Forza Horizon 3 Ultimate Edition Review

Welcome to Forza Horizon 3 where cars mix with music in the ultimate open world driving game which combines plenty of cars, race events and hidden surprises. The latest in the popular racing series takes you to an all new level as you get to cruise around a large area of Australia. Forza Horizon 3 takes you on a trip through iconic locations such as coastal towns of Byron Bay, The Great Outback right through to the streets surrounded by large skyscrapers of Surfers Paradise.

If you have played any previous Forza Horizon games before the standard of graphics  still looks great against big title games that have been released in 2016, but the graphical detail in Forza Horizon 3 takes it to an all new level. The detail of some of the locations are really immersive with moments such as sun glare breaking through the trees as you race through them. The variable weather also amplifies the games looks as clouds move over the landscape with their shadows reflecting across the ground prior to rain falling and as standing water begins to form puddles with a sufficient amount of rainfall, this also has an effect on how it flows across your car’s windows is outright stunning.

Forza Horizons 3 graphics also are enhanced with features such as dirt and impact damage on your vehicles with dents, scratches  perfectly simulated, also dirt built up seamlessly moulds to your car’s body when you do extensive off roading but if you drive your car through water after a period of time it is washed away.

The Forza Horizon 3 Festivals are more vibrant than previous games, the stage shows stunning lighting within the game with laser effects, smoke, strobing lights and large crowds, what is new is the ability to upgrade the Forza Horizon events from small stages to large full on party events to accommodate all your adoring fans, these festivals can be upgraded 5 times with a total of 4 Event locations spread around the entire map.

Each festival location has one all-purpose hub rather than in previous games where you had the Autoshow, Garage, Paint Shop in separate locations around the festival now it’s more manageable allowing you to switch cars, design your car & tune your cars or even unlock your collected Barn finds.

Some of the new features that Forza Horizon 3 introduces such as Convoy races which can be initiated by beeping your horn to attract close by avatars, from their you can join up and given time you will be prompted with a convoy race this can be done in solo mode but also in online free roam with friends, and this is amplified with the ability to hire and fire Friend’s drivatars if they are not pulling in the cash & fans.

Convoy races provide extra experience points (XP) to your group this will help you unlock skill points to use for in-game perks and rewards such as extra credit and XP bonus  for completing air, drift skills, also the chance to get instant credits and wheel-spins, you even get the chance to win a bonus car if you built up a sufficient amount of skill points. The wheel spin feature takes a welcome return with a more sleeker & rewarding system especially with the Ultimate edition version as your VIP pass doubles any credits won which will help built up those well needed funds for car purchases and upgrades to your cars, plus the chance to win rare customised cars.

The Forza series is big on car upgrades, designs and customisation, and as you expect you have a wide variation of cars to pick from Off Road vehicles to Hypercars with a total of 350 vehicles to choose from and that doesn’t include DLC cars which Ultimate Edition users will get access to as the Car season pass which is included in the bundle, the only downside to this is with any DLC car purchased you don’t automatically get the car put in your Garage as you will  have to purchase it with in-game credits.

Car customisation will be familiar to anyone who has played any Forza game previously with the ability to customise your Engine, Handling, Drivetrain, Wheels and Aerodynamics. What Forza Horizon 3 adds is more components and parts to choose from customised Horns and so much more, also you have the option to transfer tune settings from previous Forza games to get the best out of your cars.

As mentioned above it’s not just about the cars as music does return with more radio stations , with popular station such as Pulse & Hospital radio returning with a total of eight stations overall to listen too while driving. What’s new to the game is the feature that really got me excited was the ability to link your Groove music account to the game which means you can incorporate your own music into the game allowing you to race to your own brand of music with endless possibilities.

The in-game sound is high quality with every engine rev or tyre burnout perfectly recreated, as you can distinctly recognise the engine sound of certain cars such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and so on.

Forza Horizon 3 has so much on offer with the in-game PR events which include Barn Finds, Beauty Spots, Danger Zones & Drift Zones, these events add to the core events such as Showcase Events, Sprint races, cross-country races and illegal street races which can be done either in an exhibition race or a championship. If that wasn’t enough you can customise your own events with Blueprint Bucket lists & championships with options such as car type to use or route to pick.

On top of this you have the Photo mode which returns but also you have a Drone mode that allows you to scout out surrounding areas to identify any hidden Smashboards or Barn finds and marks them on your map.

Finally the Multiplayer aspect of Forza Horizon 3 has crammed as much into it as possible to make it really enjoyable to play, this includes a co-op campaign mode which means you and your friends who can compete in any aspect of the campaign together such as Showcase events. Multiplayer offers other game modes as well as the events in the solo game, these include Infected, Flag Rush or King, plus Car Meet’s to join up with friends or random players. The only downside to multiplayer is that you have to reach a sufficient level before you can participate which is a little frustrating but at least it gives you time to learn the basics of the game.

Forza Clubs returns allowing you to create your own group of drivers or join an existing club with the tier system which allows players to increase the clubs skill level by playing the game more often with 3 levels within the club Gold,Silver & Bronze, each tier will be reached on accumulating a certain amount of skill points. Another feature is the auction house which will allow you to bid on and acquire those rare cars or top rated car designs, that is if you have the in-game credits to buy them that is.

Forza Horizon 3 has so much on offer I could go on for hours as there is so much in this game to cover it’s better to play and experience it for yourself, some elements will be familiar some new but whatever you do you will not be disappointed.

SUMMARY

Forza Horizon has been a series that has appealed to me over the years but I actually got goosebumps playing this game, Forza Horizon 3 for me is near perfect with the superb game detail of the Cars and Environments which will blow you away.

Also it’s not about the looks as Forza Horizon 3 has great depth with its multiple types of events and customisation options, there is easily hundreds of hours of gameplay and plenty of replay value within the game.

Forza Horizon 3 will be hard to beat and looks like it has stolen the crown as one of the top racers out there.