Game to be delisted from Xbox Live Marketplace

When Forza Horizon 2 was announced as a freebie for "Games with Gold" this month, many people speculated that the game would be reaching its "End of Life" status. This happened two years prior to its predecessor, so it only made sense. Turns out that guessing was true, as Turn 10 has announced that Horizon 2 will be delisted from the Xbox Live Ma?rketplace on Septemb?er 30, 2018.

Just as with the first Horizon, the game and all of its DLC will be unavailable after that date. Users that previously acquired all of the content will still be able to retrieve it via their download lists. Curiously, there is?? no mention of a platform, but I would expect both the Xbox One and 360 versions to be remov??ed from sale.

I??f you are an Xbox Live Gold member, you might as well nab the title while you still can. No sense in letting a perfectly fine open-world racer disappear into the ether.

Forza Week in Review 8-17-18 [Forza Motorsport]

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Mickey's Dead Space

It has been quite some time since Xbox Live's "Games with Gold" service has seen a month as eclectic as this. While I enjoy having a diverse selection of games to pick from, there is likely going to be only one game that speaks to each user while the other three seem like a wash. On the Xbox One side of things, the venerable Forza Horizon series gets some representation with Horizon 2 being up for grabs while Ubisoft's interesting, yet flawed, For Honor sits alongside it.

For 360 users (and Xbox One via backward compatibility), you'll be able to nab the conclusion of Visceral's Dead Space trilogy and get the lackluster follow-up to Warren Spector's Disney game, Epic Mickey 2. I can't say I??'m particularly interested in any of these games, but everyone is likely to find at least something to entertain them.

You can catch the dates for them below:

• Forza Horizon 2 (Xbox One) - Aug 1 - Aug 31
• For Honor (Xbox One) - Aug 16 - September 15
• Dead Space 3 (Xbox 360) - Aug 1 - Aug 15
• Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (Xbox 360) - Aug 16 - Aug 31

New Games with Gold for August 2018 [Xbox Wire]

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Eight cars, five dollars

Some of us live a quarter mile at a time. Some of us are always fast and furious, not just when we're Fast and Furious. Some of us have nitrous oxide for blood, and a gas tank for?? a brain.

If speed's your everything, your reason for being, your fucking heartbeat, then you might be pleased to know that eight of the Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious cars are making their way over to the full game for $5. The '98 Supra's free, but you have to buy the slips for the '70 Dodge Charger R/T, '70 Plymouth Cuda, '13 Jeep Wrangler, '14 Masera??????????????????????????ti Ghibli, '70 Plymouth Road Runner, '15 Dodge Charger R/T, and the '15 Dodge Challenger.

All in all, they should add up to a fine motorcade to rip around Europe in. Eight cars in exchange for $5 (and knowing what a man's made of)? Th?at's a price I can live with.

The post Dom! Forza Horizon 2 got a (wolf) pack of cars! appeared first on Destructoid.

Forza gets Top Gear love

If you're a car junkie, then you should be very familiar with Top Gear. Microsoft is hoping that familiarity will lead to DLC sales as the Forza Horizon 2 Top Gear Car Pack ?has just been made available to Xbox One racers for $?5.

Have a look at the lis?t of cars available (including a freebie):

2015 Lexus RC F

1993 Jaguar XJ220

2014 BMW M235i

1986 Lamborghini LM002

2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale

1966 Ford Lotus Cortina (free)

The post Time to get your Stig on appeared first on Destructoid.

Gee, I wonder what happens there

Forza Horizon 2 shipped this fall with plenty of inclement weather, unlike some other game. Nevert?heless, its first add-on centers around even more torrential downpours on the paradisiacal sounding Storm Island.

Storm Island, as the DLC's called, is a new sandbox to explore that's full of extremes -- extreme weather, extreme terrain, and an extreme amount of content. Sporting 90 events (including five new event types) and an entirely unique map from the base game, Storm Island seems lik?e the type of add-on that'll be quite the time-sink for those that want to fully experience it.

However, it doesn't necessarily come cheap. Storm Island's available now for $19.99 ($9.99 for VIP member?s)??, which is a bit more than most DLC packs. But, those legendary tales about racing through a monsoon are priceless.

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Nice work, Cheapy D

Forza Horizon 2? Pretty damned good, right? Having to buy a car pack to get the most desired DLC car? Not so good. I have strong feelings of my own on that and other DLC topics surrounding the Forza franchise, but I can save my breath as our pal Cheapy D over at Cheap Ass Gamer has it handled in his open letter to Micros??oft, Turn 10, and Playground Games.

