Forza Horizon 3 - Ultimate Edition - Xbox One

Forza has always been the one Xbox title you can count on to end up being absolutely graphically beautiful, and Horizon 3 is no exception. That's the first thing you'll notice about the game as soon as you load it up. The graphics are absolutely outstanding, and it's a testament to the quality that a game made with the Xbox as the focus can produce. If you're coming into Horizon 3 without having played either previous Horizon game but having experience with Forza Motorsport, forget everything you knew. The car handling is a lot closer to arcade racers like Need For Speed, and it complements the focus on blistering speed, style, and split second corrections as opposed to the deliberate and careful pace of main series Forza games. Immediately upon loading up, you're given control of the cover cars, and you get to jam out to the awesome selection of music that makes up the other half of Horizon's main draw. Forza Motorsport is more about the experience of being a race driver, while Forza Horizon is all about enjoying the act of driving, celebrating the fun that cars bring us when paired with a stand-out soundtrack, and being accessible to pretty much anyone. While I will say that I'm sure there will be a select few that can't find a single radio station they like, there's feasibly something for everybody no matter your music taste. I almost feel like my Spotify playlist was raided by Playground Games and Turn 10. As soon as I got access to my first radio station selections, I was greeted by X Gon' Give It To Ya by DMX, and while it was heavily censored (expected for an E rated game), and that set the tone for my first few hours of gameplay. For the select few I mentioned above that will hate all the radio stations, you can always use Groove Music to personalize the in-game music to your exact liking. If you liked Horizon or Horizon 2, you will love Horizon 3. Enough new events like the new Danger Zone jumps, new showcases, and new scenery via the lush Australian outback/cities/coasts will keep the game feeling fresh. New skills and new features related to being the boss of the Horizon Festival instead of just another participant add an RPG-esque layer to the game that was already somewhat implemented with the skill trees of the previous Horizon games but is fully realized here. I'd elaborate more on the Horizon Boss aspects of the game, but as of this current posting I've spent around four hours with the game and don't have enough hands on experience with it to say how content-rich it actually is, although from the first look it appears to be more than just an afterthought. It is nice to feel like you're in control and be referred to by name (as long as you have one of the pre-entered names, of which there is quite a few, a-la Fallout 4) or simply by "boss", especially after being disrespected by every NPC in Horizon and being the underdog nobody in Horizon 2. For those who devoted a lot of time to Horizon 2, this really feels special, as it's almost like your accomplishments were recognized and carried over. If you're more used to sim racing titles like Forza Motorsport or Gran Turismo, this is going to be a switch for you, but it's a switch worth taking. Horizon 3 is one of those games that draws you in visually, then keeps you involved with a constantly growing list of things to do and try. The cars are as lovingly detailed as in Motorsport 6, and Horizon 3 carries over the "explode" feature to allow you to really get up close and personal just like in 6 itself. Once you get past unlearning your sim racing habits, Horizon 3 feels natural. You can artificially make Horizon 3 feel more akin to a sim by cranking the difficulty up and turning off all assists, but there are no real "tracks" to speak of. It's all cobbled together from various roads, trails, paths, and streets, so it'll still maintain some of its' arcade styling. If you've never played a racing game before, or never tried a Forza game, or maybe you're just looking for an Xbox exclusive that looks and plays excellent, pick Forza Horizon 3 up. The soundtrack is amazing, and you'll want to keep blazing through Australia with the huge selection of lovingly recreated cars. Turn 10 and Playground Games are staffed by auto lovers, and it shows in every rev, tire screech, and acceleration. The gameplay is as accessible as you need it to be while also being able to be customized to be as hard as you want to make it. You do NOT need a racing wheel to enjoy this game, even though it does help. It plays just fine on a controller. All in all, Forza Horizon 3 carries on the tradition of being a game series you can show to someone who doesn't play video games to wow them and make them consider changing their mind on video games as an art. Pick this one up, it's worth every cent.

First off this is a great game. It is beautiful, fun, and probably does deserve 5 stars on the game itself. However if I am going to pay 100 dollars for this then it should have come with an all inclusive season pass. Just getting VIP and Car Packs is not an Ultimate edition. Maybe a slightly beefed up deluxe edition but not ultimate. It is my personal opinion that by slapping ultimate on something and still requiring the user to purchase DLC is false advertising as you are not getting the Ultimate experience.

