Licensed games have never gotten a particularly good rap, due to the fact that most of them are handled by developers without any real respectLicensed games have never gotten a particularly good rap, due to the fact that most of them are handled by developers without any real respect and confidence in the source material. But what if developers decided that rather than release a complete tie in, they could bring a movie to one of their existing and somewhat related games through the use of DLC? This is the case with Forza Horizon 2 presents Fast and Furious (a somewhat clunky title that should have been replaced with something like Forza: Furious 7). Rather than decide to create a linear arcade racer/action game, Sumo Digital (or Playground Games if you are on Xbox One) have combined the cars and characters of the popular film franchise with the gameplay and setting of the iconic racer. It may feel like a 4 hour glorified demo (especially when it is free for the first two weeks to celebrate the movie's release), yet I didn't mind when I was having such fun.
The story utilises the vocal talents of Ludacris, who plays Tej Parker in the movies. His connection instantly gives this more of an identity and it's through him that all of the narrative is delivered. He gets a little over the top sometimes, but his joyous recordings add greatly to the brightness of tone for this expansion. Basically you play as the Horizon Festival 2014 winner and after your satisfying victory people have started to take notice of you. One of those people is Tej who needs your help in delivering ten select cars to his oft-mentioned crew (though there are 12 in total in the game). By completing a series of events and coming in the top spot you can win these much chased after rides and complete your goal. However, depending on the rarity and power of the vehicle you may have to complete more and more missions. The Plymouth Cuda is accessible after a race and another rather simple type of game mode. The Bugatti Veyron can only be obtained after you have won it in a race, set a cool speed record and travelled back to your garage with some slight perimeters. Every time you get one of the cars, you must take it back to the garage to basically finish the quest line. It may start off repetitive but when the fast travel option comes out it is infinitely more enjoyable than going through the process of driving kilometres back to your hideout can be a little annoying. The 3 hour campaign is diverse and well designed and while the story is by no means a deep and layered plot (are you expecting one from a Fast and Furious DLC pack?), it just works and it works so well that it almost feels like a proper single player story for Horizon.
The events themselves are quite enjoyable with epic point to point races, lap based races, drag races (complete with nitrous), showcases and even sections where you must smash down objects within an allotted time limit. Racing a cargo plane or an army helicopter through the streets is thrilling and calls to mind the epic set pieces of the film series. You rarely feel like you're playing through an event similar to the one earlier on and this is also probably due to the fact that every one of the 12 unlockable cars feels remarkably different. They all handle in a unique way and you get to experiment with each one by being put into your new car straight away after you have won it. Every event has a predetermined car you must race in, but this just helps to let you get the feel of the vehicles. It you are expecting a levelling and popularity system then you may be disappointed. You simply earn skill points for the purpose of gaining easy achievements with no unlockable events by progressing through the ranks. This isn't a negative as this downloadable already has enough stuff going on- it's moreso a warning for those preparing for a big progression system. You also can't customize your cars, but each one is pre tuned and in a relatively good colour (though I wish I could change the wheels on my GTR).
The side content on offer mostly consists of collectibles. There is one easy barn find and twenty reward signs, each gifting you with an awesome car. The signs themselves are well hidden and added more play time to my rather lengthy 100% run through (4 hours and 40 min). There are 134 roads as well, along with 11 speed traps/cameras. The open world itself is rather large and varied, even if it does generate from an area from Horizon 2. It fits well with the Fast and Furious locations, though depending on your console preference it may look a little different. On a One it's stunning. On 360 there are some bland textures, poor draw distances and less offroad areas. However, the great cars and cool songs remain no matter what version and there are even some new bucketlist challenges, which can be difficult.
FH2: Fast and Furious may appear to be a rather showy demo, but the homages to both franchises it shows off make it worth a play if you're into either... or better yet both! The combination of both franchises is successful and completely fun in many ways!!!… Expand
