Forza Horizon 2 Announced

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Forza Horizon 2 Announced

Open-world racing sequel heading to Xbox One and Xbox 360 this fall.

 

By Ryan McCaffrey

 

It?s time to crank up the stereo and hit the open road once again, as Microsoft has announced Forza Horizon 2, the next installment in their flagship racing series. Forza Horizon 2 is in development for Xbox One and Xbox 360 and due for release this fall.

 

The racer follows 2012?s critically acclaimed franchise spinoff Forza Horizon for Xbox 360 and 2013?s frontline Xbox One launch game Forza Motorsport 5. Development is being handled primarily by Horizon 1 studio Playground Games, though the team is collaborating closely with the Motorsport team at Turn 10 Studios; the two teams share a technology pipeline as well as select key personnel.

Hello, Lambo.

 

?[Turn 10 and Playground] share this belief that we can create a true home for racing fans on Xbox One,? said Horizon 2 creative director Ralph Fulton.

 

In making the leap to Xbox One, Forza Horizon 2 will include hundreds of cars, according to Playground Games, headlined by the 2015 Lamborghini Hurac?n. A long-awaited weather system will also make its Forza debut, while Forza 5?s Drivatar system is also being adapted for Horizon 2.

 

 

As for the game?s setting? Contrary to recent rumors, it won?t take place in the bayous of Louisiana. Instead, the game will take place in gorgeous Southern Europe, leading to, in Fulton?s words, ?incredible diversity? and ?amazing vistas.? Music will again play a big part in the game, and a music festival will be the central event around which the game?s activities revolve.

 

Extensive improvements and features are in store for Horizon 2, which IGN will showcase throughout June as part of our brand-new IGN First initiative. We traveled to Playground Games in the UK and brought back a (metric!) ton of content that we?re excited to share with you all month long, including tomorrow?s full preview of our hands-on time with the game.

 

That sound you hear in the distance is the sound check for another music festival and the revving up of supercar engines?

 

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2014/06/02/ign-first-forza-horizon-2-announced

[trooper11]

Cool to see MS still supporting the 360. Hopefully it doesn't hold back the X1 version much. It's also nice to hear that they are taking ideas that have worked with Forza 5 and using them in another game.

This is another surprise announcement before E3 though. I mean this kind of thing would seem to scream E3 debut, but not this time. It really makes you wonder what they are saving for E3.

[Alladaskill17]

I am very excited about this game, I am not a fan of racing games normally; not since NFS:Underground. Forza Horizon was one I genuinely loved. I have been hoping the rumors were true, and now its official.

side note: use the forza rewards website (once a month?) to get extra cash and cars, rewards vary depending on how many other Forza games you've played, and how much you've played them FM5 is included so its safe to assume FH2 will also be added.

Lastly, for those who love achievements, ill be back here in the fall asking for and helping with the highly likely to appear social achievements for photo likes/posts and car decals :)

[RadishTM Veteran]

Weather system?! Sold! :D (Y)

[HawkMan]

Cool to see MS still supporting the 360. Hopefully it doesn't hold back the X1 version much. It's also nice to hear that they are taking ideas that have worked with Forza 5 and using them in another game.

This is another surprise announcement before E3 though. I mean this kind of thing would seem to scream E3 debut, but not this time. It really makes you wonder what they are saving for E3.

 

Most likely it'll only share content, the 360 version will use the older Forza 4/Horizons engine while the One version will use the Forza 5 engine.

 

Horizons has been very well designed in that it simply uses the assets from the main game, which arguably should mean that when you buy car packs for the forza main game, you have already paid for the work to make the cars and you should get the Horizons pack to, but.. 

[George P Global Moderator]

Weather system?! Sold! :D (Y)

 

Which means they'll probably have that in Forza Motorsport 6 as well since the two games share so much.  One less thing for people to complain about.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

It's cool they're doing a version for 360 owners, as long as it's not built for the 360 and then "up-ported" to XB1. Always wanted to try playing Forza Horizon.

