Some of the most eagerly anticipated games that are releasing this year come from franchises that have been around for a long time. If you have never played a game in one of these series before it can be complicated to know where to begin. Basic Training is a new feature on TiCGN.com that will quickly help you get started on a new game, go over gameplay fundamentals or provide a list of recommended older games in the franchise you can play until release day. Today we’ll show you how to start the upcoming racing title Forza Horizon 3 with more playable cars and some extra in-game spending money.
What Is The Difference Between Forza Horizon and Forza Motorsport?
Forza Motorsport 6 is the original series of Forza games. You only play in events and championship races that are held on racecourses and your selected car will simply show up at whichever event you choose. Your racing will typically be confined to these courses and a small area on either side of the track. A distinguishing trait of Forza Motorsport games is that they historically run at 60 frames per second.
Forza Horizon is a spin-off series. These games are open-world which gives you much more freedom to explore. While there is no shortage of racing events in a Forza Horizon game you also have a region to explore based on a real world location. You are free to drive around this region as much as you wish and take on unlocked events in whatever order you please. You can also drive to each event or you can simply use a fast travel option. Players can set up impromptu race challenges and road trips in a Forza Horizon game. The open world nature of Forza Horizon means that it is not always advisable to stick to a road during a race. You may well find it advantageous to simply drive down a hillside rather than stick to a winding road that slowly makes its way to the bottom of the hill. Finally, Forza Horizon games offer a large number of off-road races. The tradeoff for the open-world nature of Forza Horizon is that this series usually runs at 30 frames per second on Xbox consoles (though Forza Horizon 3 can be played at 60 frames per second on a capable Windows 10 PC.)
Basic Training: More Cars In Forza Horizon 3
A Forza game will typically start you off with at least one car to use in your early racing career with plenty of opportunities to add additional cars to your garage. Most players buy more powerful vehicles with in-game currency known as credits (Cr) while some choose to use real-world money to buy Tokens and use those to buy cars. Every time you win a race you will earn credits and in most recent Forza games every time your driver level increases you will spin a prize wheel to win either an additional car or credits. The cars that can be won through the prize wheel can be very good. I myself won a Lotus that was priced at 2 million credits in Forza Motort 6 very early in the game. Finally, there will be DLC packs of additional cars that you could purchase.
However, the point of this article is to help you start the game with more cars without having to buy them in-game. The Forza series is actually very good at rewarding gamers who have played previous games in the franchise and there is even a separate app that coordinates your progress and award structure. It is called the Forza Hub and can be downloaded for free from the Xbox One app store or on Windows 10.
Most longtime Forza players will tell you that if you’re not using the Forza Hub, you’re doing it wrong. Once you link your Forza Hub account to your Xbox Live profile it will track your progress among every Forza game released on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Yes, even Forza Motorsport 2 and 3 are included as well as the recent Fast & Furious spin-off games are tracked by the Forza Hub app.
Put simply, the more Forza games you play, the more rewards you earn in other Forza games. Your progress is tracked in many ways such as unlocked achievements, how many miles you have driven, badges you have won or impressive driving feats (to name a few.) Virtually everything you can do in a Forza game is capable of earning points in the Forza Hub and as you earn these points you will find yourself in a new rewards tier. These tiers are the key to earning monthly bonus credits and starting new Forza games with additional cars.
Game Reward Cars
Simply playing Forza Horizon 2 or Forza Motorsport 6 on Xbox One will reward you with up to two bonus cars.
Forza Horizon 2 – 2014 Local Motors Rally Fighter
Forza Motorsport 6 – 2017 Ford Raptor
VIP Reward Car
If you had the VIP pass in either Forza Horizon 2 or Forza Motorsport 6 then you will also receive the 2015 Koenigsegg One:1.
Rewards Tiers
The higher your tier in the Forza Hub, the more credits and bonus cars you can earn for upcoming Forza games. Here is a breakdown of the vehicles you will receive at each tier in Forza Horizon 3:
Tier 2: 2005 Honda NSX-R
Tier 3: 2003 Nissan Fairlady Z
Tier 4: 2016 Audi V10 plus
Tier 5: 2012 BMW M5
Tier 6: 2009 Ferrari 458 Italia
Tier 7: 2013 SRT Viper GTS
Tier 8: 2013 McLaren P1
Tier 9: Lamborghini Hurácan LP 610-4
Tier 10: 2017 Ford GT
Note that tier rewards are cumulative. A player at tier 3 will earn the reward cars for both tiers 2 and 3 while a tier 10 player will receive all of these reward cars. It is actually not hard to get to tier 5 or 6. A friend of mine played through the original Forza Horizon game and dabbled in Forza Horizon 2 and he is already at tier 4.
Pre-order and VIP Pass Rewards
I don’t want to focus too much on these rewards because this article is intended for people who buy the standard version of the game at any time. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention that pre-ordering the game or stepping up to the Deluxe or Ultimate versions of Forza Horizon 3 can bring you plenty of additional vehicles; especially if you get the digital version.
Do I Need All Of These Reward Cars?
No, not really. The game can be played entirely with cars purchased with in-game currency won from racing events. You might even get lucky and win an amazing vehicle or a pile of credits from the game’s prize wheel.
However, the rewards cars can be of considerable use to you throughout the game and particularly in the early races. Any Forza game will require you to use vehicles in many different classes and if you have earned a lot of reward vehicles it will be likely you will have a vehicle that could be used in almost any event. This will save you massive amounts of times having to grind races and win enough credits to purchase and tune up needed vehicles so you can just focus on enjoying the game.
Suggested Playlist
There is no need to play Forza games in any particular order as they are not bound by any story or characters. Nearly all Forza games played now will help you earn rewards in Forza Horizon 3 but here are my personal recommendations:
Xbox One – Forza Horizon 2 will prepare you for the open world nature of the Horizon series. Forza Motorsport 6 is the most technically ambitious of all the Motorsport series and is an excellent game to boot.
Xbox 360 – Forza Horizon and Forza Motorsport 4.
Honorable mentions – Forza Motorsport 5 offers great racing action but it does not move the franchise forward as much as its successor. If you can only play one, go with Forza Motorsport 6. Forza Horizon 2 is available on Xbox 360 but I recommend playing the Xbox One version for its added online features.
