Forza Horizon pics 'n' Info

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When the lights...go down...in the city...

If the world really does end in 2012, then at least the sublime Forza racing franchise will be able to go out with a smile on its face. After four suit-and-tie--style hardcore simulations, the brand is donning cargo shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, and a baseball cap and hitting the open road with Forza Horizon, a spin-off title that takes the series’ signature car porn to the mountains of Colorado.

A whopping 206 roads make up the hundreds of miles of in-game driving surfaces, though for the first time you won’t be driving exclusively on pavement. Off-road sections are in, and the series’ renowned physics engine (which updates its readings 360 times per second, according to Playground Games design director Ralph Fulton. Think that number is a coincidence?) makes Horizon’s collection of supercars react accordingly. We asked, and icy surfaces will not make the cut, as the game is set during Colorado’s summer months. A dynamic day/night cycle makes Horizon literally live up to its name.

Your goal in Horizon? Earn points for drifts, passes, wrecks, sideswipes, and other driving feats in order to become the most popular driver at the Horizon festival, which serves as your home base for buying new cars, tweaking paint jobs, and more. Horizon is a giant party that’s part car show, part meetup, part car race, and part music festival.

We saw a small number of cars on the road, from the Aston Martins, Ferraris, Vipers, and Skylines we were racing against to the pedestrian Priuses, PT Cruisers, and Volkswagen Beetles we sped by on our way to victory (OK, third place). Unsurprisingly, Fulton was noncommittal about the number of total cars Horizon will offer, which is understandable given how many contracts with auto manufacturers are likely yet to be finalized. And you’ll be able to wander anywhere on those roads, dynamically challenging AI racers to competitions, such as the speed challenge we saw that tasked you with earning a higher average speed than your opponent for a short stretch of road. As you’d expect, Horizon’s driving physics feel incredibly similar to Forza Motorsport 4, though Playground is quick to point out the game’s “action racing” underpinnings and, as such, their goal is to make it very pick-up-and-play. Car clubs, time trials, circuit racing, a one-on-one rivals mode, and playground games are among the online multiplayer features that are already confirmed, all with Forza's gorgeous image-based lighting. Oh, and nighttime racing too. Get your keys and turn the lights on. We’re gonna drive fast.