Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Forza Horizon 3

The Horizon Festival goes Down Under in this latest installment of the Forza Horizon series and unlike any other Horizon Festivals you've been through since the first one, Forza Horizon 3 puts you in charge of Horizon Australia as your goal is to make this Horizon Festival a success while driving a roster of fast cars on Australian roads, a dream come true for the discerning petrolheads living the life of the location ubiquitous for shooting promo videos and commercials on new cars.

Forza Horizon 3

For a skeptical car enthusiasts, the reason why Australia is picked on this installment is not just because of the breathtaking scenery courtesy of the beaches, the jungles, the outback, but for some, it was considered to be a universal automotive playground because every time when a new car launches, it has to look good to do some PR stuff by driving around Australian roads. Most car commercials, obviously Korean and Japanese ones, done that on purpose, and in Forza Horizon 3, it's a great honor to feature Australia on this installment.

Apart from driving the hero cars of the game such as the Lamborghini Centenario and the all-new Ford F-150 Raptor, Forza Horizon 3 features a stellar lineup of half-a-century of cars. From rare classics, timeless supercars, muscle cars, extreme offroaders, Aussie utes and now three-wheelers and buggies, every car has their own unique characteristics and how to live it up to these machines is up to you. As you drive through Australian roads, you get the feeling that you're not alone because there is now a new Convoy feature where a push of the horn will lure Drivatars and they will follow you until you opt them out. This nifty free roam feature surely comes in handy when you're in a middle of a lonely situation. Apart from that, customization has been a key aspect of FH3 car ownership and in some cars, bodykits are now added to the mix, courtesy of top companies such as Liberty Walk and Rocket Bunny. Here's your chance to add some cool body kits on your JDM faves such as the Toyota 86!

By fulfilling certain conditions, you can engage a new Drone Mode feature where you can use a drone to fly freely through the Australian roads. Perfect for reconnaissance on barn finds when told or following a certain drivatar/car for the fun of it. 

In Forza Horizon 3, you are now the boss of this festival and as the honorary boss of the Horizon Australia, your top priority is to expand the festival to become the most successful by taking on races, take on showcase events, complete Bucket List challenges, even hire Drivatars to your preference. You can even create your own challenges courtesy of Horizon Blueprint. Want to set a fast time on a Isetta? Challenge accepted. Drift a three-wheeler? No problem. Need a race with just JDMs or American cars or Europeans? After you. Thanks to Horizon Blueprint, you can come up with tons of challenges from your little imagination and let your friends take on yours whatever they like.

Music has been part of the Forza Horizon culture since the beginning and in FH3, it offers an eclectic playlist of songs from house music, rock, metal, hip hop, even classical as well. Didn't like the playlist FH3 offered? Don't worry because if you got Groove Music active, you can bring the playlist to FH3, either from your Groove Music subscription or your songs stored on your OneDrive cloud storage.

Community plays a key role in the franchise and in Forza Horizon 3, it offers the same community favorites from tuning, designing, picture-taking, and so on. In online multiplayer, not only you can compete or joining the fun with other players but, for the first time, you can play cooperatively to complete certain objectives. Apart from that, the auction house makes a comeback and you can either auction your car you don't want or bid for a certain car of your liking, even the ultra-rare Horizon Edition cars packed with special skills that will level up the playing field to your preference.

Because Forza Horizon 3 is one of the XBOX One games that feature a "play anywhere" capability, you can play not just on the XBOX One but also on Windows 10 PCs as well.

So, thoughts about Forza Horizon 3? With our dream of living the fantasy of being on a universal automotive playground that is Australia fulfilled as well as new features that will keep us longing for more, this is destined to be one of the best driving games of 2016 by a margin and with so much possibilities to explore, it will make players coming back for more.

The festival is yours.

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