Forza Horizon 3 continues the spin-off's trend of delivering fantastic open-world arcade-style racers. The combination of Forza Motorsport 's physics, deep car roster, and presentation with Project Gotham Racing 's performance-based scoring system is as addictive today as it was in 2012.

Graphics & music fantastic

An almost impossibly beautiful landscape actually outshines the gorgeous roster of automobiles in this romping, multifaceted funfest. The multitude of objectives make this a great game for almost any gamer demographic and the flexibility of gameplay ensures that everyone will have a good time doing...

By rights, Forza Horizon should be the poor cousin of Microsoft's driving games, having been spun off from the company's flagship Forza Motorsport franchise. However, where the parent game takes itself very seriously (and feels antiseptic and squeaky-clean as a result), Horizon has never been shy of...

Concept: Explore Australia in this open-world racer that embraces player freedom, and isn't afraid to bang up cars or send them flying Graphics: At any given time, the environment is stimulating and loaded with variety. Around one turn, sunbeams bounce serenely off waves at The Twelve Apostles.

It dawned on me while travelling in excess of 250kmh through heavy traffic in Surfers Paradise that driving really expensive cars at high speed is so much easier on the left hand side of the road. Forza Horizon 3, the ninth instalment of the Forza series, is entirely set in Australia.

Update: We've updated our review to reflect the PC version of Forza Horizon 3. Please scroll to the bottom of the story to find the updated content. - PB, 9/27/2016, 10:40 AM PDT However sacrilegious, the ability to launch a Jaguar over a hill and into a cornfield with no risk of mechanical damage...

Gorgeous environments; Accessible driving controls; Robust reward system; Great mix of off-road and traditional races

Minor online performance issues; Unappealing brand-building narrative

Racing games have gotten very serious. With arcade games like Blur, Split Second and Ridge Racer failing to excite a large enough audience, and genre staple Need For Speed seemingly in the middle of a crisis, the video game racing world has been left to the serious.

Gorgeous; So much content; Great fun

Groove Music might bother some

Open world games are all the rage this generation, especially now that online multiplayer is at a stage where it can be integrated seamlessly. Forza Horizon 2 did a great job of creating a massive ope

Car handling fit for all players; Massive open world; packed with content; Create your own race events; Stunning visuals

Multiplayer balancing issues; Long initial load time

is a masterclass in open-world racing and bigger and better than its excellent predecessor across the board. It looks fantastic, the car selection and customisation is second to none, and the size and variety of the sprawling Australian outback is magnificent.