Over the holidays, I had the pleasure of playing through Storm Island, the new expansion for Forza Horizon 2 which takes you on a remote island with rough terrain and an unpredictable weather pattern.
What’s included
For $20 ($10 for VIP subscribers), the expansion includes a whole new island to discover, one barn find vehicle, 5 new vehicles, 5 new type of events adapted to the island’s conditions, new car upgrades so that your favourite FH2 rides can thrive on Storm Island, 8 new bucket list challenges and a good 15+ hour of gameplay.
Racing through the forest, avoiding obstacles in Forza Horizon 2 Storm Island – screenshot taken with the in-game photo mode
What’s new
Other than the new terrain, events, challenges and cars mentioned above, the Storm Island championship plays out slightly differently than the one on the mainland. Being as there’s only one Horizon Hub, there are no road trips between tournaments. If you’re buying a new vehicle, you’ll have to drive around on your own in order to get used to it. A good excuse to explore the island and discover its secrets like the new barn find and new boards to smash. You’ll notice the championship require less events as well. Racing your way to the Finale takes half the time, if not less, than in the original Forza Horizon 2.
Racing through thick fog in FH2 Storm Island – picture taken with the in-game photo mode
The biggest addition is the extreme weather. As Storm Island is aptly named, a sunny day can quickly turned into a full blown out tropical storm: roads get slippery and flooded, the strong winds will make your vehicle swerve and visibility will almost be null. None of those will stop the racing, of course! I think Storm Island caters perfectly to off-road and rally lovers like myself.
in the eye of the storm in FH2 Storm Island – screenshot taken with the in-game photo mode
Why should I get it?
Storm Island does exactly what you’d expect from an expansion: new content that extends gameplay in a game you already love. Forza Horizon 2 is one of the best racers I’ve played and I was stoked to be presented with new races. Oh, and what a challenge they are. Although Storm Island doesn’t steer away too far from what we’ve seen in the recent Forza games, it caters to seasoned fans. The bucket challenges are quite hard and all of them took me a few tries to beat and the extreme weather will have your car slipping and sliding along the rough terrain. For $20, you’ll definitely get your money’s worth.