Turn 10 Studios
Yet another announcement rolls out from Microsoft prior to the Electronic Entertainment Expo, this time concerning one of their flagship titles, “Forza”. On Monday, June 1, Turn 10 and Playground Games revealed that “Forza Horizon 2” is coming exclusively to Xbox One and Xbox 360.
“Forza Horizon” is a spin-off of the extremely popular driving simulator “Forza Motorsport” series. “Horizon” focuses on street racing as opposed to the on-track racing, but still features the customization and ultra-realistic simulation the main series is known for. “Forza Horizon 2” is going to be developed by two separate studios with Playground Games taking responsibility for the Xbox One version in collaboration with Turn 10 Studios and being built with the graphics engine of “Forza Motorsport 5” as a basis. The Xbox 360 version will be developed by Sumo Digital and will compliment the graphics engine of the first “Forza Horizon.”
The Xbox One version will feature an all new weather system and the return of the “Drivatar” system from “Forza 5.” It will also include hundreds of cars, headlined by the 2015 Lamborghini Huracán. “Forza Horizon 2” is set in Southern Europe, including the South of France and Northern Italy, and centers around a music festival. The visuals are being cranked up several notches too. In an interview with IGN, Creative Director Ralph Fulton stated, “We’ve believe next gen beauty isn’t about poly counts. It’s not about texture resolution. Those are last-gen concepts. Next-gen beauty is about light and how it plays on every surface in the world.” He goes on to further explain that the team has essentially developed a particle system to replicate the atmosphere, the way the light interacts with it, and the way light interacts with everything around because of it.
Another large improvement for “Forza Horizon 2” comes in the freedom granted to players. “Freedom’s probably the word which people use most often to talk about Horizon,” Fulton says. Playground Games felt as if the series could do more to live up to that reputation though, so the team has decided to remove the barriers that populated the track during races in the original “Forza Horizon.” According to Fulton, “We’ve taken the view that, if there isn’t a barrier in the real-world, if there isn’t a wall, there shouldn’t be one in our game. We want the player to be able to drive wherever he can in the real world.” Now, if you want to, you can veer of the road at any point and plow through a fence, launch off a hill, or strategically weave through the forest to, hopefully, shave seconds off your time.
This freedom has led to Playground Games being able to cram even more content into the game, including a multitude of collectibles, secrets and barn finds, and over 700 events. This includes a brand new “cross country” race event in which up to 12 vehicles can tear up the countryside. Fulton says this feature developed organically from the removal of barriers, as racers would go off-roading to save time and then exclaim how “You’ve gotta include this in the game.” From this same notion spawned an all new series of challenges titled “The Bucket List.” As these dares became more and more ridiculous, they started compiling them and including them in the game. Players will find cars staged throughout the map and will receive challenges upon approaching them. At the time of release, there are already going to be two full bucket lists available to take on, and more will be made available free post launch.
To continue to encourage you to find different ways to drive, “Forza Horizon 2” will now account for driving with style alongside driving with skill. It’s not all about technical racing, sometimes it’s about looking cool too. This means even if you come in last place but still drive a very stylish race, you can earn substantial XP for your efforts. Now, chaining together a set of skills not only earns you XP, but also helps you gain perks for driving, giving you unique advantages and enhancing the gameplay.
Of course, thanks to the Drivatars, this will continue to become more difficult as you now have to outdrive your friends, whether online or off, as opposed to just outsmarting driving AI. This transition between online and offline has become exceptionally smoother too. Much like they removed the barriers from the road, Playground Games wanted to remove the barriers between solo and online modes and seamlessly integrate them together. Now, if you’re smack in the middle of a challenge fighting through traffic and taking on a drivatar, with the press of a button you can transition right into an online world full of live interactions without dropping what you’re doing. In a matter of seconds, the camera pans around the car while its barreling down the road and everything updates to a brand new environment on a dedicated server with other players who are also already in action. The goal is for the game to have one “unified structure,” whether it be offline with drivatars or online with friends. According to Dan Greenwalt, creative director at Turn 10, “The thing we’re really trying to do as a studio is to create a home for all racers on Xbox One.