Forza Horizon 4 review: A stunning new destination sets the tone
By Connor Ulrey
Forza Horizon 4 delivers on the lofty goals that 3 set down under and goes to new levels, delivering one of the most satisfying experiences on Xbox.
Historic Britain is a stunning scene for the latest entry in Forza‘s bright open world series. Forza Horizon 4 takes you to new levels in all the scenery the area has to offer. It’s what the game does with the types of races and ways to immerse you that make this a can’t miss entry for fans and non-fans alike.
Discosure: FanSided received a free digital copy of Forza Horizon 4 for the purposes of this review.
Here are our thoughts on what Playground Games brings to the table this time around.
The season of change
The prelude takes you through all four seasons, a big selling point in this year’s title, and shows you what you’ll experience throughout your time in Horizon. That introduction is well done albeit a small dose, but it gives you the experience of four sets of wheels on four different terrains in four different seasons.
That’s a lot of change. For Forza Horizon 4, that’s what it’s about here, and the scenes evolve and feel different during each of the four seasons. You feel the wheels losing traction on your supercar because you probably shouldn’t be driving that in winter.
Influence is once again the key theme here, what makes you valuable to the festival. What’s new here are the excess ways to build that influence up, and in a hurry, I might add. Influence leads to your place in the festival showcase, the big showdowns with insane vehicles with all the eyes of Horizon watching.
There’s nothing quite like the starter showcase, the fall showcase, racing a ridiculously sized hovercraft across a winding cross-country course. Each change in season follows the finish of the showcase and brings with it all the races and side story missions you can find.
That presents an interesting way to take on Forza Horizon 4. The choices are all on you about how to tackle the stories available and which ones fit your play style.
Home run scenes
The setting of all this chaos is stunning in every way, minus a few visual hiccups at certain points when cars and the world crashed into each other.
In Forza Horizon 3, the scenes down under were stunning as you charted your way across Australia, discovering the best the country has to offer. Forza Horizon 4 elevates that and gives an even more down to Earth feel based on how populated every scene feels. From the sleepy towns to the lakeside mansions to historic villages, each one is worth experiencing.
Forza‘s impressive storylines, from Dirt to Race to stunts bring the scenery full circle. Easy transitions from one to the next make the experience seamless and give the flexibility most crave in an open world racing game like Horizon.
Customization, huh?
Let’s talk about customization. I definitely enjoyed having a duo of emotes to set for pre-race and after you wipe the floor with friends, online foes or drivatars. Everything from both versions (viral style and original) of the running man to the dab finds its way into Forza Horizon 4. “How do you do, fellow kids” doesn’t apply here, it’s something only utilized in those moments you really want to rub it in.
Wheelspins and Super (!) Wheelspins give even more customization from unlocked horns, emotes and pieces to set your outfit apart. If you’re really feeling fancy, as I was, you can put on your best suit and top hat, put on the classic station and tear through the destructive countryside breaking stone barriers along the way.
Continual change
Some of the coolest features to make its way into Forza Horizon 4 with each season change are new Forzathon events, chances to elevate your game and reasons to continue coming back to the Festival.
You can bet those winter events are set to be something spectacular, so bring on the snowstorm.
Score time
Forza Horizon 4 brings a fantastic boost to the series. As other drivers online whiz by you during the summer, winter, fall and spring, you see the best this beautiful entry has to offer. It’s the strongest point of this game and has added a level of complexity to how you approach the seasons.
The destructible environments, interesting and innovative storylines (I highly recommend the stunt driver story) and play-at-your-pace feel to it make it one of the best, if not the best, in the series to date.
Where Forza Horizon 3 elevated the franchise in detail and execution, as well as sheer mass, Horizon 4 hones in on the best the developers have found and makes great use of the new things they’re bringing to the table.
I found myself continuing to go back to my wheelhouse and not feel bad about it, branching out at my pace. Forza Horizon 4 captures the best this franchise has to offer, keeping me speechless at each new environmental twist.
You can pick up Forza Horizon 4 in stores and for digital download on Oct. 2.