Forza Horizon 4 Reviews

Forza Horizon has 'only' been around since 2012. Even then, the spin-off of the polished and elaborate Forza Motorsport managed to skilfully step out of the shadow of Microsoft's track racing game. Part four leaves no doubt about that - in fact, Forza Horizon 4 contains, if possible, the best that the franchise has produced so far.

Not just arcade
Don't make the mistake of calling the Horizon-series an "arcade." Basically, the sub-series distinguishes itself through the open game world - in this case a virtual, compressed version of the United Kingdom, but we will come to that later. The controls of the cars are basically very similar to those of Forza Motorsport 7, including many adjustable tools and other important, tweakable parameters. Absolute beginners as well as serious veterans should enjoy this very well.

Where Forza Horizon 4 does, however, distinguish itself from both its own predecessors and the Motorsport parts, is the extra sharpness of the driving behavior. Never before have the cars felt so communicative in a Forza game. In general, there seems to be more grip - although you can still drift well in this game - and this is better communicated through the interplay of graphics, audio and vibration feedback. This game manages to strike an excellent balance between pleasant and truthful driving behavior: better than any other accessible racing game that we can remember. That makes almost every ride a party in itself, whether you're just taking a smooth ride from A to B in a reasonably affordable BMW, or plowing through the snow in a Pagani Zonda.

Thick pack of snow
Snow is just one more example of what you can encounter during your in-game kilometers. The biggest new feature is the presence of all four seasons, which actually have a significant impact on the game world: in the summer there is clarity, in the fall and spring you have to watch out for puddles of water and in the winter there is a thick layer of snow and certain lakes have frozen over. That makes the already seriously large game world even more diverse: especially in winter you will not even recognize many places like before. With that, Forza Horizon 4 beautifully elaborates on the mud fest of yesteryear (the Storm Island DLC from part two) and the first encounter with snowfall (Blizzard Mountain in the third part).

It is a big icing on the cake that represents the virtual interpretation of Northern England and Scotland, including the centrally placed city of Edinburgh. In addition, you will also come across some serious mountains to climb on four wheels, as well as crushing walls and trees - although again it is not always clear which objects do and do not yield. That turns out to be especially annoying when you decide to literally deviate from the beaten track in the open game world or during a cross-country race. The veracity is hard to find at such moments when you drive a real supercar. Fortunately, the game regularly stimulates you to choose the right kind of car for the right surface, whether it is racing on the street or unpaved paths on fairly passable or rough terrain. Striking and unfortunate for enthusiasts: among the roughly 450 cars there are very few Toyotas and none Mitsubishis at all.

Overall, it is a bit annoying that Forza Horizon 4 takes quite a long time to introduce various facets by finishing all four seasons. Expect to be effectively held on a leash for about five to ten hours: although you can largely determine yourself which races you do, for example for online races, you are limited by your number of experience points. Only when you have done a lot of the races once, you are qualified for the "Horizon Roster" and you can really rip freely. This MMORPG-like approach is somewhat understandable, but it is confusing for those who just want to play the full game with or against friends. Very cool: you can drive around with a maximum of 71 others at the same time in the same session, so that the game world is just well enough filled.

Dynamic shadows
It is also not very difficult to be impressed by the graphics that this game offers you, the scenery and the cars look breathtaking. The beautiful views, cool light effects (especially in the dynamic day and night cycle) and acceptable damage models provide perhaps the most beautiful images that you can find in a racing game - certainly on the Xbox One X, on which 4K and HDR are available. On Microsoft's more powerful console, you can also choose to improve frame rate or the general display. In the latter case, it also produces a beautiful effect with dynamic shadows, which are created while the headlights of your car shine on other objects.

Forza Horizon 4 is unfortunately not completely without technical flaws. During my play sessions I encountered some weird freezes of a few seconds, both of image and engine noise. Furthermore, on the first day that Ultimate Edition owners were able to play, I had some trouble staying connected to the servers - although luckily you can just play the game offline. Fortunately, the visual and connectivity glitches aren't as bad as those associated with the launch of Forza Motorsport 7. The fact is that the studio adds new content on a regular basis, including two cars a week. In the long term, you can not only determine your own races (in terms of allowed cars and laps), but you can also set routes yourself.

Conclusion
Forza Horizon 4 is therefore not the most refined game, but certainly the most beautiful, most complete and above all most fun that the Forza franchise has produced. You play this game for pure driving pleasure in the most diverse game world that we have encountered in a racing game. Definitely not bad for a spin-off.

My true achievements profile on Forza Horizon 4 says that I have spent over 120 hours playing this game. That is a lot of time spent on one game. The funny thing is, I got my Xbox more than a year ago, and have had GamePass ever since it was available.

Still, it took the pandemic for me to discover this game. I like it. I like it a lot.

Racing Beautifully



The first thing to say about the game is just how gorgeous the game looks. The Xbox One hardware is 7 years old. Still, this game, is right there with RDR2 in terms of grand visuals. The cars are so detailed, the grass is so real, the sky just amazing and other cars, incredibly detailed.

