5 Reasons Forza Horizon 3 Has Failed To Hook Me

Two months on from first getting Horizon 3 on my console and the initial 'binge period', I've barely touched the game. Here's why...
5 Reasons Forza Horizon 3 Has Failed To Hook Me

When I first got my hands on Forza Horizon 3 a couple of months ago, I sunk more hours into it than I’m comfortable mentioning. I found it on the whole thoroughly entertaining, but since those first intensive two weeks of play, I’ve barely touched it.

I fully expected to remain hooked on Horizon 3 for a while, but that didn’t happen. But why? Here are the stumbling blocks:

The 'Bucket List' challenges are hit and miss

5 Reasons Forza Horizon 3 Has Failed To Hook Me

I’ve had a crack at some great Bucket List challenges so far. Racing a freight train was pretty cool, as was charging to the city cross country in an Audi Quattro rally car. But a lot haven’t been anywhere near exciting, and I was particularly miffed to be handed a stock Nissan GT-R for a drifting challenge. What gives?

Yes, there is the ‘blueprint’ option of making your own challenge, but it’s always going to be the same sort of thing - hit a particular speed, get a certain amount of drift points and so on.

I just don't care about the non-car stuff

5 Reasons Forza Horizon 3 Has Failed To Hook Me

While firing up the game for the first time in a while the other day, pretty much the first thing I had to do was endure the Irish voiceover lady banging on about which radio station I should sign next. I recall thinking I just don’t care, let me play the game, but her ramblings weren’t skippable.

It’s just one of the non-car elements of the game I’d happily do without, like the whole festival expansion thing. It just seems like a pointless part of the game - you play no part other than picking a location and hearing Irish voiceover lady talking too much about which you should choose, and I’m guessing all locations will be unlocked eventually anyway, rendering the whole process moot.

Where's the satisfying car progression?

5 Reasons Forza Horizon 3 Has Failed To Hook Me

For me, the best part of any driving game is starting off with a relatively humble steed, and building up your funds until you can buy something better, and repeating until you’ve an enviable garage of exotics. Horizon 3 however gives you a choice of particularly un-humble motors like the BMW M4 and Shelby Mustang GT350 as your very first ride. To make matters worse, if you have Ultimate Edition, you can immediately go and get cars like Koenigsegg Regeras and Lamborghini Aventador SVs for free.

Even if you have the regular game, obtaining expensive cars isn’t going to take long. You seem to have virtual money projectile vomited in your face every five minutes through the ‘Wheelspin’ feature, and let’s not forget those barn finds which some poor sap restores for free and then hands over to you…

The dirt race obsession is getting annoying

5 Reasons Forza Horizon 3 Has Failed To Hook Me

If I lived in a fantasy land where I was a billionaire with the sort of access to cars that’d make the Sultan of Brunei jealous, I wouldn’t suddenly want to take a Maserati MC12 or a Bugatti Veyron to a ruddy dirt race. And yet, Horizon 3 seems to have this obsession with supercar dirt races.

Sure, a one-off for the lolz race is entertaining enough, but the sheer amount of the events in FH3 is baffling. Why can’t these races just be left to the Ariel Nomads of the game?

The lack of decent roads is still frustrating

Yes, I made a slammed, widebody E92 M3. Don't judge me...
Yes, I made a slammed, widebody E92 M3. Don't judge me...

I mentioned this in my original review, and I’ll mention it again here, as I reckon it’s the game’s biggest weakness. All of the really twisty bits of the map seem to be dirt roads, and in this peculiar fixation on spraying dirt roads over the map, the developers seem to have forgotten about building some really great tarmac sections.

I remember losing many hours to Test Drive Unlimited a few years ago, mostly because there was a brilliant mountain road at the far end of the map. But Horizon 3? When I load it up, there’s no driving nirvana I instantly pinpoint on the in-game sat nav. A pity.

But...