Enjoyed the game for almost two weeks, but I finally decided to sell the disc and got a digital basic version. As advertised, I received the game on September 23, 2016, four days before the game was released. For any preordered game, you will always have to deal with the bug issue and of course some features would not open before the official release date. However, I was level 90 prior to the time everybody can play the game. Pros: For Amazon pre-order: 1. Arrived on time 2. The Amazon preorder car (2016 Audi R8 v10+) was awesome. 3. $20 off. You just can't beat the price. For game itself: 1. Open-world as FH2. 2. Drivatar difficulty has been increased compared to the same difficult level under FH2. More challenge more fun. 3. Added Auction function. You can sell the cars you don't drive or purchase "rare cars" through the auction. 4. You can eventually create your own race and share with friends through "Blueprint". (Damn, my friends are benefiting by using my created race to unlock the achievement, none of them create a single one for me to unlock the achievement! So selfish!) 5. Online and Co-op. Not only can you play online, but also you can choose specific friends you want to play with. This is a good improvement. 6. Rare cars (Horizon version cars with special bonuses) are achieved through wheel spin rewards. You can get all of them eventually, but it gives you a hard time at the beginning of the game. This potentially increases the playable time. Fortunately, I won all the special cars in the first week. Some cars I won twice and exchanged them to 5M right away. 7. Finally, the Forzavista. Excellent feature. Now you can sit in the car and see what is inside. The model details are terrific. I can use this feature to determine if I will go for a GT-R or a M5 in the real life. Cons: 1. BUGS BUGS BUGS. As I mentioned, I sold my disc and got a digital version, so I can play on my Xbox one as well as my PC. For a high performance PC, I don't have problems as discussed in Forza Forums. However, my preorder car is not selectable on PC end. Some unfortunate players cannot use any of the DLC car on their PCs. 2. Racing scoring system sucks. For instance, if you and your opponent hit the line at the same time, guess what, if your name is alphabetically behind him/her, you are No. 2. There is no draw or such a thing, even in a loop racing, you best loop time is faster. 3. The drivatar likes cheating. During a race in Timber Mill Line, I was in position 2, and about to pass the No. 1 at a corner which was two corners before the final corner, all of the sudden, I became No.4 and No.1 and No.2 came from nowhere and had a 20 seconds ahead of me. I watched video playback, these two cars were the last two before that corner! Seriously, Turn 10? 4. The showcase winning car is not back. In FH1, if you won the showcases, you got the car used in the showcase, it's missing since FH2, and still absent in FH3. A little bit disappointed. 5. Anna! Anna is an annoying lady, she won't keep quite and always guide you to a farther route. Besides, I don't like her name, even "Cortana" sounds better than "Anna". (Admit it Microsoft, both of these two names sound awkward) 6. Finally, wheel spin coins. Somehow, I like to save enough coins before I challenging the special cars. Unfortunately, if you level up after a race, the coin will be used automatically, you cannot stop it. Sometimes, when you are about starting an event, your wheel spin coin notification pop-up, and you use your coin accidentally. No way you can turn this notification off. Overall, it's an exciting game, and you would enjoy it if you like NFS Most wanted (2012) and NFS Rivals (2013) without cops style version. If you not only want to play it on your Xbox, but also want to torture your laptop and play it with whole bunch of bugs on your PC, go for a digital version will be a best choice.

The most expensive , physical copy, did not come with play anywhere (no pc version included) where the digital version did. awesome game, wish i had the pc version too. It would be 5 stars if it came with the pc version.

The Forza racing game franchise in the last few years has become king of the genre. Yet I feel the Horizon series is what put it on the pinnacle. The first one blended a fun arcade racer with the great mechanics of the Forza Motorsport franchise which provided for a fun, yet grounded arcade racer. Horizon 2 improved on its predecessor in every facet with it's beautiful open world of Southern Europe, the openness of the world itself, the showcases, cars, and all around fun. It made you wonder what else could they possibly do to improve going into the inevitable third Horizon game and Playground Games knocked it out of the park. With Horizon 3, you are the boss of the festival. The campaign has you working your way around the Australian map looking to expand and make the Horizon festival even bigger. What sets Horizon 3 a part from its predecessor is the sheer amount of customization you have now. You have a select number of character avatars to choose from and can even pick a name or nickname you'd like to be called. It seems Playground took some pointers from Fallout 4 on this matter if you catch my meaning, but made it even better. Being referred to by my own name in a game just makes for a more personalized experience and that is what Horizon 3 is about. You making the festival your own. Even to the point where you can design the races themselves with the blueprint system. From a gameplay standpoint, you know what to expect for anyone familiar with the previous games or the Forza franchise itself. Just an awesome all around racing experience. The driving mechanics are on point as usual and all the other aspects from weather effects add even more. One thing I love about Forza is that each of the two versions, Motorsport and Horizon tend to build on each other's strengths. I personally like how Horizon 3 has incorporated more of the weather effects from Forza 6 with the puddles and such on the raceways. The Australia setting itself is beautiful and extremely diverse from cool beaches, the desert outback, urban area, and jungle which just adds to the experience. Now since this is the ultimate edition, for anyone who is just a die hard Forza fan, it is totally worth it. Especially if you can get it with the prime discount. With it you get the car pass and VIP. For a casual Forza player, just get the standard edition especially since the car pass always goes on sale for cheap down the road. VIP I always have found to be worth it and is best gotten early to take advantage of the bonuses. All in all a decent package and the steel book case is very nice. You just can't beat it with that prime discount though so kudos to Amazon. So in the end of all this excitement, Horizon 3 once again keeps Forza at the top of the racing genre. This game is hands down the racing game of the year and is even deserving of some overall consensus game of the year awards as well. It truly deserves it. Fantastic game. Bravo Playground Gamaes, Bravo.

