I’m a picky fan when it comes to racing games.  I like my car controls slightly arcade-like, the visuals colorful and bright, and a good collection of race types.  For those reasons, I mainly found myself gravitating towards titles like Burnout, Stuntman, and the highly underrated Split/Second.  Forza Horizon has been a fantastic experiment in open world racing, but I always felt like the proverbial dial of outrageous acts could be turned up.  Forza Horizon 3‘s Hot Wheels DLC is exactly that, and it’s absolutely fantastic.

Be the Hot Wheel

Forza Horizon 3; great game.  Hot Wheels; great toy.  Add them together… double great toy game.  While it might seem a bit ridiculous, the best part of FH3’s Hot Wheels DLC is its ability to make you feel like a tiny toy car.  Although there’s been a few additions to the available cars in the form of Hot Wheels specific vehicles, I found the most fun in mixing the two elements.  Sure, shooting a Hot Wheels Mustang through a loop-de-loop is fun.  You know what’s more fun?  Ripping the e-brake in a Lamborghini Diablo as you careen around an impossibly dangerous drift, all while sporting a livery that looks like a Jackson Pollock reject.

Jurassic Parallel Park

While you won’t be doing much parallel parking in FH3’s Hot Wheel DLC, you’ll definitely encounter a few Jurassic friends.  That’s because the entirety of the Hot Wheels DLC (much like Blizzard Mountain) is a self contained section of the map.  Instead of freezing peaks, the Hot Wheels DLC map is a collection of islands almost completely constructed from large plastic Hot Wheels track.  Apart from the distinct orange and blues of the track, the island itself is a mixture of beaches and jungle.  Lurking in the jungle are giant robotic dinosaurs that will pop up, adding an extra boost of absurdity to the mix.

I love subversion of expectations, and I especially love it when a franchise does a complete turn around in style.  While Forza Horizon 3 is generally an arcadey racer, the Hot Wheels DLC makes no qualms about its level of ridiculousness.  Creating exciting landscapes and letting players explore it is a key focus in game design.  Forza Horizon 3 already does that with excellence.  Throw in some breakneck speed-inducing ramps, aforementioned dinosaurs and flaming hoops, and you have yourself a recipe for fun.

If you own Forza Horizon 3 and haven’t checked out the Hot Wheels DLC, do yourself a favor.  For the $20 price of admission, this DLC has a plethora of content to keep you coming back time and time again.  I rarely buy DLC and I even more rarely buy racing game DLC.  This is the exception.