[RadishTM Veteran]

Which means they'll probably have that in Forza Motorsport 6 as well since the two games share so much.  One less thing for people to complain about.

Indeed, the original Horizon had night racing and was done pretty well from what I recall.

[neoadorable]

It's cool they're doing a version for 360 owners, as long as it's not built for the 360 and then "up-ported" to XB1. Always wanted to try playing Forza Horizon.

 

Very excited for this as liked the first Horizon a lot, it was very much a spiritual successor to Project Gotham with the score attack mindset and the quirky stuff like the balloons and so on. Weather is nice, but i find mostly a gimmick in racing games - NFS has had it for ages and while it always looks good in an arcadey racer it's just cosmetic.

 

And not wanting to be a downer, but you can count on this being upscaled from 360, just like every other game that we've seen on X1 so far...i am still waiting for truly native titles. Ones with no 360/PS3 version. Not saying this is bad, it's always been the case, but back in the Amiga/C64 or Genesis/Master System days games were so simple building a new one for the more powerful system wasn't a big deal. That's not the case now.

[Brendeth]

The team behind that Sonic Racing game will be handling the Xbox 360 port, while Playground (And Turn10) will be developing for Xbox One. I'd assume that this means the Xbox One is the lead platform.

[neoadorable]

The team behind that Sonic Racing game will be handling the Xbox 360 port, while Playground (And Turn10) will be developing for Xbox One. I'd assume that this means the Xbox One is the lead platform.

 

Hope you're right, separate teams is good news, but this could still be a project originally developed for 360 - the first year is always tricky heh heh. Just look at Gears 1 and Gears 3...worlds of difference in terms of performance, detail, etc. Even though Gears wasn't even planned for original Xbox. Heck, look at Forza 2 and Forza 3/4, also huge differences that go way deeper than resolution and framerate.

[BajiRav]

It's cool they're doing a version for 360 owners, as long as it's not built for the 360 and then "up-ported" to XB1. Always wanted to try playing Forza Horizon.

Hope you're right, separate teams is good news, but this could still be a project originally developed for 360 - the first year is always tricky heh heh. Just look at Gears 1 and Gears 3...worlds of difference in terms of performance, detail, etc. Even though Gears wasn't even planned for original Xbox. Heck, look at Forza 2 and Forza 3/4, also huge differences that go way deeper than resolution and framerate.

 

Xbox One version will use the Forza 5 engine developed for Xbox One whereas 360 will use the FH1 engine. I guess X1 is the lead platform and given how good the first game felt (never had time to finish it :( ), I think this sounds like the best way possible.

 

 

Edit: source

 

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[neoadorable]

Xbox One version will use the Forza 5 engine developed for Xbox One whereas 360 will use the FH1 engine. I guess X1 is the lead platform and given how good the first game felt (never had time to finish it :( ), I think this sounds like the best way possible.

 

 

Edit: source

 

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Thanks for posting the info. Hope this bodes well for the experience. While i love Forza 5 i don't think it was initially developed for X1, my guess is that it was pushed back from 360 to X1. While it looks good, it can clearly look better, with more anti-aliasing applied. Hopefully FHZ2 does this well.

[Skiver Veteran]

Cool to see MS still supporting the 360. Hopefully it doesn't hold back the X1 version much. It's also nice to hear that they are taking ideas that have worked with Forza 5 and using them in another game.

This is another surprise announcement before E3 though. I mean this kind of thing would seem to scream E3 debut, but not this time. It really makes you wonder what they are saving for E3.

 

It does seem like MS is using up the big guns before the show.

 

Weather system?! Sold! :D (Y)

 

Yep, this is the thing that has been missing from the Forza series for far too long, cannot wait for this.

 

Very excited for this as liked the first Horizon a lot, it was very much a spiritual successor to Project Gotham with the score attack mindset and the quirky stuff like the balloons and so on. Weather is nice, but i find mostly a gimmick in racing games - NFS has had it for ages and while it always looks good in an arcadey racer it's just cosmetic.

