You see, Horizon 2 might look and feel a bit dated in 2024, but this really was where the series started to take off for Team Green. Gone were the constraints of Xbox 360 - developer Playground Games had Xbox One hardware to tap into this time around. And tap into it, they did.
This was the first Forza title to have proper wet weather simulation, and the first Forza game where actual off-road racing was a real fleshed out feature. It also just felt like a real open-world title compared to Forza Horizon, which was more 'open road' with it's fenced off areas and lack of cross country cruising over there in Colorado. We put tens and tens of hours into Horizon 2, and this one is up there with Forza Horizon 3 in how big of a leap it felt for the series.
Another thing worth pointing out is just how much of an influence this game and its feature set had on the genre. Yes, we know, Forza Horizon didn't invent open-world racing, but the structure of the 2nd game in the series — and a bunch of the activities crammed into it — are now genre mainstays. As is the happy, buzzing-to-be-there festival atmosphere in open-world racers these days - for better or for worse on that last point!
We still look back on Forza Horizon 2 as a real highlight for the series, especially when you take the time of its release into consideration. Back then, it really did feel like it was in a league of its own for open-world racing, with older competitors falling out of favor and newer games like The Crew not quite getting it right until much, much later. All of this probably explains why we put so much time into this one back in the day!
Although it's a little scary that we're now a decade on from Forza Horizon 2, we must wish it a happy birthday nonetheless. This is still a really good open-world racer in the context of today, let alone 10 years ago when it shone even brighter. Unfortunately you can no longer buy this game on the Xbox Store or access it via Game Pass, but all of you digital owners and disc users out there might want to hop back on to mark the game's 10th anniversary. Cruising Italy and the south of France is still a heck of a good time today.
