Forza Horizon 2 puts 200 cars on the road and asks players to drive them fast through the sun-baked hills of southern Italy. It is a racing game built around spectacle, and it mostly delivers. The score is 8.6 out of 10.
Trailer, via GameSpot.
The Open World
The game drops players into a fictional version of the Italian countryside. Roads wind through olive groves and past crumbling villas. There is no set route, no fixed track, only a map full of shortcuts and hidden paths. That freedom is the whole point.
Driving the Cars
The driving model rewards patience over brute force. Cars handle sharply, and the game tracks wear and tear on tires and engines. Players can push a car to its limits, then watch it fall apart. It is a system that respects the physics of actual motorsports.
The Music
The soundtrack leans heavily on rock and electronic mixes. It plays over the radio stations, and it drives the energy of the open world. Some players will find it repetitive, but it sets the tone for every race.
The Races
The main events break down into three types:
- Time trials, where players chase a ghost car for the fastest lap
- Checkpoint races, where the goal is simply to get to the finish line
- Free-roam driving, where players can choose their own routes through the world
Each type feeds back into the central story, which follows a festival organizer building a street-racing event across the region. The plot is thin, but it gives the game a reason to move from town to town.
Performance Issues
The XONE version of Forza Horizon 2 had technical problems at launch. Load times were slow, and frame rates dropped during busy scenes. The X360 version ran at a lower resolution but stayed smoother overall. Both versions have improved with patches, but the console split remains a mark on the package.
Visuals
The scenery is the game’s strongest asset. Sunlight glints off water, dust rises from dirt roads, and the sky changes color hour by hour. It is a beautiful game, even if the hardware limitations on XONE kept it from reaching its full potential.
Online Play
Online multiplayer lets friends join races in real time. The connection holds up well, and the matchmaking system finds opponents quickly. It is a solid way to extend the single-player experience beyond the campaign.
Where It Falls Short
The lack of a dedicated track mode is the biggest complaint. Players who want precision racing will find the open-world format frustrating. The difficulty curve also flattens out late in the game, once players unlock the best cars and best upgrades.
Final Word
Forza Horizon 2 succeeds because it commits fully to its setting. It trades tight competition for wide-open freedom, and the trade-off pays off. The technical rough spots are real, but the ambition behind the project is easy to see.
The score stands at 8.6 out of 10.
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