So last night I sat down to play through the Forza Horizon 3 demo and see if it has been worth all the hype.

I can safely say that yes, this game is going to be amazing if the demo is anything to go by.

What’s obvious from the start is there is a lot more customisation options available and after the initial couple of introductory races it seems to focus on player choice (you can even customise the number plate). The reason behind this is because you are the organiser this time of the Forza Horizon event in Australia. You make the choices and it is a great evolution for the series.

On the Xbox One this game looks amazing. I can only imagine how 4K on PC will look.

Much like the GRID style of games you also can pick your nickname, so you’ll hear it throughout the game while you plan the festival. You can also pick from a set of avatars so that your character has a different look as well.

The graphics have been turned up yet another notch from Forza Horizon 2 and are absolutely amazing – I’d have to say it looks twice as good. The demo has the main area of Byron Bay and the Twelve Apostles to race around in and it is extremely varied and incredibly detailed. Object collisions are as good as ever, so knocking down saplings, fences and mailboxes is all part of the charm while you race.

I should note this isn’t my house and when leaving I destroyed some fencing and a mailbox.

The sense of speed has improved, as has the audio. When I hopped into the Holden Maloo and started winding it up, damn it was great to hear the throaty V8. With traction and stability control off it is a very fun car to drive, with drifting occurring easily around a race. The buggies are also brilliant and you have the showcase races to see some crazy stylish moments.

Finally, the other new feature I absolutely loved was the “Drone” mode. This mode allows you to pilot a drone around the landscape (I was able to travel quite far from my vehicle) to take awesome scenery shots. I will be using this feature a lot with how good this game looks.

Byron Bay taken courtesy of “Drone” mode.

With the reported return of the Auction House (not shown in the demo) plus four player co-op for the main campaign that counts towards your single player progress I think Forza Horizon 3 is shaping up to be the best racing game this year.