O...M...G!!!  That was fuuuuuuuuun!!

I got more enjoyment from 2 hours of Horizon 3 than I have from many months of RR3.  Now I'm, like, "RR3 who?" (and, sorry guys, "AR who?")

My first impressions...

• I'm sooooooo glad they included the manual shifting and allowed it to be configured on the right joystick.  I was surprised to discover manual shifting was absent from the Fast and Furious add-on for H2, and though it was available in F5/F6, it wasn't configurable on the joystick, IIRC.  Why would they think that pressing buttons to shift is more intuitive (or real) than using a "stick" to shift?
• It is more wide-open than H2, as was mentioned in one of the videos, but I am encountering more barriers than I thought I would, based on what they said in the video.  I guess it's necessary though in a "limited are" real-world setting.  I do think there are going to be many more opportunities for "air time" in this one!
• All the various things you can do, things to find, etc. are not shown as prominently on the map.  Maybe I still have some more "preliminary" stuff to get out of the way before they clutter up my map with all that.  It could be overwhelming for the complete noobs, I guess.
• At times, it's difficult to know what's expected.  The narrator doesn't explain in detail, and the explanation that flashes up on the screen is in a small font, and doesn't linger long enough to read it.  And that's if I notice it at all.  For example, I was driving along, on my way to the next event, and suddenly the narrator says something about someone in a red Ferrari just ahead.  I was barely able to figure out I needed to press a particular button to challenge that drivatar, but then I didn't know when the "race" started or what the goal was, so I got the "You Lost!" banner.  Going back, I was able to stop and read the explanation.
• I struggled with the "I forgot the name" event (it was the 3-lapper).  Had to retry at least a dozen times just to finish it, and still only got 8th place.  I really think I had just chosen the wrong car - I picked the Mustang coz I'm a sucker for American muscle cars.  In any case, though, this is not going to be a cake-walk, at least not with a controller.  But that's not a bad thing.  Better the frustrations (and challenge to improve) in difficult events rather than what we've always had in RR3.

All-in-all, great fun!  I was looking at the numbers... roads to discover, boards to smash, etc., not to mention the number of cars to acquire.  This will keep me interested for quite a long time.