There’s nothing like the open road. The freedom to blaze a trail, pick a destination, and set off with no troubles, heading for the horizon and whatever lies beyond it.
In games, that is, I can’t drive IRL.
Forza Horizon’s strength has always been in the open worlds it offers, giving us complete freedom to drive at full speed between races, discovering all of the roads in Mexico, Scotland, Italy, and more, without a care in the world.
But Maybe We Should Start Caring
Imagine waking up on your normally peaceful farmland, and as you step out of your cottage, you realise that some of your cobblestone wall is missing. Or, more accurately, only some of your cobblestone wall is still there.
If it’s not that, then it’s countless road signs: What’s the speed limit? Is this a school zone? Take a wild guess on both accounts, and hope for the best. Or let’s take a look at those railings on bridges - you know, the ones to prevent cars from going straight off the bridge? Yeah, those are gone because my car went straight off the bridge. My Horizon rank went up, though.
Every person living in a region where a Forza Horizon event is taking place is living that Squidward life.
No, not the paradise town life from that one episode. Yes, the constant downtrodden days. No, I won’t apologise for mentioning SpongeBob in a Forza article.
And it’s not just the poor people’s private property or town streets - I took out about 17 consecutive street lights on the motorway. In real life, that would hit the news immediately, and just one of those street lights even looking slightly off would cause a two-hour congestion, but not here. Onward we go; someone will clear that up, and the people’s problem will not be my own.
Sure, you could say, “Well, you should be more careful not to hit them.” Yeah,okay mom, I should. But why doesn’t anyone stop me? No authorities step in, no fines make their way to my post box, and there are zero consequences. Despite the chaos, no chaos ensues.
I think the Forza Horizon event organisers might have the police in their pocket, actually…
Thankfully, People Don’t Walk The Streets
The only silver lining of any of this is the fact that pedestrians are not a thing. Apparently, when your country is scheduled to host a Forza Horizon event, it’s announced with an evacuation order. Furlough Horizon, am I right?
With just how reckless our (my) driving is, even outside of any races, can you imagine if people were walking the streets or going about their days out of vehicle? There would surely be some trouble then, because street signs can be put back up, but medical bills are a different beast. It’s bad enough that other cars are on the road, especially during street races, which are probably still definitely illegal, btw.
