Forza Horizon 3

Easily the most fun Horizon yet and a standout open-world racer, with a gorgeous Australian setting, a stellar lighting engine, and the best driving feel in the series so far. Free roam with on-the-fly challenges becomes a highlight, backed by massive customization and a deep blueprint event system. The damage model is underwhelming, the music-unlock system and audio mixing disappoint, and novice-difficulty AI blatantly throws races, but overall it is a confident buy.

A fun open-world arcade driving game set in Australia, essentially an evolution of Forza Horizon 2 with the festival role flipped so you build and run your own events. The driving feels great even on a controller, the world looks gorgeous, and the deep customization options let any skill level stay competitive. The constant car handouts and gimmicky ramps cheapen progression, but it dominates a genre with little real competition.

A fun, gorgeous open-world racer with a brilliant sense of speed and an incredibly varied Australian map that is the real star. Deep car customization, hundreds of vehicles, strong multiplayer with the Drivatar system, and wild bucket-list showcase events make it a standout. Gated radio stations and forgettable contained track designs are minor gripes, but it lands as game-of-the-year material.