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Showing posts with the label car driving

Forza Horizon 5: An Open-World Dream Come True

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When I received the invitation to Horizons 5 for the first time, I felt as though I had received a Shawn Mendes ticket to the Met Gala. An explosion of color, I found myself on a new continent, the country of Mexico. I was intently staring at my brand-new rugged off-roader, which was showcasing all of its off-roading capabilities. Soon enough, I was on the 4th and final biome of the game, driving through the adventurous and endless Baja. Horizon 5 was less of a visit and more of a sense of longing to stay forever. A Living, Breathing World Over the years, I have played an abundance of open-world games, but none were as crafted with love as the biomes in Playground Games. Each region is bubbling with bloom and flora, awaiting a gamer to dive in. Guanajuato felt like more of an entrance to a treasure. The ever-puzzling city with staircases and convincing underground tunnels felt like a close sister to the Wild West! I felt like I was an outlaw, tr...

Is Forza Horizon 4 Still Worth Playing? A Veteran Racer's Take

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From Sim Racing to Street Racing I grew up in the trenches of racing games, the kind where a missed braking point meant a ruined lap and where you practically needed a degree in telemetry to get the most out of your setup. I'm talking about the old legends: F1 1998, GTR, GTR2, GT Legends, and the gritty joys of Colin McRae Rally. Later came the more modern sims—Project Cars, Assetto Corsa —the kind of titles where your steering wheel was practically part of your soul. But as much as I lived and breathed that simulation life, I also had a not-so-secret love affair with arcade racers. Need for Speed II, Porsche Unleashed, and Most Wanted all had a place in my heart. Porsche Unleashed, especially, still feels like a warm memory I keep going back to. At some point, I learned to relax. From the third installment onward, Forza Motorsport became my weekend drive. I enjoyed its love for cars, even if it didn't quite live up to the motorsport part of its...