Why the heck is Forza Horizon 2 trying to get me killed?

Cutting through cornfields, racing against oncoming traffic, and more

Driving is dangerous. We take it for granted, but you’re more likely to die driving to the airport than zipping through the air a mile high in a heavy, metal tube. I am pretty okay at driving, but I am notably not great at driving video games. I crash a lot, even while speeding through a track designed for the sole purpose of being driven on.

I picked the loudest, yellowest Lamborghini. The camera zoomed in and showed little specs of water on the car as if had just went through a wash. I hit start race. Then Forza Horizon 2 tried to have me killed.

Seriously, who did they hire to run this event? It started out well enough, driving through some scenic roads that gave way to a farm setting. I tried to race carefully, following the helpful race line that goes green when you’re free to speed up and warns red when you should be breaking. Break before the turn, punch it in the turn.

Some of the AI racers, at one point, cut through a cornfield to get an edge. Have you ever driven through a cornfield? At 140 miles per hour? Bad idea. I kept to the road like a responsible driver. Then the race line led me through a corn field. The heck, guys?

I was still holding a respectable, middling 6th/7th place or so at that point when the race route led into a regular road full of cross traffic and commuters. Someone is going to get killed! Not me, because I have a helpful rewind button. I tried not to lean on it, but when I went grill to grill with oncoming traffic, I used it. I tried not to rewind further, which you could do. Just the one, I thought. When I resumed, I still didn’t have room to veer out of the way.

I smashed into some poor soul and got myself knocked into about 11th of 12. Then the thunder claps. Rain started, making roads even more squirrely.  I would never recover, even when the rain stopped, roads still left wet. I cruised into a 12th place finish and enjoyed the sun reflecting off of the rain slick roads.

I may suck at racing games, but the Forza Horizon series continues to still make it fun as hell regardless, like a photo realistic Mario Kart.