"Forza Horizon 6": Big in Japan
"Forza Horizon 6" is significantly larger than its predecessor, but relies on proven concepts in terms of gameplay. The spectacle has been ramped up again.
(Image: Playground Games)
Anyone who loves arcade racers can't get past “Forza Horizon”. The offshoot of the popular “Forza Motorsport” series focuses more on fun and action than simulation. In the sixth installment, players are wreaking havoc in Japan, competing against AI drivers and other players in numerous racing events.
Pure Racing Madness
We drove around 100 races, sped down from the icy mountain into the valley in our highly tuned off-road truck, and had a race against a giant mech robot – in short, there's a lot going on in “Forza Horizon 6”. As if the chaos and spectacle of the predecessor weren't enough for the developers, they turned all the knobs and delivered an even bigger racing spectacle. There's always something going on somewhere, there's always something to do – idleness is out of the question.
„Forza Horizon 6“ im Test (5 Bilder)
This can also lead to oversaturation. After a short time, activity markers pop up everywhere, making “Assassin's Creed” look envious. It's not always races; sometimes it's a jump challenge or small mascots to collect, symbolizing Japanese culture. At least, somehow.
You can tell – even in its sixth iteration, “Forza Horizon” is a huge playground – now four times larger than its predecessor, which was set in Mexico. Now it's Japan that becomes the setting for the fictional Horizon Festival, a kind of Coachella of motorsport. Trucks, race cars, or simply classic city cars serve as vehicles or just as collectibles to find, buy, or win.
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Individual Difficulty Level
Players must collect “Horizon” points in races and stunts to qualify for higher tasks. The requirements vary, and no vehicle handles the same. In street races through Tokyo, speed counts in the cockpit of an AMG One, while in a rally with a Ford Fiesta, grip and cornering are key. There are straight tracks where players can simply floor it, or winding serpentines. The variety is enormous and spectacular to behold.
Each race has different vehicle requirements. Trucks are allowed for off-road races, muscle cars like the Mustang GT for street races or drift challenges. Each race has a certain class restriction to prevent highly tuned special cars from leaving the competition behind. Since the starting conditions are equal, the driver's skill usually counts in the race. If something goes wrong, they can simply rewind the race a few seconds.
The realism is initially limited to the detailed reproduction of cars and landscapes. In the default setting, vehicles do not suffer damage. A few scratches on the paintwork are purely cosmetic, with no impact on handling. This leads to absurd situations. Players can mow down trees in the woods for minutes without worrying about the car's condition.
Players should accept and love this. In such moments, the game is pure madness. Optionally, the difficulty can be increased. To get the most out of themselves and the vehicle, players can, for example, switch off all assists. Too many accidents and dents will turn the car into a wreck, and when braking, you have to be careful not to fly off the curve.
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Tuning the cars can almost be neglected on the medium difficulty level. Players drive into one of their garages, press “Auto-Tuning”, pay the credits, and the car is ready. However, those who really want to delve into the topic can experiment with different tire compounds or drivetrains and fine-tune the driving settings. This is where the arcade racer separates from the racing pro. One floors it and wants fun; the other wants a challenge.
This resulted in different racing experiences during our playtime. As fun racers, we ruthlessly bump through the competition or simply throw another car out of the corner. This doesn't make the game a cakewalk, but it's very different from the “Sim” mode, where every brake application is executed perfectly and every corner is a challenge.
Bigger, but Not Different
Players drift through corners or participate in a kind of hidden object game, looking for the landscape, often with the help of a drone, for rare cars in hidden corners or barns. All of this is familiar from previous installments. If desired, players can also deliver food in the city or follow the lengthy story episodes. Here, we accompany a kind of tour guide through the most beautiful corners of Japan. A busy work, nothing more.
Overall, after numerous play sessions, we wonder if the quality doesn't suffer from the sheer volume of tasks. A jump into the valley or a speed camera photo at 300 km/h is fun for a while, but do we really need dozens of these challenges? While the Japan setting offers a more extensive gaming experience than its predecessor and looks fantastic, it quickly becomes overwhelming.
Conclusion
“Forza Horizon 6” is many things, but not a genre revolution. It relies on the proven racing spectacle against an impressive natural backdrop, but gameplay-wise it keeps almost everything the same and can be overwhelming with the sheer volume of tasks. This is not to say that Playground simply reheats an old dish without care. We felt the developers' attention to detail everywhere. Especially the customizable difficulty and the numerous tuning options make the game a feast for motorsport fans. We just expected a few more new ideas after five years of development. But that's complaining at a high level. Anyone who loved the predecessor can look forward to the same mix of spectacle, chaos, and outstanding graphics in “Forza Horizon 6”.
“Forza Horizon 6” will be released on May 19th for Windows and Xbox Series. It is included in Game Pass. A release for PS5 is planned. USK rating from 6. It costs between approx. €70 for the standard version and approx. €120 for the Premium Edition with early access from May 15th. For our preview, we played the Windows version. We could not play online races during the test phase.
(vbr)