Cheapy calls them out for holding back one of the cars from the new Mobil 1 Car Pack DLC for Forza Horizon 2, the Jaguar F-Type, from individual purchasability. The other ones? The meh Jeep Grand Cherokee? Sure. But not the one you'd w?ant. He? asks, shouldn't all the cars be available separately? 

Holding back desired content so that you'll have to buy other things you don't want to get it? Who thought that was a good idea? That's not as bad as, say??, making tracks for a racing game and then holding them back to be sold some time after release. But that's another rant for another day.

Read Cheapy's full letter and see if you agree.

The post Link: Open? letter to Microsoft, Turn 10??, Playground Games on DLC appeared first on Destructoid.

Good racing, mate

The original Forza Horizon impressed us back in 2012 with its ability to incorporate what we already loved about Forza Motorsport into a?n absolutely massive open-world sandbox racing game, while not completely ditching its s??imulation roots and easing new players into an arcade-simulation racer hybrid. It also helped that the game was really nice to look at.

Playground Games and Turn 10 are back with Forza Horizon 2, and I am so glad they are.

Forza Horizon 2 (Xbox 360, Xbox One [reviewed])
Developer: Playground Games (Xbox One) / Sumo Digital (Xbox 360) / Turn 10
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Released: September 30, 2014
MSRP: $59.99 (Xbox One) / $49.99 (Xbox 360)

If you're familiar with the first Forza Horizon, you'll feel right at home. The Horizon Festival is taking place again, except this time it??'s all the way over in southern Europe by way of France and Italy. Your role is, yet again, to become the top Horizon racer by collecting different colored wristbands as you win championships and work your way up?? the ladder.

Your progress is tracked a couple different ways. Obviously an overall level is raised by completing activities, and every level gives you one Wheelspin. The Wheelspin is a slot machine that either gives you a credit payout or a free car. I've gotten some sweet rewards from this thing. Tracking your progress is really easy with a win/loss ratio, but in Horizon it's all about how cool you look while doing all this.

Drifting, near mis??ses, getting air, and destroying things in the world can all add to a skill chain if done in a row. After accruing up a ?certain amount of points, these unlock skill points that can be spent on perks. Everyone loves perks. These are pretty standard, and increase things like bonuses, XP, or unlock certain abilities that make life easier. 

There's a couple characters that interact with you over the course of the game; Ben and Ashley. Ben is the guy. He's the type of guy everyone wants to know, party with, and, in Horizon 2, he's that guy everyone wants to drive with. He's the guy leading the Horizon Festival, after all. Be prepared to hear him say "mate" at the end of every single race. I promise it gets funny ev?entually.

Ultimately, he ends up helping the player learn the mechanics of the game, suggesting where they?? should go next, and even hooks them up with new rides every once in awhile. Ashley is the mechanic that fixes up all those new rides, and that's all she's really present for outside of being a support character.

As far as story and character development goes, that's as in-depth as it gets in Horizon 2. That's really all one expects from a racing game, anyway. It's non-intrusive (nor over the top) to -- and?? provides a good foundation for -- the real focus: racing.

Forza Horizon 2 doesn't attempt to shake up the tried-and-true racing formula. The championship event races break down into one of two types: beat everyone to the finish line in one long sprint or in a traditional lap-based race. Instead of structural variety, Horizon inste??a??d relies on locale and visual variety to keep players interested. This was totally the right call.

Forza Motorsport 5 was already a visual treat, but the heavily modified engine used in Horizon 2 is absolutely breathtaking. All of the 200-something cars are painstakingly detailed (interiors and all) as always, and are convincingly true-to-life. Southern Europe features back country, densely?? packed urban areas, coast towns, and everything in-between. It's a very, very big world that's incredibly open and just ?begs to be explored.

For the first time, Forza now has a dynamic weather system. Truly, this is the standout visual element in the game. Sunsets and sunrises? are amazing, and never look the same as the cloud placement/density changes their appearance every single time. At any moment, thick clouds could fill an entirely blue sky and, suddenly, there's a downpour of rain. Radio personalities will also comment on this when it happens, which is?? also pretty cool the first few times it happens. This isn't just a visual trick either, as rain will puddle up in the roads, bead up on the cars (and windshields), and create slick conditions.

The visua??l effect on the windshield is particularly jaw-dropping; light will refract off of each individual bead of rain and cause visual interference just as it does in real life. Windshield wipers will automatically clear the windshield, and will leave a l??ine of water wherever their turn radius ends. You have never seen something like this done in a racing game before, and it's something you really need to see for yourself.

