Forza Horizon 2, 10 Years Later

Forza Horizon is what we consider these days a household title in regards to racing games, but where did this all start? Forza Horizon 2, was arguably one of the most influential racing games for the current and last generation. It's been 10 years since Horizon 2 launched, and as I deem it one of my all time favourite racing games, I wanted to revisit Horizon 2, and dive deep into the pre-production, the content of the finished product, as well as post launch to give you the ultimate Forza Horizon 2 review! So join me as we look at Forza Horizon 2, 10 years later...

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:23 A Next Generation Horizon
5:54 Horizon 2's Charismatic Cars
10:05 A Horizon Road Trip Career Review
19:58 Europes Atmosphere And Map
24:16 Post-Launch
29:38 In Conclusion

[fastlanegaming]

The Map(s), the Cars, the Sounds, the vibes & feeling that it gives you while driving on that coastal road… *_Just unmatched._*

[OfficialTS]

You even skipped the fact that the soundtrack actually made you feel like you’re at a festival, like you’re in a certain area like Southern Europe. My favourite Horizon Game and top 3 game of all time.

[joshjmilli]

Horizon 2 is still the best looking Horizon imo. It looks like how you would visualise a hot, sunny day by the Mediterranean coast in your head. You can almost feel how lush the air is just by looking at it

[griff]

started it this year and, in my opinion, this is the best horizon, not to mention that my whole music taste is based around this game

[mjbakedbeans]

The one thing fh2 did best was making every road meaningful. The problem with fh5 and fh4 is that you can literally drive anywhere to get across the map. It’s nice to have a map where you can go anywhere but it loses the aspect of driving.

[SSruh]

The trees in this game look so good. It blows my mind how they look better than trees in horizon 5

[DSDO]

used to play this game at my friend's house, can't believe it's been 10 years. To this day this is my favourite forza horizon

[georgesanchez]

Wow 10 years huh. This game is still unmatched imo. It was just so ahead of its time. Newer games are more advanced and maybe even “better” in some ways, but this one felt like the NFSU2 of the 2010s. Horizon 1 came up with the blueprint and the vision (it was itself genre-defining), but FH2 perfected it.

[minedude]

23:49 THIS! For years I had mistakenly perceived 2's map to be the biggest in the series, only recently (as of two years recent) did I realize that the current maps are actually bigger. 2's map felt so much bigger than it actually was and I loved that.

[RetroRangerReviews]

What an absolutely beautiful video, mate. I’m playing through FH1 and the points you’ve raised here resonate hard. You’ve got me excited to get into FH2 as soon as I’m done with its prequel.
If only the newer FH games retained the same soul and charm while making progressive improvements in the areas that truely matter. And, thank you so much for that massive shoutout! It’s an honour to have been a part of bringing this to fruition.

[killermouse]

This game had SUCH a feeling when i was younger. I miss it. I also miss the friends i had back then. Great video. 👍

[wydua]

I played this game this year for the first time in my life and i fell in love. I swear the car ferry is just like the thing i ecountered irl and basically this whole game feels like vacation, the place, the realistic but stylized graphics, the music. And it just plays so good. Going from place to place and planning the trips in a way to travel along the cliffside is so amazing. I just love this game so much, and i cried while playin it. As a fh1 lover, this became my new fav. And although there are some annoying details, both in presentation (i look at you lack of droplets on the lens during the rain) and in game structure. I think it is amazing. And the race cycle is kinda fun to do, you stick to one car for a bit and then try another, instead of being spammed with vehicles you would never drive anyways. In fh2 i have driven every single car i own, maybe besides 2 or 3 from wheelspins that i missed.

[DrunkDoggo]

Forza horizon 2 had a beautiful map, great songs, nice cars and ofcourse great festival.
I'm so glad I still have a copy of this game on my shelf it's a shame they shut it down but aleast the offline is amazing on its own.

[zerotofifty]

FH2 is without a doubt one of my favourite driving games of all time and it's always nice to see more people enjoying it. That being said, I think there are a few minor details that could've made it even better :

-Horizon Finale is simply impossible to replay once you win it the 2nd time. Did they somehow think that not being able to replay the race would make the 2 times you won it more memorable because the only other explanation was forcing people to play online as it was available in online freeroam?

-Once again, there are no drag races in singleplayer and the only MP drag race is the airport one. This such a shame because there were some amazing spots to do drag racing such as the highway or the straight in Nice.

-This game is responsible for the downgrade in campaign and progression. Wheelspins were introduced in this game making RNG a huge factor for one's progression. As you've pointed out, mid-game story was completely lacking and post-game content is infinitely repetitive. FH1 also had a 2nd free DLC called 1000 Club and they were basically like accolades but for each car and it could've easily been improved for FH2 but instead they completely removed this part of the game.

-Porsche Expansion (another thing you didn't mention) was a weak 3rd expansion compared to what we got in FH3 and Storm Mountain expansion map was copy pasted from a northern-east section of the map. You can even search "fh2 expansion copy paste" on google to confirm it yourself.

-There are no tools to make custom championships or even custom races so you have to do the entire roadtrip just to replay your favourite race.

-They removed custom lobbies and race modes like cat and mouse and replaced it with road trips. While those road trips were pretty fun, drifting during races was incentived as it gave you XP (The one with most XP won the championship) which turned some races into a complete joke. We had to wait until FH4 to get proper online races.

[GTAerotech]

P1 is so timeless, looks better than all new cars 10 years later

[reallynotmuffin]

the first time i ever played Forza in general was FH2 on the 360, yes, ik, it wasnt fh2 on the xbox one, but it was my parents could afford and damn, this brings back hella memories. Great video like always

[thedarkjustice]

I’ve played Forza Horizon 2, 3, 4 and 5. No matter how many racing games come, Forza Horizon 2 has always been the best game to me and will always be. I spent so much time playing Forza Horizon 2 to enjoy it and make me feel good. I’ve played many games now such as GTA, Spiderman, Gran Turismo, WWE 2k23 and 2k24, The enjoyment I had with Forza Horizon 2 will always top all those games combined no matter what. I will play Forza Horizon 2 again with a new progress and enjoy that feeling again. I remember when I got the Xbox One after playing the PlayStation 3 for years and when I got Forza Horizon 2, it was so great. I remember being upset when my parents didn’t let me buy new games and I was stuck playing Forza Horizon 2 for 7-8 years, I was ultimately great full at the end because I had lots of fun. Now I have the ps5 and I’m gonna turn that Xbox one back on to enjoy Forza Horizon 2 to make the fun out of it.

[BloxWich]

Ultraviolet, your deep dive into Forza Horizon 2 is pure gold! 🏆 Revisiting this iconic game after 10 years really highlights how it reshaped the entire Horizon series. Your detailed analysis of its pre-production, content, and post-launch impact shows why Horizon 2 remains a fan favorite. This video is a must-watch for any racing game enthusiast. Thanks for taking us on this nostalgic journey and reminding us why Forza Horizon 2 is a true classic! 🚗🎮

[zerotofifty]

I loved the use of NFS OST throughout the video. I guess there aren't many people left that played the original games if no one has mentioned it yet but then again it's been 20+ years now.

[DARKSHREK]

I've never seen a video that genuinely made me question if parallel versions of ourselves exist. Not only did the trailers make you save up to by an Xbox exactly as I did, but even the way you describe every point about the game is micron-level accurate to how I feel about Horizon 2 and exactly, down to the syllables, how I would describe it. And then to top things off, we both regretfully (but not really) skipped out on Storm Island. And even your mentioning of nitrous in F&F. We may just beong lost twins😂