Forza Horizon 4 launched a few days ago and already the scene is going crazy for it, calling it the best in the series and some even going as far as calling it the best racing game ever.
The Full Story
It aims to mimic a setting similar to the northern United Kingdom, most of which is countryside, but with a city in the northernmost part that's basically a scaled-down version of Edinburgh.
The open parts of the map are apparently quite diverse and well executed, right down to details not present in other games. Most fences, trees and obstacles are destructible or at least you can move them out of the way and the physics behind all of it is definitely believable, even if being a Horizon title, this is geared more towards fun than being an outright simulation.
Each season has its own flavor, weather conditions, and unique events and it really adds a lot of replayability to the title - what you may remember as a dirt road ending in a lake in summer will be a snowy track that continues onto a frozen lake in winter.
This is all made believable by the game’s graphics engine which makes the map look very realistic and believable. Plus, it’s packed full of races and activities so that there’s never a moment when you are left wondering as to what is the next step. Barn finds make a return and there’s a wider variety of cars than before, including some very British additions like a London taxi (which you can put a widebody kit on) or an old 1931 Bentley 8 Liter.
Vehicle handling is another plus point of the game - sure, it’s not as hardcore and unforgiving as the Forza Motorsport series, but it still feels realistic and believable. And as with previous installments in the series, each car handles differently and has its own quirks - some will require a very smooth, calculated drive to make the most of, while others will allow and encourage a more hooligan type drive.
The range of engine swaps is also broader in Horizon 4 and the developers even added an all-new swap option - the racing V12, which is essentially the engine out of the brutal Ferrari F50 GT. Regarding the car roster, the number of available names is some 450-strong, and includes a few premieres for the series, such as the two aforementioned British cars, as well as the 1952 Morris Minor, 2016 Volvo Iron Knight (a 2,400-horsepower racing truck) and the 2019 McLaren Senna, the poster vehicle for the title, among others. In total, it’s 100 more cars than Forza Horizon 3.
They don’t try to look as good as real life, but better, using lighting conditions and weather effects to really make everything pop. Each season obviously has its own look and feel - spring, summer, autumn and winter all look quite different and present a different vibe. The game can be played in 1080p and 60 frames per second on a mid-range PC or Xbox One, or if you have an Xbox One X, it features a “Quality mode” which bumps the resolution up to 4K but drops frame rate to 30 frames per second.
It’s just really pretty to look at, whichever mode you play it in. Some are calling it the best racing game of this generation, or at least the best-looking one. Others are calling it the prettiest car game of any kind ever - and you don’t even need to play it to see this as YouTube has literally been inundated with gameplay videos, personal reviews and reviews by big name publications - everybody seems to really love it and they aren’t shying away from saying it.
People are literally not saying one bad word about it, aside from pointing out its map is considerably smaller than that featured in The Crew 2. But unlike that game, the Forza Horizon 4 map feels painstakingly crafted and cleverly thought out - it makes up for its lack of outright size with detail.
To sum up, if you’re a car enthusiast who enjoys video games, Forza Horizon 4 should be at the top of your ‘to buy’ list... until the next Forza Motorsport comes out and then Horizon 5 after that. Scroll down for a selection of reviews.
Further Reading
Read our full review on the 2019 McLaren Senna.
Read our full review on the 1932 Bentley 8-Litre Tourer.
Read more Forza Motorsport news.