Forza Horizon 3

Driving down the Great Ocean Road in a Ferrari or taking a tour of the Australian Outback in your four-wheel drive no longer needs to be something you have to take a whole weekend, a loan and a holiday to enjoy, as Forza Horizon 3 brings the open-world driving experience right here to the land down under, and the results are incredibly satisfying. With an addictive and simple reward system, a huge range of different events to take part in and a presentation that is simply oozing with gorgeous locations, stunning lighting effects, wicked sound design and in-your-face confidence and attitude, Forza Horizon 3 is the most accessible and exciting racing game that I have ever played.

And what better backdrop than our very own home, the awesome and varied country of Australia, to spend all of your time exploring. From Byron Bay to the Australian Outback and down to the Yarra Valley, it’s pretty cool seeing our roads represented. The dense rainforests, wide open spaces and gorgeous beaches are shown off in all their grandeur, and the weather accentuates this even further, with some of the best water effects I’ve seen in a video game. The lighting is also stunning, with reflections bouncing off your bonnet. The shading, especially in the forests with the sunlight bursting through the trees, is just so damn pretty.

The sheer variety in Forza Horizon 3 keeps things constantly feeling fresh; as you move your festival to other regions, you’re constantly unlocking other events to participate in, including your standard races, street races, drift zones, speed traps, jumps and more. Showcase races also show off a real sense of crazy fun as you race other vehicle types completely, and Bucket List challenges are back, which task you with completing a certain requirement in a specific car, usually showing off a particular asset or style of driving in a unique way.

The best part of all of this is the Blueprint feature, which gives you the power to create your very own Bucket List challenge and share it with the world. Not only are there more events than you can poke a koala at, but the ability to set your own and experience challenges set by others adds an almost infinite longevity to what is already a jam-packed open world. You can also play the campaign cooperatively with friends, meaning you can explore the world together and complete missions that will still contribute to your personal progression.

It’s probably rudimental at this point to mention this, but the racing in Forza Horizon 3 of course feels incredible. They’ve refined this system over the last several years; so much so that we probably take it a little bit for granted. The range of different cars is impressive and they all have their own subtle differences that are going to impact how you tackle them on the road. Fans of the franchise will have no trouble settling back in to the comfortable and tight controls, and you’ll be kicking the engine into gear and drifting around tricky corners perfectly in no time at all. It just makes sense.