I own Forza Horizon, Forza 5, Forza 6, and unfortunately Forza Horizon 3. On 5 and 6, I worked my way up in a month or 2 from brand new to Xbox to average and on 6 to some tracks above average to highly skilled using the controller. On Horizon 3 I had to go back to inexperienced to have a remote chance of winning a race. Within a few weeks, all of a sudden I race a hit sure balloon similar to the helicopter race at the beginning and once I win, game over. The credits started rolling by. I started hitting buttons and a window popped up about changing my skill level to continue. Since then it's been a consistent 12th place on all races. They want you to run clean races but use other drivaters that do what they can to make sure you don't win despite the settings. I don't race much anymore because of that. Basically I use the game and cars for photos. If I win a new car off of a spin then I will ensure enough races to add rims and things. I did find it appalling that I had beaten the game before I had received my first car pack out of the 6 I was supposed to get. Now though on average it shows I'm 46 percent through the game after a month or so of the game. I see it doing the same thing that if you don't go up in skill level then it just stops you at a certain part. Top Ten has changed this line of games so much it's appalling to charge what they do for what you get. The people with the wheels and all love the game because it's easier and set up for that level of play. If your not on that level then save your money. When you want to race, then stick with FM5 or FM6. I also would not hold your breath about getting any help or response from Microsoft, Top Ten or anyone involved with this line of games. If you don't believe this review then Google the big name companies that day they have changed this line of games from reaching sims to an arcade type game

The game is beautiful. Looks good, feels good, is good. It speaks for itself, I just want to highlight how crappy my experience has been trying to get a single code. I was on the verge of ordering this directly from Microsoft, but I really liked the pre-order car bonus amazon was offering. Yes, amazon has a good discount, but I still prefer digital over disc. And I profoundly regret ordering from amazon. If you go directly to the "Ultimate Edition" page (which I did not), the pre-order bonus is not there. However, if you start at the standard and select the "Ultimate Edition" in the drop-down menu, the pre-order bonus is still visible. As it should be, since I'm just buying a more expensive version of the same game. Very dissatisfied with my experience in the "amazon chat," as Maria seemed to be condescending and unable to do even anything because I ordered "the wrong game." Second guy I chatted with sent my info to the promotions team (thank you, good sir who's name I have already forgotten how to spell). So, I'll update with details of how that goes. Maybe he's just passing me along to a dead-end contact, but I doubt it. I've had code problems before, but the solution has always been quick and painless. If I could do this over again, I'd buy directly from Microsoft for the digital edition. But, I don't know if the pre-order bonus cars are still available. Update: If you can't get your code, ask the person via message or phone to send your information to the promotions team. They got back to me the same day.

Enjoying the game so far. A lot of customizing to fit play style - arcade style if you feel like tearing sh*t up - or - simulation if you feel like testing your reflexes/skills (fine tuning included). That being said, was curios what the "ultimate" edition fully included, so did a quick search, when outta nowhere.... My wallet slid out of my pocket, laughed hysterically, yelled at me for not doing my research ahead of time, all while repeatedly b*tch slapping me in the face. Why a $100 "ultimate" edition doesn't include future expansions is beyond me. Not surprised - I should've seentit - just pissed off and disappointed they didn't explain/announce this ahead of time. Really didn't want to give this a bad rating, because the game is good, but after feeling like someone pulled a fast one on me, I had to voice. Just avoid the "Ultimate" edition (your wallet and pride will thank you). Edit 10/4/16: On my 3rd attempt to get my pre-order bonus code. Amazon customer support started off great, but still hasn't delivered. Last ditch attempt before I give up - complete waste of time.

Bad shop would not recommend