Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious Review

 

Release Date: 27th of March, 2015

Genre: Racing

Developer: Turn 10 Studios

Review for: Xbox One

Price: You can pick it up, by browsing your way to “store.xbox.com, for $9,99

Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious is a cleverly executed game, that combines some of the cars from Fast & Furious 7 with the balanced driving mechanics of Fortza Horizon 2. It is a very enjoyable way to spend a quiet evening at home, that will keep you engaged for a few hours.

Unlike last year’s expansion, called Storm Island, FH 2 Presents Fast & Furious is a stand-alone game (yes you have to download it again, regardless if you have FH 2 already installed), that takes place on the same map as FH 2, and it feels more like a themed demo for FH 2.

You are limited to the French portion of the map, but it does cover a bunch of different event types in its short, three hours duration. You will be able to race on the tight streets of Nice, go through high-speed events, that take place in the countryside, execute a few stunt challenges, or race against a place or a helicopter in a very Top Gear inspired fashion.

The driving and racing are extremely similar to FH 2 and they are brilliantly executed, just as you would expect. You can toggle some of the driving aids on and off, in order to make your experience more personal. Also, there is a lot of enjoyment to be had from riding through France in a black Charger, the iconic car from the Fast & Furious series. The feeling you get, when you manage to take your 4 tones of pure Detroit metal through a perfect drift, is indescribable.

The new mechanic added for this game, is the nitrous boost feature. But, then again, you can’t have a Fast & Furious game without the nitrous boost, now can you? It was implemented really well. It makes your screen shake when you activate it, with a nice and powerful shift in the audio. The overall speed effect is realistic and subtle, without crossing over into the absurdity of Hollywood.

The nitrous boost is only available during scripted events and it is not available in the free-roam mode. This is an odd design choice and I was a bit disappointed by it.

This is all there is in case of new content and I believe that Forza 2 players will be put a little off by this. The introduction of FH Presents Fast & Furious is, basically, the same as it was in FH 2, only this time, the game puts you in a yellow  Lamborghini Huracán. Both of the Showcase Events are just reproductions of the already existing Showcase Events, from FH 2. I am talking, of course, about the cargo plane face-off from the Xbox one version and the chopper race from the Xbox 360 version. However, here, the time of the day, cars and weather effects are different, but you still get a rather cheap feeling, because the routes are almost identical.

With so many identical features, it comes as a surprise to see that a bunch of regular Forza key features have been removed.  You will find that the economy mechanic has, as well as the player progression feature been completely removed. Here, you get new cars by completing a series of eleven events, narrated by actor Chris Bridges. The voice acting is credible enough, but it is just one of the few associations with the movies.

Also, there is no feature for visual customization either, nor there is for tuning or upgrading your car. You will have to use each car as it comes, but they are pre-tuned, in order to be on the very top of their respective class.  I was very sad to find out that you can’t apply any custom design. I loved messing around with the vehicle stats in FH 2, and the lack of this feature was almost a deal breaker for me.

Perhaps the most annoying decision that they’ve made, is to not allow the cars built for this game to be crossed over to FH 2. It is possible, that in the future, they will reconsider this and you will be allowed to do that, but as it stands, it made me very sad. I saw no reason to go back to this version once I’ve finished the available events.

The cars in Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious will be immediately recognizable from the film series. Here is a list of them:

1. 1970 Dodge Charger R/T

2. 1970 Plymouth Cuda

3. 1970 Plymouth Road Runner

4. 1998 Toyota Supra

5. 2011 Bugatti Veyron

6. 2012 Nissan GT-R

7. 2013 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

8. 2013 McLaren P1

9. 2014 Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4

10. 2014 Maserati Ghibli S

11. 2015 Dodge Charger R/T

12. 2015 Dodge Challenger R/T

Conclusion

The game provides you with more of the same good driving mechanics, with the addition of some incredible, new cars and nitrous boosts. This is a short but nicely themed experience, but it falls a bit short, because of its recycled events and maps. The game was free until the 10 of April, so I hope that you were lucky enough to get it by then, but if you didn’t, it is still available on the Xbox store for $9,99.

If this is the first Forza game that you play, then I believe that you will be amazed by it, but for veteran, Forza fans it is only worth playing so you can get the 500 points for your Forza Rewards Tier, which determines your gift credits in Forza Horizon 2 and Forza Motorsport 5 on the Xbox One.

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