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Forza Horizon 2 unveils Storm Island expansion, VIP member discount

From Xbox Wire:

The epic road trip continues on Xbox One with the expansion for Forza Horizon 2.

Storm clouds are gathering; a fierce tropical storm is about to break. Several of the world’s most iconic off-roaders are lined up, poised to spring with a punch of the gas pedal. Thunder crashes in the distance, an omen of the dangerous terrain and extreme elevation changes that await. Drivers grip their steering wheels, ready to tackle the epic challenges ahead. Welcome to a new land of extremes with the Forza Horizon 2: Storm Island expansion!

The Storm Island expansion brings fans more of what they love about the year’s best racing game: more beauty, more fun, more challenge, and more ways to compete with and against friends. The Forza Horizon 2: Storm Island expansion is available now exclusively on Xbox One and can be purchased from the Xbox Live Store for $20. Forza Horizon 2 VIP owners will receive a 50 percent discount on the expansion, making the price just $10 for VIP members.

Here’s a breakdown of the new content coming with the Storm Island expansion.

Dangerous Beauty

This expansion pack for Forza Horizon 2 features a new location to explore, the mysterious and foreboding Storm Island. This is a land of gorgeous variety and monumental challenge, with sudden and dramatic terrain changes that push players and their cars to the limit. Storm Island also features the most severe weather conditions ever seen in a Forza game, including fierce tropical storms and thick fog that will add an entirely new level of challenge. On Storm Island, the weather and the world combine to present players with extreme adventure every time they get behind the wheel.

Storm Island has been built with the Forza Horizon 2 engine and infused with brand new technology that showcases the beauty of the world. New features like swaying trees in extreme windstorms and the rays of the sun cutting through thick fog bring the adventure and splendor of Storm Island to life in ways players have never experienced before.

Action-Packed Fun

Storm Island brings more intense racing action with an emphasis on all-out, off-road fun. The expansion features 90 new events with five new event types players can test their skills in, and all have been designed to bring the most out of both the driver as well as every vehicle in the game. These new events include:

• Rampage – Rampage events are point-to-point off-road sprints, where the driver will contend with obstacles and smashables (including the brand new smashable chicanes) before crossing the finish line.
• Brawl – Grab your favorite four-wheeled weapon and strap in for these off-road circuit races featuring extreme terrain, lots of obstacles to take advantage of, and new smashables to wreck.
• Extreme Cross Country – Fans have played Cross Country events in Forza Horizon 2but have never played them quite like this. With more extreme elevation changes, a variety of different terrain types, and strong storms to contend with, Storm Island’s Extreme Cross Country races are not for the faint of heart.
• Cross Country Circuit – One sprint in a Cross Country race will get players’ heart rates up. But how about multiple laps? In Cross Country Circuit events, players will be taking on those same unpredictable challenges in multi-lap races that will test both their stamina and skill.
• Gauntlet – Gauntlet events have become the stuff of legend on Storm Island. These point-to-point races are held only at night, and take place during the types of storms that normally have proper names attached to them. These epic races are long and dangerous – with minimal signage to guide players during the race. Just completing a Gauntlet event is challenging enough. Victory will take a special combination of skill, bravery, and luck.

The Adventure Never Stops

Storm Island is a massive expansion of Forza Horizon 2, with tons of content and replay value. In addition to new event types listed above, Storm Island will include new items and locations to explore – including new roads and bonus boards, a brand new Car Meet, new Bucket List challenges, new speed trap and speed zone leaderboards, and additional Rivals events.

Players can head online to discover awesome new content as well, including four new multilplayer Playground arenas, 20 unique online race routes, six Gauntlet events, three new Showdown events (accessible from the new Storm Island Car Meet location), and five online championship event types including Brawl, Rampage, Extreme Cross Country, Cross Country Circuit, and Mixed events, each of which contain tons of variety in terms of weather, time of day, etc.

The pack will also include five new iconic cars and trucks (see below for full descriptions of the five cars in the pack), plus a new barn find car (which we’re keeping secret for now). For players who enjoy upgrading their vehicles, we’ve also got new off-road suspension, tire, and transmission upgrades that can be applied to any of Forza Horizon 2’s 200+ cars. In addition, we’ve also added new rally-inspired body kit upgrades for a select number of legendary cars in game.

All of this amazing content, plus 23 new Xbox Live achievements (adding up to 500 gamerscore points to your total) makes the Forza Horizon 2: Storm Island expansion an amazing value for Forza fans.

