Forza Horizon 4 is the ultimate racing experience on any platform. It is a refinement if a formula that has worked so well for the franchise combined with the changing seasons and varied landscape of the gorgeous UK makes for an amazing game.
Forza Horizon 4 takes the horizon festival to the UK with a new twist, for the first time the franchise has introduced changing seasons; and I don’t mean just dynamic rain. Drive across frozen lakes in the winter or battle the storms of the British summer as seasons and landscapes around you change. It’s not just a cosmetic affect as certain races and routes are available only in certain seasons that helps keep each season a little different and interesting.
The biggest change however comes in the form of progression. Horizon 4 is arguably the most rewarding game yet with constant level ups for your overall skill, influence, race category skill and car specific skill! Your perks are also unlocked for each car, encouraging you to try and grind more than just your favourite to help you be kitted out properly for each season and all race types. Horizon 4’s changing seasons also ensure players try out different cars because of the extremely varied race types, that are once again affected by the weather. For the first time I found myself focusing on more than my Nissan Skyline and GTR.
One interesting new addition is the Forzathon Live that is a shared goal for all members in an online lobby where cumulative progress grants rewards to everyone that participated. While it’s certainly not a game changer by any means, it’s a fun activity that gets everyone in an online sessions involved for a few fun activities like jumps and drift zone challenges.
Having played the game on PC, I can safely say it is very well optimised; this time around giving a smooth 4K 60 FPS on Extreme settings on my RTX 2080Ti; which is quite a relief compared to how Horizon 3 gave PC users a horrible time even at 1080p for a GTX 1080Ti at medium settings.
Forza Horizon 4 is everything a racing fan wants in a game. The introduction of proper drifting mechanics combined with the changing weather and great new progression makes it’s the best racing game around.
Overall: 9/10
HT23
