Forza Horizon 6 is so, so close to being the ultimate open-world racing game for petrolheads, combining a massive roster of cars, a sensational Japan setting, a tweaked progression system and stunning graphical fidelity, in what is the best Forza Horizon game yet. But it’s the driving itself that lets it down.
Playground Games has had a stellar run with the Forza Horizon series, and thankfully, the developer has taken it to another level in Forza Horizon 6. They’ve not exactly ripped up the formula that’s worked so well for them; it’s still a very similar premise, in that it’s essentially drive fast cars fast, explore a big map and progress through the game to a crescendo. But the magic of Forza Horizon 6 is that it’s improved on everything Forza Horizon 5 did so well, while also adding and tweaking elements of the game to make it feel even more satisfying.
Let’s start with the graphics, because this game is absolutely, relentlessly gorgeous. Whether it’s the 550+ cars, which are individually recreated with immense detail, inside and out, or the natural beauty of Japan’s city, mountain or scenic environments, there is something stunning to look at everywhere you go in this game. My PC might only have an NVIDIA RTX 3070, but I can still run it at Ultra settings with some DLSS upscaling, and it runs as good as it looks. I might not have path tracing or ray tracing enabled, and I’m sure that would take it to another level again, but even with my modest set-up, it’s one of the most graphically impressive games I’ve had the pleasure of playing. It’s also insanely polished, something which can’t be taken for granted in this day and age.
Something I thought Forza Horizon 5 did pretty well was with the sound of the cars, but, in what is going to become a common theme in this review, Forza Horizon 6 sounds significantly better, across a whole range of different cars and engines. The sweet, sweet engine notes have never sounded sweeter, and the radio stations aren’t bad either!
Then, there’s Japan. In the previous game, Mexico was an excellent setting for an open-world driving game. But, truly, there’s only one place that combines such natural beauty with a genuine obsession with cars that is deeply ingrained in the culture, and that’s Japan. It is quite literally the perfect place to set an open-world driving game, and Playground Games has done an excellent job in showing off how diverse Japan’s environments are, with long, winding roads in the countryside, steep snow rally stages deep in the mountains and iconic city locations. It’s just a pleasure to drive around. The map is also absolutely huge, which means there is plenty to find and explore, from barn finds, mascots, and treasure cars to the newly introduced houses and estates.
The new houses in Forza Horizon 6 will likely be wildly popular with the community, as it adds the replayability and customisation that players will absolutely love. And the same goes for the new estates, which are essentially a much deeper, bigger customisation experience that takes it up a gear. I spent over an hour deleting trees and bushes from my land before giving up, in the middle of placing a T. rex right in the middle of the garage, and although this isn’t a feature I will personally use, I can see this feature being very well received, with the potential of re-creating iconic tracks in between garage metropolises. The options are limitless!
Progression in Forza Horizon 6 is done slightly differently from its predecessor, but again, it’s improved in a refined way. Success in events and races, such as Horizon Qualifiers and Horizon Invitationals, allows you to collect new wristbands, and with every new wristband, you unlock events with better cars, as well as Showcase Events, and new Horizon Rush obstacle challenges. After collecting all seven, you get access to the Legend Island and the longest Goliath race in the franchise. It’s definitely better, giving you a clear path to new levels of car, while the variety of events has been improved too, with the option of Road, Dirt, Cross Country, Time Attack Circuits, Drag Meets, PR Stunts, and Bonus Boards.
Unfortunately, in what is the only way in this game falls short, is that the driving experience itself just isn’t up to scratch. I get that this is a game for casual racing players, for the most part, but the handling physics and the feeling of the cars isn’t particularly realistic, and this breaks the immersion in a pretty big way for me. And then there’s the wheel support, which, while the game does technically support racing wheels, the experience with using them is pretty terrible as it stands. The experience of driving a car with a dedicated racing wheel and pedals, using the new Fanatec Podium wheelbase in my case, feels disconnected and numb. There is also an ongoing issue with a severe FPS drop when using a racing wheel, which has been raised as a known issue and hopefully will be fixed at launch. But, even if it is, players who love driving cars and want a more realistic driving experience will likely be disappointed by Forza Horizon 6.
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Let’s be honest, most players won’t even care about this at all, and they’ll have tons of fun blasting around Japan, especially when you’re using a controller, when you can’t really feel what the car is doing in a detailed way. But, with Playground Games being a developer that’s made Forza Motorsport, a game that offers a pretty good driving experience, I expected just a little bit more.
But, in saying all that, if I can turn off the hardcore sim racer part of my brain, Forza Horizon 6 is a superb open-world game, with endless customisation, tons of replayability, lots of exploration and hundreds and hundreds of stunning cars to look at and drive, through one of the most breathtaking game worlds I’ve ever seen. If the driving experience was better, even just adequate, we could be looking at the best racing game ever made. But, Playground Games will have to settle for being the best Forza Horizon game we’ve ever seen, and that’s still an astounding achievement.
Forza Horizon 6 review score: 4/5