Forza Horizon: Rated ZAGATO

In reality, when a restaurant is labeled "Rated ZAGAT", then you'll know that it's a kind of restaurant that passed the likings from ZAGAT. Here in Forza Horizon, I wanted to give this game a "Rated ZAGATO" because not one but two Zagato models arrived on the party. One is pure British and the other one is half-Italian, half-American, if you know what I mean... But first...

This car feels like it's ZAGAT rated

Let's start with the V12 Zagato. Although, I maybe familiar with that car because I drove one on Forza Motorsport 4, the V12 Zagato is all about the power, beauty, and soul of an Aston Martin, enveloped with the timeless beauty done by a coachbuilder, Zagato. It is one of the most potent rides I have ever driven, not by the fact because it's an V12 Vantage underneath it but it is because the V12 Zagato, in racing-spec form as seen on Villa D'Este in 2011, feels like it's a wild party diguised as an intimate get-together. Get it? Intimate Get-Together! Now where did I heard that word? From a kids show that I often watched?

V12 Zagato is movin' to the beat

Because the V12 Zagato, as I explained, as a wild party disguised as an intimate get together, it sure knows how to move in to the beat and unlike any other Aston Martins that are a bit too dynamic for my tastes, it feels a bit normal, a bit well-behaved, and it really tickles me hardcore. This is the same feeling I'd expect on other Italian supercars but with a bit of "tea party" spilling through my driving fancies. This car will make you as fancy as an village idiot from a family of geniuses.

A dynamic point of view

I love this kind of Zagato machine so what on Earth have been thinking when this coachbuilder's joining forces again with Alfa Romeo when they made this?

Combination of Italian design with American powertrain

This is the TZ3 Stradale Zagato. This car is part of the April Top Gear Pack on Horizon and by the looks of it, it's not half bad, knowing the fact that it looks more like a modern equivalent of the Giulia TZ2 Zagato from the past. Good thing, the producers did the right thing, featuring an Alfa Romeo that was never been taken by a rival video game and that's the result. I'm starting to feel that I like this more than the Giulia TZ2 Zagato from a rival game but more importantly, it's a Dodge Viper underneath it!

Timeless beauty

Really?! This car was a Dodge Viper underneath it?! So this must be the first time I drove an Alfa Romeo that combines the design of Italian coachbuilder with the powertrain of an American sportscar. Sure, Chrysler was owned by Fiat so this is the cunning result of what happens when two worlds collide. Therefore, it still has the same V10 engine from the Viper, the same 6-speed manual from the Viper, the same interior from the Viper, and overall, the same dangerous driving feel that I can expect on the Dodge Viper SRT-10. Interesting...

Beat it, kid! Mine's more valuable than yours!

For car with an awkward-looking design, this car requires a skilled driver to master the fundamentals of the TZ3 Stradale and unlike the V12 Zagato, the TZ3 Stradale is a monster of a machine with the same dynamic and challenging driving feel of an V10-powerer American sportscar. It can kill even the most unskilled driver when fallen to the wrong hands but with enough practice, this is more rewarding. It's really really, that rewarding when you're careful.

Those ZAGATO-designed cars are just one way that even in Horizon, there's still some time living the fancy life because of its rarity, its unique looks, its driving feel, and everything that treats you like royalty. If you were Colorado's Ridge, Rave, or Rage of a racer, those two really know how to change courses because they're both fancy cars for the speedo boys living the fancy life in car heaven. Oh, just don't get fancy too much because it's going to be quite a disgusting feat.