 

And not wanting to be a downer, but you can count on this being upscaled from 360, just like every other game that we've seen on X1 so far...i am still waiting for truly native titles. Ones with no 360/PS3 version. Not saying this is bad, it's always been the case, but back in the Amiga/C64 or Genesis/Master System days games were so simple building a new one for the more powerful system wasn't a big deal. That's not the case now.

 

Have you played any of the Codemasters F1 series? Rain is done pretty well in that, the cars are a lot more prone to sliding and don't have anywhere near as much traction. IMO I don't think NFS was ever going for anything more than pretty and arcade so weather affecting races just wouldn't fit in properly.

 

[neoadorable]

 

Have you played any of the Codemasters F1 series? Rain is done pretty well in that, the cars are a lot more prone to sliding and don't have anywhere near as much traction. IMO I don't think NFS was ever going for anything more than pretty and arcade so weather affecting races just wouldn't fit in properly.

 

 

Good point, and to be honest have never played them properly. In a simulation that strives for as much realism as possible weather effects can be material to the experience, as you say. Otherwise it is the NFS situation where it's just dressing. I don't mind it, but i don't mind not having it and people complaining that Forza 5 didn't have it i believe complained about the wrong thing. Either way let's see what FH2 does with the weather, though i suspect it's as you described the NFS situation as they probably wouldn't want to make it too challenging.

[Xerxes]

I'm utterly surprised they are releasing this on X360 as well, personally I think is a mistake. While on the positive side is an appreciated nod to us X360 owners who haven't made the jump yet. It raises the question, what motivation do we have for upgrading to the X1 is they are going to back port games to us anyway? I know most people we chime in and say the X1 version will have superior graphics etc but to be honest the knowledge of the existence of the X360 version, means the X1 version may be held back or simply just a tarted up version of the base X360 game. I know I am clutching at straws and I understand there is nothing wrong with giving people choice, I just feel they should be pushing the X1 hard and making games exclusive to it now. The X360 had its day, it was a great console and had a fantastic innings but it's X1's time to shine now. As always, take with a grain of salt.

[Skiver Veteran]

Good point, and to be honest have never played them properly. In a simulation that strives for as much realism as possible weather effects can be material to the experience, as you say. Otherwise it is the NFS situation where it's just dressing. I don't mind it, but i don't mind not having it and people complaining that Forza 5 didn't have it i believe complained about the wrong thing. Either way let's see what FH2 does with the weather, though i suspect it's as you described the NFS situation as they probably wouldn't want to make it too challenging.

I was dissapointed that they hadn't added it in FM5, but as one of the best driving simulators I've played on console and a big fan of the series I somewhat blindly accept that had it of been possible they would have. Despite being a little bit of a dissapointment to me, FM5 to an extent is start again whereas from FM 2 - FM4 it was just an evolving product where they could easily apply lessons learnt from the previous incarnation.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think they absolutely NEED to add a weather system, I just thinking doing so it would just add that true thing they are missing from a brilliant series.

FH1 was also a bit of a dissapointment for me, I think the demo and the game opening was brilliant (I love Porter Robinson - Language) but very quickly after that it got a little dull. I think the biggest issue I had was that the "tracks" were quite short and I'm not a big fan of point to point racing. 

 

I think it should be the opposite, but sometimes repeating the same track, corner by corner, chasing that perfect lap and seeing the green sectors is more important than the race itself! I remember playing FM3 for hours with just one car on the track at Mugello trying to tune my Skyline GTR, I would sometimes drive 4 corners and then reset and make a change for hours! That's something FH never really lead to so I got bored quickly. Chances are I'll end up picking this one up just to see how they handle the weather but I'd be lying if I said I was excited for this announcement.

[neoadorable]

I'm utterly surprised they are releasing this on X360 as well, personally I think is a mistake. While on the positive side is an appreciated nod to us X360 owners who haven't made the jump yet. It raises the question, what motivation do we have for upgrading to the X1 is they are going to back port games to us anyway? I know most people we chime in and say the X1 version will have superior graphics etc but to be honest the knowledge of the existence of the X360 version, means the X1 version may be held back or simply just a tarted up version of the base X360 game. I know I am clutching at straws and I understand there is nothing wrong with giving people choice, I just feel they should be pushing the X1 hard and making games exclusive to it now. The X360 had its day, it was a great console and had a fantastic innings but it's X1's time to shine now. As always, take with a grain of salt.

