Forza Horizon 6 Review - A Japanese Evolution
I’ve come to a conclusion. Forza Horizon is not a racing game. Yes, I know I sound like I am talking madness, but stay with me. Horizon absolutely has racing in it, but that is only a part of the whole. To me, the Horizon series is about more than racing. It is about the culture, the adventure, seeing the sights, collecting the cars, and basically fulfilling your auto-based fantasies. I am going to say it, Forza Horizon is a role-playing game, just one that has you racing as opposed to battling and instead of collecting companions, you have garages full of cars. So with that in mind, Forza Horizon 6 is leaning into this with all its might, making it a must-play car adventure, but one that is probably going to put off racing purists.
It is also worth noting that Playground have not really messed with the formula, which has been pretty much the same since the first entry. Built around the Horizon festival, players participate in a variety of races in an effort to climb the ranks (or earn wristbands as the case may be) and become a legendary racer. There have been evolutions, additions and improvements over the years, but the concept is essentially the same. That said, Horizon 6 takes the formula in something of a more guided direction as opposed to the last few entries. It does this by telling a tale, focusing not so much on a traditional video game story, but instead following something of a narrative throughline. It does this in a few ways.
The first is that the game really focuses not only on the player character, but also on a group of friends who have come to the festival to make their name in racing. These characters are everywhere in the game; they have their own events that tell a little bit of a story, and they are with the player’s character every step of the way as they make their way up the ladder. Now, the writing here isn’t the strong point. Most of the interactions are overly chirpy and a little cheesy, but I really think they added a load of personality to the game and made things just that little bit more enjoyable.
The second way is that, at least until players reach the legendary rank, the races are quite directed. In previous games, players could pretty much race whatever car they wanted, and the AI opponents would match that class and type. Here, the races are much more restricted and focused. Cars must be of a certain type and spec to compete, so there were a few occasions where I would have to purchase a car to compete in a race. These restrictions are in pretty much every event, as opposed to only occasionally in past games. This does two things, one positive and one negative. The positive is that it forces players to step outside of their comfort zone and race cars that they may not usually use. Be it a supercar or a drag racer, players will need to get a grip on every car class in the game if they want to get ahead. The negative is that it takes away some of the freedom that the previous games offered, and while you can have races where Combi vans are hurtling across Japanese rice paddies, they won’t be a part of your journey towards legendary status.
This more guided approach also brings one slight problem when it comes to the final stretch before reaching the top tier. You see the game has two meters that are filled by completing activities. The first is the Discover Japan meter, which is filled by finding scenic locations, completing story missions and basically poking your nose into every corner of the map. The Horizon meter fills as you complete races, photograph cars and complete sponsor events. The problem came about right before I was about to qualify for the Legendary wristband. I actually ran out of races to compete in to earn Horizon points, so I was pretty much forced to go and do the smaller sponsor events, things like jumps, speed traps and the like, to reach the final hurdle. Forcing players to do these map events, things that have always been optional bits of fun to partake in while exploring, felt a bit rough. Perhaps once the game is released, there will be more events added (as there usually are), and it will only be a problem for those of us playing pre-release.
The racing is, as always, sublime. The perfect balance between Sim and Arcade that has always been Horizon’s hallmark is back in full glory. I noticed this time around that the opposition AI is much more dynamic and humanlike, which adds a whole new dimension to the races. For example, during a Togue event (a new event type that sees two cars going head-to-head down windy Japanese mountain roads), my opponent was ahead, but misjudged a corner, sending himself off a cliff, letting me cruise to victory. These human-like elements make the racing feel much more natural and also keep you interested until the finish line has been crossed, because you never know what might happen to that bloke in front of you. The difficulty here has also been finetuned, and the game is much better at recognising when you should up the challenge. In previous games, it would often suggest a harder difficulty only for players to realise they weren’t up to it, but I found with Horizon 6, if the game suggests a tougher challenge, you are probably ready to roll.
With all of this story, adventuring and exploration, Horizon 6 really does make this a car adventure game. This will, undoubtedly, put off the racing purists out there that are (rightfully) mourning the loss of the pure racing experience that is Forza Motorsport. What it does do, however, is open car culture to the masses. This is a game made by people who love cars and the culture associated with them. There is so much fun to be had learning about the different events, histories, cars and even magazines that make up this culture that (if you squint really hard) you can call this an educational game. It is like hanging out with that super nerdy mate that has an absolute passion for one thing and can’t stop talking about it, yet you don’t mind because the enthusiasm is contagious. This isn’t really a game for those who have steering wheels, racing chairs, and know the ins and outs of F1. This is a game for the rest of us, and that is totally fine.
As you would expect, the tech is pretty darn impressive. You can tell that the team has benefited from being able to develop for the current generation only, and it has really pushed the graphics forward. I played it on the Xbox Series X and multiple PC configurations, and each time the game ran as smooth as silk. A zippy 60fps on the Xbox, 120 with Raytracing at 4K on my gaming rig and even a nice 60 at 1080 on my Xbox Ally X. It also supports ultrawide resolutions, which is a treat if you have access. This is a beautifully optimised game that includes some powerful benchmarking tools for those who want to squeeze every frame out of their settings.
This has resulted in a stunning-looking game; Japan really is its own highlight reel here, and while the map is hardly real-life accurate, it does do a good job of showing off a huge variety of locations you would find in the real world. From the bustling high-tech Tokyo to heritage-listed villages to snow-covered ski resorts and everything in between, this is a game where virtual tourism is a must. Getting screenshots while racing with Mount Fuji in the background was one of the first things I did, and it didn’t stop there. Rarely does a game encourage me to press that screenshot button as much as Forza Horizon 6 did.
Finally, a special shoutout to the radio stations, particularly Radio XS. It has an absolute banger of a song list, and while this is absolutely my personal opinion, the best rock lineup of any Horizon game. What makes it so fun is the mix of Japanese rock with artists like Baby Metal, new US metal like Poppy and classic headbanger stuff like Coheed and Cambria. It is such an eclectic, yet satisfying mix of bands from the overall rock/metal genre that it is sure to please anyone who likes to throw the horns up now and then. The other stations are equally mixed between US and Japanese artists, making this a soundtrack that stands out from the pack.
Really, I could go on about Forza Horizon 6 forever. The new events are worth discovering on your own (Horizon Rush events are a real highlight), the tech is amazing, and the racing is, as always, top-notch. The more guided experience may be a point of conversation among fans (I liked it overall), but the only real downside I can see is that once again, this is an evolution of the formula, not something strikingly new. But when the formula is this bloody good, that is hardly a cause for upset players, now is it? Forza Horizon 6 is everything I want from the franchise and maybe a little bit more, and it will inevitably be installed on my PC, to be played when the mood strikes until the release of Horizon 7. Don’t come for the racing, don’t come for the graphics, come for the adventure. This game will make a car head out of you yet.
Forza Horizon 6 was reviewed on PC and Xbox Series X with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