All this with very little graphical failures or screen lock ups. Once in a while, the Xbox will struggle. Traffic cars, trees and sheep will appear a second late than they should. This happens so rarely and gracefully, you almost don’t mind.

Everything else is so smooth, you can forgive this.

Cars a Plenty



You are spoilt with choice. I decided to get the ultimate add on bundle, only a few hours in. The game is free with GamePass, and Ultimate bundle was on sale that day. I got bond cars, Lego cars and Fortune Island cars. On top of that you keep getting cars from Wheel Spin, completing track events and series events and doing online races.

Further, you have the auction house. You can just log in and get some really good cars without much effort. On top of all this, there are tunes from community which are readily available. No matter which car you have, you can just use it for everything from speed traps to drifting to danger zones.

Comfortably Online



For some one like me who does not enjoy online games, this game was a surprisingly welcome experience. I dabble in Fornite, every now and then, but, that’s about it. I am completely out of the online scene.

In this game, the online experience is non-intrusive. You see other players in the roads. If you want, you can race with them, interact with them. Otherwise, they are just there. You are just there. Nobody is disturbing nobody. Since we are all at home, it’s actually a welcome sight to see other cars with player tags on them.

The game is balanced extremely well in both online and solo (which is also online) mode. No matter who wins or losses, you always get that fun driving experience. The game has lot of casual gamer friendly features that take out any frustration I might have had with other racing games.

Final Note



The pandemic is taking its toll on everybody, including me. If not for the pandemic, I would not have re-installed this game. However, the pandemic is here to stay and this is a game that I found myself pouring hours on top of hours.

If you are like me, just buy the Ultimate bundle, get all the cars, use whatever assists you need, and just enjoy.

[Review Originally published on my medium post 'Forza Horizon 4 Review 2021'
(https://medium.com/the-sanguine-tech-trainer/forza-horizon-4...)]

My Forza Horizon 4 Review.

The Prolouge

Ok, so Forza is an open-world racing game made by Microsoft. I'm gonna be completely honest right now, after playing this game I really feel like playing another racing game. When you start the game you start at a cut-scene, then it traverses into 4 races matching the four seasons. Each race is a different type of race on different terrain and well, can i just say, this prologue/tutorial is one of the best i've ever seen in any game. The way it traverses through the seasons while telling a story and teaching you ther basics is something not many people can pull off and they did it expertly.

The Main Game

So the main aim of the game is to aquire a currency called credits to buy new cars and things to get xp for a sort of system they like to call influence. At the start after the prolouge you got through the seasons again, then you go through tournaments and so on, but the thing that really caught my eye way that I only played for around a week and so much stuff was added in just that time its incredible.

Downfalls

The only downfulls are that most of the cars that are good, you have to buy with real money. The only downfalls with achievement-hunters is that the achievements are'nt the easiest to get and are very time-consuming.

First Forza I Have Ever Played

Hey guys

Well... what can i say about FH4! Wow.

This is one of the first Forza games i have played as i am new to the Xbox Community as of this year and i thought i would leave a little review for the people who are looking to purchase the game. ( I can not compare them to the other FH, sorry

I have nothing bad to say about this game! Apart from the clunky sounds on some cars glitching out/sounding the same as other cars, But dont let that dishearten you!
Blueprints can be customised to suit you, you want to do 50 laps on Goliath? You can slap 50 laps on that beauty and grind away for some CP and Influence.
League tables is something i am interested in also within the FH community as this has made me meet some awesome people who, like me, love gaining achievements and building that garage up full of cars! The rewards are sweet as well!
No P2W aspects in this game at all, i was surprised that even the Horizon spins had no option to purchase and is all based on grinding levels.

Overall a short review as i am new to this kind of stuff,

9/10 from me.

Happy Gaming

Gets better EVERY time!

The Horizon series has always been a more accessible game than the Motorsport counterpart in the Forza line-up. First it was America, then Italy, then Australia and now Britain (my home country).

This game has taken all of the great things from the previous 3 instalments and got rid of everything that people found boring so all that was left was a solid engaging game on a beautiful backdrop of lush countryside.

There are plenty of cars as usual to select however there some manufactures not included (Mitsubishi for example). The Aston Martin line up and British car brands are in full swing as you'd imagine and a 007 James Bond car pack which is really cool for the fans of the movies!

The multiplayer can be both Co-op and PvP/Rivals so you can take your pick, everything goes towards your progress no matter what. The achievements are fairly easy however there is one that is time based (seasonal PR stunt).

Overall
Pros
- Lush landscape with more breakable objects than before
- Seasonal events and challenges so you can make the most of a limited event and rewards
- Fantastic multiplayer crossover with Xbox and Windows 10
- Best parts of all the Horizon series with the bad things removed
- 4K support at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps
- Game included in Xbox Game Pass

Cons
- Missing common manufacturer cars
- Servers are slow and unstable (at least currently)
- Sound glitches on the Xbox version
- Co-Op championships do not work correctly
- Lack of direction half way through the story (aimless)
- Treasure Maps cost real money and are needed without a guide to get the last barns and beauty spots.