In motion, everything comes together to create one of the best-looking titles out there right now. Horizon 2 runs in full 1080p at 30 frames per second, never dipping below that. Some may have an issue with a racing game running at 30 FPS, but it's honestly no problem here. Everything runs incredibly smooth and feels perfectly ?responsive. If I ?wasn't told it ran at that frame rate, I would've been none-the-wiser.

Having a vast, detailed world can still feel empty fairly quickly if there's not a lot to do, and thankfully Horizon 2 does not come up short in activities to partake in. Outside of over 150 championship events, there are Showcase events, barn finds, Bucket? List activities, speed traps, and online modes.

Showcases have the player up against some type of ma??chinery (not a car) in a head-to-head race. They're easily the craziest out of all the events, and, despite being blatant smoke and mirrors, created some of the most memorable moments in the game. Since there's so few o??f them, I won't spoil any of the surprise. Definitely be on the lookout for these every few championship events.

Barn finds are nothing new, and still task the player with finding an old, rusted-out vehicles in abandoned barns around the map. They're actually pretty difficult to find. I found an army jeep in one of them, which felt particularly silly to bring into a racing event, but things like that fit right in with the rest of Horizon. It's just a fun atmosphere.

Bucket List activities are pretty straightforward as well. These also involve finding cars around the map, placed on the side of roads. However, these cars are usually the best in the game and give a taste of what they're like by completing small activities in them (with varying degrees of difficulty). Speed traps are simply just cameras that radar how fast you're going on a particular road. Sometimes I'd try and beat my personal best on these over and over before I realized I spent a good twenty?? minutes doing this.

At any point, two button clicks will take you to the online lobby system. No menu navigating or lobby juggling needed, as it just works wi?thin the game and brings you together with strange??rs or friends in the full game world. You can participate in road trips, championship events, or explore parts of the map together. It's the type of thing where the structured events are certainly fun, but I imagine the community coming up with pick-up games that add to the multiplayer's longevity.

The avoidance of too much menu navigation extends into the rest of the game as well. If you have a Kinect hooked u?p, a digital personal assistant named ANNA can take your commands and mak?e life a whole lot easier. ANNA allows you to just about play the entire game without ever using a menu of your own doing.

Say you know you just wa?nt to do the next championship ev??????????????????????????ent -- you can have ANNA set the GPS navigator to take you to whichever one is nearest. She'll also provide suggestions of things to do occasionally, or you can just outright ask her what it is she thinks you should do next. This system creates a nice flow, and truly enhances the experience. It's the perfect use of the Kinect.

I'm all about a stellar soundtrack, and Horizon 2 nails it. There's something to be said about driving a Lamborghini through a super dense field somewhere over 150 mph, barely able to see, with Chvrches is playing in the background. A soundtrack where Chromeo, The Clash, or Thee Oh Sees are just as likely to play as Vilvaldi, Schubert, or Tchaikovsky excites me like nothing else. Play??ground Games re??ally knows how to make a road trip playlist.

With the original Forza Horizon, we were ??a little disappointed in the frequency and length of the loading screens. Unfortunately, that's still the case here. Again, the loading screens aren't overwhelmingly long, but they appear before and after every single race. All that time adds up to quite a lot. It's understandable that they're there, but I could've done with less of them.

If you were a fan of the original or its simulator brother, there's no reason to pass up Horizon 2. It's simulation enough to not lose longtime fans, while easing the realistic driving just enough to allow new player??s to jump in and not feel like the car physics are working against them the whole time.

Every element in Forza Horizon 2 adds up to an exceptional experience. The story isn't over the top so as to get in the way of racing, driving feels as good as it ever did in Forza Motorsport, there's a ton of things to do, and the game looks absolutely beautiful -- especially the long-awaited dynamic weather system. Forza Horizon 2 is a must-have on the Xbox One.

The post Review: Forza Horizon 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

I bet you could swing a 1977 Ford Escort, though

The new batch of cars revealed for Forza Horizon 2 brings about a bit of a staunch reminder ????that open-world racing games aren't all that realistic. Let's face it -- there's a slim chance you'll ever be behind the wheel of a Bugatti Veyron.

Even if you did manage to snag one of these supercars, the setting just wouldn't feel right. Few games feature distracted soccer moms drifting into your lane while some redneck's coalrolling up ahead. Related??: I hate everybody?? when I'm driving.