For more on the Forza Horizon 2: Storm Island expansion, check out the livestream on the official Forza Motorsport Twitch channel, which will be beginning at 11 a.m. PT on Tuesday, Dec. 16.

Forza Horizon 2: Storm Island Car Descriptions

2013 Robby Gordon #7 Speed Energy Drink Stadium Super Truck
With 600 horsepower and enough suspension travel to absorb monstrous airtime, Robby Gordon’s Stadium Super Truck was built to conquer practically any terrain. Gordon started the Stadium Super Truck series in 2012 and won its inaugural championship title in 2013. Modeled after the stadium off-road racing made famous by off-road legend Mickey Thompson, Stadium Super Trucks crash, bash, and jump their way around real-life road courses and unique arena courses. The trucks are tube frame, full-race vehicles, similar to a trophy truck. For those looking for something to slide around, catch huge air, or just simply destroy property with, the #7 is ready and waiting to take all they can dish out.

2013 MINI X-Raid All4 Racing Countryman
Since its introduction to the Dakar Rally – the most grueling off-road race in the world – the MINI X-Raid has been the most dominant vehicle in the field. With veteran driver Stephane Peterhansel – aka “Mr. Dakar” – behind the wheel in 2012, the MINI won its first Dakar. Peterhansel came back in 2013 to win again in the MINI. Both years the other three MINIs of the four-car team all placed in the top ten. Built specifically for competition in the Dakar, the MINI X-Raid is all-wheel-drive and is powered by a BMW twin-turbo diesel engine. These rigs are built to withstand the conditions of racing across a multitude of surfaces at speeds in excess of 100 mph. Players won’t find much of the production Countryman here, these ALL4 racing MINIs are bespoke chassis and drive systems. What they will find is a thrilling driving experience that’s somewhere between a world-class rally car and Baja buggy.  

2014 Ford Ranger T6 Rally Raid
Ford continues its endeavors to win in off-road racing with its 2014 Dakar Rally effort in the Ranger T6 Rally Raid. Drawing on the proven expertise of South African Neal Woolridge, who beat out several American constructors for the chance to build this effort, Ford has gone to great lengths to deliver a true contender for the Dakar. Under the hood is a military dust-proofed 32-valve V8 – a la Ford Mustang – connected to a Sadev six-speed sequential transmission. The body shell resembles a Ranger four-door 4X4 but, underneath, the chassis and suspension are completely custom. Suspension travel and durability are paramount since this truck will be travelling at more than 100 mph across surfaces that most trucks would crawl over. This will be Ford’s first factory effort in the Dakar and, by the look of things, they are aiming to finish strong.

1981 Ford Fiesta XR2
The smallest of Fords was a success from the moment it was produced in 1976. While not the first front-wheel drive Ford (give that credit to the Taunus) it was the first widely-selling FWD car for the company. U.S.-bound Fiesta models were built in Germany, offering the appeal of a German-built Ford. With an attractive hot hatch look and plenty of pep, the Fiesta just begged to be tossed around. Other than sporty decals and alloy wheels, the one thing the Fiesta lacked was a performance model. Upon testing the waters with the Fiesta Supersport, Ford built the XR2 which brought a stiffened suspension and a 1.6-liter crossflow Kent engine. Given the already nimble and light base, the nearly 100 horsepower of the XR2 really got the party started. When considering this is where the Fiesta of today got its roots, it’s no wonder the XR2 looks so good against the competition.

1992 Mitsubishi Galant VR-4
A turbo-charged, four-cylinder, 4WD, four-wheel steering, four-door sedan, sold in limited numbers makes the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 a treasured piece of JDM history. In fact, without it, the later Lancer Evo might not even exist.  The Galant VR-4 was the platform that Mitsubishi developed its impeccable AWD system and, in the process, won no less than six rally championships. It also makes for a barrel of thrills to drive. The VR-4 ignites off the line, cuts into corners, and brakes with precision. The engine develops potent horsepower put to the wheels via a center differential that detects wheel slippage and re-directs power to the axle with the most traction. Four-wheel steering engages at speeds more than 31 mph and turns the rear wheels up to 1.5 degrees to enable optimum turn angle and cornering stability. One look at the VR-4 equipped with the bull bar, the huge halogen fog lamps and roof vents and dressed in its classic Mitsubishi race livery make it obvious this car means business.