14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft might have dropped Kinect from the core retail package for its Xbox One home console, but a few determined developers are continuing to deliver support for the motion-tracking device, with the studio working on Forza Horizon 2 saying that they plan to include a digital personal assistant for the player, which will be known as ANNA.
Ralph Fulton, who is a creative director at Playground Games, is quoted by CVG as explaining that the new feature of the game is designed to use both voice identification and actual motion tracking.
He says, “Kinect will be involved with a feature called ANNA. She is your digital personal assistant and navigation in the game. She is also very intelligent and will suggest things to do in the game and give you a recap when you return to the games. She will also alert you when friends are online.”
It’s unclear exactly how ANNA for Forza Horizon 2 will be controlled by the players who own an Xbox One that lacks a Kinect.
Playground Games is not saying whether ANNA was part of the original design document for the racing game or if they added it because of the fact that the team was working exclusively with Microsoft for its project.
Forza Horizon 2 will take gamers to Southern Europe, which means it will include a wide range of racing-focused roads in France and Italy, featuring both beautiful coastal areas and mountain passes with intense hairpins.
More than 100 cars will be simulated in the racing title, and the car that the team has been focusing on so far is the fearsome 2015 Lamborghini Huracan.
Playground Games has said it is aiming to keep the more arcade-focused experience of the first title in the series, while ramping up the details that will affect the races, with the inclusion of a deep weather system.
The Drivatar system that was first featured in Forza Motorsport 5 is being refined for Horizon 2, and the team says that it will simulate more features of the racers it is based on.
Forza Horizon 2 will be offered on both the Xbox One and the 360, and the current-gen version of the game will be created by Sumo Digital and is supposed to be an entirely different title.
The racing title will be offered to gamers on September 30 of this year, and it’s unclear what plans Playground Games and Microsoft have for the inclusion of microtransactions, which upset gamers of the previous installment in the Forza series.