These cars just got confirmed for Forza Horizon 2: 1992 Lancia Delta HF Integrale EVO, 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II, 2011 Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, 2012 Hennessey Ve?nom GT, 2013 Ariel Atom 500 V8, 2011 BMW 1 Series M Coupe, 1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, 1971 Plymouth Cuda 426 HEMI, 1977 Ford Escort RS1800, 2013 Mazda MX-5, 1970 Nissan Datsun 510, 1980 Renault 5 Turbo, 1974 Toyota Celica GT, 2003 Volkswagen Golf R32, and 1983 Audi Sport quattro.

Forza Horizon 2 Car Reveal – Check Out the Week?? Three Ca?rs [Xbox Wire]

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Over 200 in total, here's the first half

I hate Hummers so much. Only in America would a car that stupid get that popular. Of course, Forza Horizon 2 has the H1, the actual Humvee-looking one that isn't any less stupid for civili??an driving, but at least it doesn't look like a gangly, overgrown Power Wheels like the po?pular H2 you still see out and about sometimes.

The first 100 cars are listed here.

The post There’s a Hummer H1 in Forza Horizon 2, and these 99 other cars appeared first on Destructoid.

Interesting

Forza Horizon 2 is coming to the Xbox One and Xbox 360 later this year, and more details are starting to arise with every passing week. The latest development is "ANNA," the "digital personal assistant" of Forza Horizon 2, who will intelligently suggest things to do, as well as alert y??ou when your friends are online.

The game is confirmed to not have a full campaign, but apparently there will be a lot of events to embark? upon by yourself. We also have a little more info on the X?box 360 version of the game, with the developer noting that it is "[a] different game," helmed by Sumo Digital and a different engine.

'Forza Horizon' E3 inter?view with Creativ??e Director Ralph Fulton [Examiner]

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E3 2014 impressions from Mike Cosimano

In Forza Horizon 2, you're headed to Southern Europe. We sent one of our video guys, the energetic Mike Cosimano, to check it out at E3. He really, really dug the last Horizon and it sounds like the sequel is more of the same on a grander scale, for ?better or worse.

That includes Drivatars.? They're back, with a vengeance.

The post Video: Bust up some guy’s vineyard in Forza Horizon 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Next-gen street racers compared

The Xbox and PlayStation booths are directly next to each other in the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center for E3 2014 this year, which made it really convenient to compare two upcoming racing games. I put the delayed-but-now-finally-coming PS4 racer Driveclub and the newly announced Xbox One street racer Forza Horizon 2 together for a bit of a head-to-head ??comparison for you.

Both were demo builds o?f unfinished ga?mes, so take that into consideration as you read on.

Visuals:

Let's just get this out of the way first. No contest: Driveclub wins. Forza Horizon 2 looks outstanding on the Xbox One, just as its predecessor did on the Xbox 360. But the high-resolution gameplay and the high level of car and track detail of Driveclub easily won out in a side-by-side. Both games will wow you with their car-porn closeups, but Driveclub looks better in action.

I'm glad that Horizon 2 gets a weather system with this release, but the examples I saw in the two races I played were nothing like the dynamic weather examples I saw earlier this week in Driveclub. Horizon's falling rain and glossy streets looked nice, but it lacked Driveclub's realistic transitions and sky lighting.

Again, both look great. But Driveclub takes first here with? ??a clear lead. Of course, looks have no bearing on gameplay...

Handling:

Picking up Forza Horizon 2 felt very familiar. I'm a fan of its predecessor as well as all of its cousin titles in the franchise, so getting into the zone was pretty easy to do. Taking corners in s-turns felt smooth and enjoyable, and whipping past opponents was as satisfying as I expected it to be. I loved that they kept the haptic feedback in the triggers for braking and cornering, just like Forza Motorsport 5.

But there seems to be something missing from how the cars react when cornering in Horizon 2. To me it feels a bit simple and over-assisted. Of course, there? are options to tweak the feel and assists, so my opinion will likely change with the full version. They usually make show-floor demos as easy as possible to play.

While Driveclub didn't feel as familiar as Horizon 2 did, it only took me a few seconds to feel like there was a bit more going on under the hood. Both games have a feel that rides between arcade and sim racing, but Driveclub fit my tastes a bit better; I felt that there was more car under my thumbs. It may be slightly more stiff feeling than Horizon 2's demo was, but I instantly felt connected to it, just as I did the last time I played. It's really easy to get into, but still feels convincing enough to satisfy the sim racing ?fan in me. 