 

Completely agree with everything you said. On the other hand though i believe MS are equally motivated by really wanting to support 360 after catching so much flak for seemingly abandoning original Xbox quickly. Likely the strategy is to show 360 support not just because she still makes money, but because this sends a message of loyalty.

 

Not necessary i personally believe - 360's been around and fully supported for almost nine years, and will have official support for the promised decade. The message is clear, as you said, she's had her day and time to move on. I don't mind having 360 versions, kinda cool, but i have no doubt it hampers the X1 versions in some way.

[neoadorable]

I was dissapointed that they hadn't added it in FM5, but as one of the best driving simulators I've played on console and a big fan of the series I somewhat blindly accept that had it of been possible they would have. Despite being a little bit of a dissapointment to me, FM5 to an extent is start again whereas from FM 2 - FM4 it was just an evolving product where they could easily apply lessons learnt from the previous incarnation.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think they absolutely NEED to add a weather system, I just thinking doing so it would just add that true thing they are missing from a brilliant series.

FH1 was also a bit of a dissapointment for me, I think the demo and the game opening was brilliant (I love Porter Robinson - Language) but very quickly after that it got a little dull. I think the biggest issue I had was that the "tracks" were quite short and I'm not a big fan of point to point racing. 

 

I think it should be the opposite, but sometimes repeating the same track, corner by corner, chasing that perfect lap and seeing the green sectors is more important than the race itself! I remember playing FM3 for hours with just one car on the track at Mugello trying to tune my Skyline GTR, I would sometimes drive 4 corners and then reset and make a change for hours! That's something FH never really lead to so I got bored quickly. Chances are I'll end up picking this one up just to see how they handle the weather but I'd be lying if I said I was excited for this announcement.

 

Well said on most counts and also love Language, such a beautiful track :)

Understand you hoped for weather in Forza 5 as otherwise it's quite a technical game, much more sim than arcade. The stuff you can bring up with the D pad is quite mind boggling hahaha, they actually took time to code all that in, no wonder they forgot the AA :rofl:

 

Let's see what FH2 brings. Also glad to hear Forza 3 is your favorite, it's also mine. Alongside PGR4 it's the best racing game ever in my book, and the Lance Hayes soundtrack was fantastic. Actually he was my biggest letdown with Forza 5...although he wrote the music the angle was very different, too orchestral. Rarely does it match Forza 3. But i digress!

[Skiver Veteran]

The first Forza Horizon 2 screenshots arrive

 

A feast of glistening bodywork awaits your eyes, reader. Scroll down right this instant for the first Forza Horizon 2 screenshots, kindly passed on by CVG. I'm going to go ahead and assume that they're of the Xbox One version - those rain effects look like they'd send the Xbox 360's CPU into a death spiral.

Source + another 4 images

Got to admit, that looks beautiful! Although I suspect gameplay will not look as good.

[RadishTM Veteran]

Damn that looks good! This is going to be #DRIVECLUB's rival for sure.

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

Those screenshots look great, was a fan of the first game so looking forward to this,

[Alladaskill17]

IGN's day 2 article is incredibly informative. Seems like its being built for XB1 and the 360 will be a stripped down port, which is certainly fine with me, getting to enjoy it XB1.

[neoadorable]

IGN's day 2 article is incredibly informative. Seems like its being built for XB1 and the 360 will be a stripped down port, which is certainly fine with me, getting to enjoy it XB1.

 

Let's hope that is indeed the case. Logic would dictate that it will be an improvement over Forza 5 being almost a year after X1's launch. Day one purchase from me if i can, needless to say.

[vcfan]

While it looks good, it can clearly look better, with more anti-aliasing applied. Hopefully FHZ2 does this well.

dont know why they went with 2xMSAA. SMAA is better and 10 times cheaper.