizon 1 was.
 

MaulerX

Member
The soothing 1 to 10 intro video was great. But once it stopped and the game switched to actual graphics, the cars rolling off the ferry and suddenly you get the button prompts on screen - my jaw was properly on the floor.


Yea that got me too. When the button prompts came on I was like "wait a minute, this is the game?". Definitely impressed.
 

minx

Member
So wait I will not be able to drive the Huracan at all because I am only in the 3rd tier of the rewards system? Is it worth to to go back into Horizon and buy a bunch of cars? I head that the rewards system is based on how many cars you own and miles driven?
 

saladine1

Junior Member
Loving the tweaked audio. The cars sound a little more 'beefy' and the downshifts and overruns sound oh so sweet. Perfect job for a game of this nature.
Well done.

However, please, Helios, for the love of all things carburetted, please don't tell me we can't completely turn off the music. It seems the setting goes down to 1 only. This would be completely sacrilegious if so.

I know people enjoy listening to music whilst driving and that's fine. But goodness sake, give me the option to completely turn it off!

This has to be rectified!

Helios!!!! Wiswell!!!
 

jesu

Member
Dynopia was right. Controls are a little too sim for my taste. Disappointing.

Visuals were a tad meh.

Did you have traction control and stability control on?
It's pretty arcadey with those on imo.

However, please, Helios, for the love of all things carburetted, please don't tell me we can't completely turn off the music. It seems the setting goes down to 1 only. This would be completely sacrilegious if so.

I know people enjoy listening to music whilst driving and that's fine. But goodness sake, give me the option to completely turn it off!

This has to be rectified!

Helios!!!! Wiswell!!!

Just keep moving the dpad to either left or right and it will turn the radio off.
 
Loving the tweaked audio. The cars sound a little more 'beefy' and the downshifts and overruns sound oh so sweet. Perfect job for a game of this nature.
Well done.

However, please, Helios, for the love of all things carburetted, please don't tell me we can't completely turn off the music. It seems the setting goes down to 1 only. This would be completely sacrilegious if so.

I know people enjoy listening to music whilst driving and that's fine. But goodness sake, give me the option to completely turn it off!

This has to be rectified!

Helios!!!! Wiswell!!!

When shifting through radio stations while driving with left/right on d-pad one of the options is off :)
 
It's pretty much like pgr4 controls.

What were you expecting with the visuals?

Having recently played PGR4, the handling isn't anything like that in PGR4. It's much closer to mainline (or sim) handling than anything. PGR and horizon 1 struck the perfect balance. Horizon 2 goes too far in the sim direction.

Something a friend of mine who played it at GC said at the time. Worth nothing he thought that DC was pretty much PGR handling but slightly heavier.
 

GRaider81

Member
This could be the game that really pushes me to buy a one. Any news on a horizon bundle?

I'm so ready to pull the trigger I just feel in my bones a price drop is incoming
 

squared

Member
Loving the tweaked audio. The cars sound a little more 'beefy' and the downshifts and overruns sound oh so sweet. Perfect job for a game of this nature.
Well done.

However, please, Helios, for the love of all things carburetted, please don't tell me we can't completely turn off the music. It seems the setting goes down to 1 only. This would be completely sacrilegious if so.

I know people enjoy listening to music whilst driving and that's fine. But goodness sake, give me the option to completely turn it off!

This has to be rectified!

Helios!!!! Wiswell!!!

Press either left or right on the dpad and hold it for like a second. That turns the radio off.
 
So wait I will not be able to drive the Huracan at all because I am only in the 3rd tier of the rewards system? Is it worth to to go back into Horizon and buy a bunch of cars? I head that the rewards system is based on how many cars you own and miles driven?

Rewards only unlock certain cars for you to own from the get go, you can still unlock them in the game.

At the rewards website you can see how many points you can still earn by doing certain activities in specific games, just log in, and click on the circles.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Having recently played PGR4, the handling isn't anything like that in PGR4. It's much closer to mainline (or sim) handling than anything. PGR and horizon 1 struck the perfect balance. Horizon 2 goes too far in the sim direction.

Something a friend of mine who played it at GC said at the time. Worth nothing he thought that DC was pretty much PGR handling but slightly heavier.
Agreed. I like it but the handling isn't what I was hoping for.
 
This could be the game that really pushes me to buy a one. Any news on a horizon bundle?

I'm so ready to pull the trigger I just feel in my bones a price drop is incoming

No bundles from what I've seen. I'd recommend waiting for the white X1 or black Friday.

There are sure to be some fantastic deals this year.
 
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