Forza Horizon PS4 Equivalent?

[Joe]

Harken, fellow console driver types!

I've been reading about Forza Horizon 2 and the amount of stuff that they're cutting from the XBONE version for the 360 (weather effects, the Forza 5 suspension system, loads of cars plus a lot of the model detail) and it makes me think perhaps I should give it a miss.

Given that a PS4 is on the cards for Xmas and how much I enjoy spunking hours into open-world driving games like FH and TD:U, can anyone recommend something that offers the same kind of experience?

Specifically - Loads of cars, miles of challenging roads (not tracks) in an open world with something between simulation and arcade racing physics. The MMO aspect is a given.

Drive Club looks like it might be close, but I know nothing about it or whether there might be something more appropriate. Help appreciated!

Hugs x

[RB]

Drive Club will be the one then Project CARS, also the new GT if they ever finish/start it.

[Ekona]

The Crew is the closest you'll get, but I played the PC beta last month and it wasn't very good.

Drive Club might be good, after the delay. PCars I have serious doubts over after hearing views on the handling, but that's more sim than FH so prob not what you're after.

[Joe]

Just had a look at The Crew beta videos. I like the idea of a scaled-down version of north america that takes 40 minutes to cross, car physics and sounds seem a bit weak though. One to keep an eye on I guess.

[qazimod]

I saw a bit of Driveclub at Eurogamer today; I didn't get any hands-on time but after only seeing grainy web streams before, it was nice to see the Real Thing™. The lighting and weather is impressive and it seemed to run quite smoothly. Of course since I didn't play the thing I have no idea where the handling sits in the sim/arcade balance but... it looked nice

In any case, the racing scene seems kind of barren on PS4 at the moment - I think the only other notable release would be The Crew - but Driveclub seems like a nice place to start until GT happens...

[Ekona]

Ooh, was the show good? Anything really catch your eye?

Joe, was FH1 the game I sold you? I was getting odd flashbacks today thinking that for some reason.

[qazimod]

The combination of the long journey and some of the long queues for games means that (like last year) I had to pick out one or two things I was willing to queue for and then dart around everything else. They had a Mario Kart 8 tournament (or it might have just been a general multiplayer area) going on and it looked great on the massive screen, but my experience of that is limited to a handful of games whilst visiting friends. I saw a little bit of Halo: MC Collection on the screens and that looked quite nice, but I didn't stick around for that. I also saw a bit of gameplay from The Order whilst queueing for another game, and it looked quite pretty and atmospheric but a bit "run-of-the-mill shootymans". I didn't really look at any Nintendo stuff - I haven't owned a Nintendo console since the original DS - but if I had more time I would have liked to see Bayonetta 2 as a lot of people are going nuts over that... I also poked around the back of the first floor where they had the usual retro setup, which is always nice as there's a lot of variety in terms of games to play.

A large part of the day was spent queueing for Bloodborne, which I really wanted to see as it's a new IP from the creator of Dark Souls - a series which I'm bad at playing but I admire in terms of design and gameplay. The DS games are available for 360/PS3 but Bloodborne will be available on new-gen systems, and the graphical improvement really shows; there's tons of detail and the lighting and other effects make it very atmospheric. People who have played DS know that a lot of the combat revolves around watching attack patterns, waiting for openings, striking at the right moments, but Bloodborne seems quicker to overwhelm you with attacks and so you've got to be a bit more aggressive; I learned that the hard way when my session ended somewhat abruptly. The setups of the demo stations were also great; I was wearing some ace headphones that did a good job of cancelling out the show floor noise.

I also spent some time at the merch area to pick up some DVDs and a tee, as I didn't really have time to shop for merch last time. Other attractions I didn't really visit included some sort of big area especially for MOBAs which had DotA and LoL things going on and big ol' displays showing gameplay... there was a cosplay area near the retro bit, a few smaller stands where people like NVidia, GAME and Turtle Beach could push their wares onto folk... I think a few specific events happen on certain days so I couldn't see everything. I believe there's supposed to be an area for tournaments for things like Street Fighter but again, no time. Anyway, it was good fun, and given that I don't own any of the new consoles (yet) it was nice to see so many shinies, and I'm more keen to pick up some kind of new box in the future.

[Ekona]

Wait, you *didn't* find the SF tourney area?!

Nice write up, thanks. Didn't realise it was that busy, that's a shame. Bloodborne looks good but I don't like games that are too hard like the DA series, but the Halo MC collection is going to have to be done I think.

[Joe]

Joe, was FH1 the game I sold you? I was getting odd flashbacks today thinking that for some reason.

Nope that was Test Drive Unlimited. Many many hours lost ripping around fake Hawaii.

[Ekona]

Ah, that's right. I knew it was one of the driving games.

[Ekona]

Played the demo of FH2 tonight. It really is very, very good. Like stunning kind of good.

I may have to purchase this.

[Ekona]

Wow, what a difference. That's why I chose Xbone over PS4, for stuff like Forza.

[Ekona]

Sorry Joe, that's not really helping I guess DriveClub is out tomorrow in the US, so we should see some reviews later on today I think.

[Joe]

Yeah I think we've established the Xbox 360 is done, and that video shows precisely why I'm skipping this title. Problem is, I don't see the Xbone as a compelling upgrade compared to the PS4, both in terms of the hardware and the gaming platform itself (titles, features, online network). Also while the 360 arguably had a better start than the PS3 with a lot of great titles, I do feel like I missed out on some really good stuff in later years (The Last of Us, Journey, etc). It's just a shame there are still very good franchises like Forza that are exclusive to the console I don't really want.

[Ekona]

MS still have the better online network, but the free games on PS+ are very welcome. No doubting the PS4 is more powerful though, but as I don't have them both I can't compare back to back, so anything I play on the Xbone just looks stunning to my eyes.

Xbone is only ever going to be cheaper than the PS4, you could always get one later down the line as well if you really wanted.