Forza Horizon

Forza Horizon is a 2012 racing video game developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360 on 23 October 2012. The game is the first instalment of the Forza Horizon series.

Taking place during the fictitious Horizon Festival, a street racing event set in the state of Colorado U.S.the aim is to progress via winning races, while also increasing the popularity level by performing stunts. Players can drive off-road in select areas while others are limited by guardrails or other means.

Forza Horizon was released to critical acclaim and has since spawned its own series, with four additional sequels to date: Forza Horizon 2 in 2014, Forza Horizon 3 in 2016, Forza Horizon 4 in 2018, and Forza Horizon 5 in 2021. The Game pulled out on digital store fronts on October 20,2016.

Gameplay
Forza Horizon focuses specifically on casual street racing, rather than professionally on race tracks, as it takes place on a map of temporarily closed public roads. It features multiple types of races, from drift to rally and point-to-point races. The roads feature both AI traffic and when playing online, other festival drivers. Players may challenge the other racers they encounter in a one-on-one race to a given location. The races start at the current location, and finish at a randomly generated way-point, usually more than 500 metres away from the player and their opponent. A skill system is implemented in the game; players earn popularity during races by driving aggressively. Acts such as drifting, jumping over obstacles and getting a car on two wheels all contribute to the player's popularity level. These can be chained together in a combo, which in turn affects the money players are paid at the end of a given race. As a player's popularity level increases new special events are unlocked, such as races against helicopters and planes.

In an interview with Turn 10's creative director Dan Greenawalt, he stated the game was developed in close relation to real music festivals—namely Coachella—and that he envisioned a more relaxed game-play experience than other games in the Forza series, while keeping a more realistic handling style. Being the main theme of the game, a large focus of the game is on the festival itself and activities surrounding it, rather than just racing.

Speed traps are present in the game, and players can challenge each other for the top speed in a given area. Cameras record player times, which can then be shared among rivals. Those rivals can then attempt to beat the shared time. A photography mode is also included. In addition to races, the map is scattered with barn find cars, rare classical vehicles that can be restored and added to the players garage.

Other aspects of game-play include an auto-show, in which the player can buy or sell cars; a garage, in which the player can manually or automatically upgrade their cars, and a paint shop, in which players can create custom paints, liveries, and paint presets for their vehicles. When free-roaming, the player may encounter discount signs which, when smashed, give a price reduction on all upgrades from that point forwards.