14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft revealed that Forza Horizon 2 would come out September 30 on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One platforms, and now some additional gameplay videos have surfaced on the Internet.
Last night's E3 press conference from the Redmond giant played host to a ton of exciting game announcements, among which the release date for the racing game made by Turn 10 Studios and Playground Games.
Forza Horizon 2 has an astoundingly powerful engine, with a very accurate simulation of meteorology, complete with puddle formation and even evaporation. Yes, evaporation. It also includes a bit of driving, but that's all been done before.
The new version adds a fully dynamic weather system, that models rain not simply as a visual effect, but as actual particles, with water filling crevices and lower areas first, and beading on car paint and glass just like it would in real life.
Consequently, the wet patches affect traction and wheel slip just like you would expect them to, as the physics engine faithfully models every interaction you would expect.
In addition to the fancy physics simulation, the game's visual level of fidelity is just as impressive. The windshield wipers leave little arcing trails of drops, and the clouds get gradually swollen and heavy before rain drops start falling.
The game is built on the engine used by Xbox One's Forza 5, and looks stunning. The developers mentioned that the photorealistic property they were going for had less to do with texture resolution or polygon count in models, but it was more about how light was modeled.
As such, all instances of reflectivity, refractions, glare and flare that go into creating an immersive and realistic image on a computer screen are modeled right as it happens in real life, with the result being subtle but nonetheless impressive.
Just like the previous Forza Horizon, Horizon 2 offers an open-world experience, only this time it's going to be three times as large, if we are to believe developer Turn 10 Studios. The setting will also shift from Colorado to Southern Europe, and will offer a truly open experience, without any barriers used to keep you constrained, and you'll even be able to tear through people's gardens and – of course, being Southern Europe – vineyards.
The racing game will feature over 200 cars modeled after real-life models and specifications sent in by manufacturers, and will include a special social club feature that will allow players to join their friends and race against other human players online.
Forza Horizon 2 is due out on September 30, exclusively on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One platforms from Microsoft.