5 Reasons Forza Horizon 3 Has Failed To Hook Me

While I haven’t ended up hooked on Horizon 3, it does remain a good way to spend time when you want to have a little fun without thinking too much. And hey, when that snow expansion gets here, I’m sure as hell giving it a go.

Any Horizon 3 players out there want to share their thoughts a couple of months on from release?

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Comments

No one

It doesn’t have spoiler variety

11/25/2016 - 12:38 |
46 | 2

No Forza have, sadly

11/25/2016 - 13:30 |
2 | 0
Darude Her Right In The Sandstorm™

In reply to by No one

Touché

11/26/2016 - 01:12 |
0 | 0
TexasCarSpotter

Not many things seem to please you these days. Lol

11/25/2016 - 12:51 |
442 | 10

Matt; the odd one out in the car community

11/25/2016 - 13:20 |
132 | 6

Yeah honedtly I’m starting to get tired of this guys reviews of everything…

11/25/2016 - 15:41 |
38 | 10

Ha! Maybe I’m just getting old and miserable before my time…

11/25/2016 - 22:41 |
18 | 4

Me:

11/26/2016 - 09:29 |
6 | 0

I understand where he is coming from. But I also have to agree. All i have seen on here the past few months is staff complaining about games, talking crap about “riced” cars that honestly aren’t that terrible, talking about how great grand tour is, talking crap about cars (they even hit a low mark and talked crap on their beloved skyline). I’m about at the point of closing my account and just being done with it but theres just a few posts from time to time i enjoy to much to leave

11/27/2016 - 01:00 |
2 | 2
Anonymous

More twisty roads and car progression instead of dlc

11/25/2016 - 12:57 |
40 | 2
Anonymous

The thing with the drift zones… the more you try to earn the three stars the more NPCs go trough the zone and at the end there’s not even a little space for drift cuz two or more NPC “racers” decided to go trough there and hit you while trying to acoid the crash…

11/25/2016 - 13:05 |
10 | 0
495QED

The unbalanced PI system upsets me the most. Tyres add too much PI yet the 1,200hp mercury coupe still able to beat me in a handling car in the corner with wall grinding and way too much power.

11/25/2016 - 13:05 |
6 | 0
Darude Her Right In The Sandstorm™

In reply to by 495QED

I put rally tires on my stock Celica GT-Four and it was practically in the A class

11/26/2016 - 01:19 |
0 | 0
Callum Whiston

Its one of the best games ive played this year. and the fact its has some of my fav cars is even better

11/25/2016 - 13:06 |
0 | 6
Anonymous

Totally agreed, after getting the game I spent almost every moment I could playing it for about 2 weeks, now I haven’t fired it up for a month almost. The races seem too repetitive and boring and I don’t enjoy them at all, instead I found myself building different drift cars and just drifting around the map until even that seemed boring.

11/25/2016 - 13:06 |
54 | 4
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

THIS.

11/26/2016 - 00:14 |
4 | 0
Anonymous

Supercars on dirt are far less common than you think. Anyway sure, you do have a point for roads but it’s the small things keep me coming back. Forzathon, Playground Games, Rivals, and Skill Songs as examples. I can set aside its drawbacks and focus on its good sides, where it still has a fair few.

11/25/2016 - 13:07 |
2 | 2
Anonymous

I just bought this game and i don’t even have a xbox one console.

11/25/2016 - 13:16 |
0 | 2
Kalandaari

I’ve been feeling the same way as you. I think that the game is great while you discover it. Once you finished the “campaign” (doing the last showcase event), there’s nothing to do. Even online is boring, no really good drift spots and people do either the Goliath or the Drag Strip races. Adventures are full of “bounce on the other players to turn” guys, and there are no real full of corners race, so everyone put the “Full power + AWD” combo on any cars to win. Lots of good things, yet too many flaws to be enjoyable. FH2 was better, by far.
I should probably do a new article about all that…

11/25/2016 - 13:16 |
2 | 2

If you find a party that has a drifting-fanatic people, you’ll love the game (not just drifting at the parking lot in the city)

11/25/2016 - 13:32 |
0 | 2