Racing:

In multiplayer matches, crash-crazy bumper car nonsense is almost unavoidable. This was the case for every race I played in both games. The race start for Horizon 2 was a mess, but I managed to break away both times I pla?yed and enjoy myself. And when the race was over I could admire how trashed my GT-R became from the early collisions. 

Driveclub threw me into some pretty tight courses for the ?two separate eight-player matches I tried. Unfortunately the race starts were pretty aggravating. Bad cornering from other players had pileups all over the road. I couldn't even take joy in t??he collisions because they felt so dull. Hitting a trackside wall was like bumping into a padded wall, and being rammed by a car into one felt even more off. I feel like matches against players that were actually interested in racing would have been more enjoyable. 

Summary:

We had no way to test the various customization options of either title, and multiplayer matches won't tell us anything about AI. Of course, when it's all said and done, Forza Horizon 2 has a longer feature list and more modes. But as it stands now, here at E3, I feel it's a bit of a draw bet??we??en the two racers.

I loved racing in both games, though. I'd be happy to jump into several more races of either if I had the time. Both are set to be really good racers for their ?respective platforms. I'm excited.

The post Driveclub vs. Forza Horizon 2 at E3 2014 appeared first on Destructoid.

Cutting through cornfields, racing against oncoming traffic, and more

Driving is dangerous. We take it for granted, but? you're more likely to die driving to the ??airport than zipping through the air a mile high in a heavy, metal tube. I am pretty okay at driving, but I am notably not great at driving video games. I crash a lot, even while speeding through a track designed for the sole purpose of being driven on.

I picked the loudest, yellowest Lamborghini. The camera zoomed in and showed little specs of water on the car as if had just went through a wash. I hit start race. Then Forza Horizon 2 tried to have me killed.

Seriously, who did they hire to run this event? It started out well enough, driving through some scenic roads that gave way t?o a farm setting. I tried to race carefully, following the helpful race line that goes green when you're free to speed up and warns red when you should be breaking. Br??eak before the turn, punch it in the turn.

Some of the AI racers, at one point, cut through a cornfield to get an edge. Have yo??u ever driven through a cornfield? At 140 miles per hour? Bad idea. I kept to the road like a responsible driver. Then the race line led me through a corn field. The heck, guys?

I was still holding a respectable, middling 6th/7th place or so at that point when the race route led into a regular road full of cross traffic and commuters. Someone is going to get killed! Not me, because I have a helpful rewind button. I tried not to lean on it, but when I went grill to grill with oncoming traffic, I used it. I tried not to rewind further, which you could do. Just the one, I thought??. When I resumed, I still didn't have room to veer out of ??the way.

I smashed into some poor soul and got myself kn??ocked into about 11th of 12. Then the thunder claps. Rain started, making roads even more squirrely.  I would never recover, even when the rain stopped, roads still left wet. I cruised into a 12th place finish and enjoyed the sun reflecting off of the rain sl??ick roads.

I may suck at racing games, but the Forza Horizon series continues to still make it fun as hell regardless, like a photo realistic Mario Kart.

The post Why the?? heck is Forza Horizon 2 trying to get me ??killed? appeared first on Destructoid.

Playground returns for another open-world racer

Playground Games announced a September 30, 2014 release date for Forza Horizon 2 during Microsoft's E3 2014? media briefing this morning. The Xbox One version was mentioned specifically during the event, but the game is also planned for Xbox 360?.

A new trailer (look for it later) and plenty of minor details were talked up during the announcement, including how there's over 200 cars, dedicated servers for multiplayer, 1,000-member clubs, a full day/night cycle, and Drivatars from Forza Motorsport 5 will transfer to Horizon 2.

The post Forza Horizon 2 hits Xbox One on September 30 appeared first on Destructoid.

Drivatar comes over

The follow-up to 2012's Forza Horizon is coming to Xbox One and Xbox 360 this fall.

IGN has the scoop on Microsoft's announcement of open-world racer Forza Horizon 2. They say it's being handled primarily by the group that did the first game, Playgr??ound Games, though they're working with the Turn 10 guys to share tech and key personnel. 

The game takes place in ?Southern Europe, says IGN.

Expect hundreds of cars and a new weather system in this new one. The Drivatar system from Forza 5 is also being adapted for Forza Horizon 2.

We knew something was up when Microsoft reached ou??t for?? an E3 appointment booking for a new racing game.

The post Forza Horizon 2 coming this fall for Xbox One and Xbox 36?0 appeared first on Destructoid.