The latest installment in Microsoft’s flagship racing franchise, Forza Horizon 2 has acquired an ESRB rating; detailing some interesting bits of information on the game.
With still two months to go until its official release, Microsoft decided to get the game rated which acquired an ‘E for Everyone’ that usually involves ‘Mild Lyrics, Mild Suggestive Themes, and Mild Violence.’
Seeing the rating blurb has revealed that the opening cinematic contains girls wearing revealing outfits like bikini tops and short-shorts. It has also revealed some of the game modes which include, street and point-to-point racing along with suggestive dialogues, and questionable lyrics.
This is a racing simulation game in which players compete with real-world cars at the fictional Horizon Festival in Southern Europe. Players can race in various modes (e.g., Circuit, Point-to-Point, Street) to earn skill/experience points and unlock new customizable cars. Opening cutscenes contain brief images of women wearing revealing outfits (e.g., bikini tops, short-shorts), including depictions close-up or with panned camera angles. In-game dialogue is sometimes suggestive: ‘Oh, girls, girls, girls. Behave yourselves now – come on!’ ‘[I’m] hearing some scandalous stories . . . Come on, send me photos.’
It is also worth noting that it is the Xbox One version of the game that has been rated. It is still unclear whether Xbox 360 version will have all these features or not since it is being made by a completely different developer on a completely different engine.
Personally, I believe mild nudity and suggestive lyrics is something we have seen in most racing franchises like, Need for Speed and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Forza Horizon 2 will feature them since the arcade racing game is set in the middle of a popular carnival where you can expect such scenarios.
Also, the game’s predecessor, the original Forza Horizon for Xbox 360 acquired a T for Teen rating which contains ‘Drug References, Language, and Suggestive Themes.’
Forza Horizon 2 is slated to launch exclusively for Xbox One and Xbox 360 on Sept. 30, 2014.
