Heading into its sixth entry, Playground Games has established a strong but now very recognizable Forza formula with its open-world racing series. Its Horizon series has occupied a space that no other in the genre has managed to claw back, offering the freedom to explore condensed versions of captivating locales behind the wheel of hundreds of different cars, from lowly commuting hatchbacks to concept cars pushing the limits of ground speed. In Forza Horizon 6, that formula doesn't seem to be changing all that much, leaving the much-requested Japanese setting to do a lot of the heavy lifting--a challenge that it has no problem rising to in the opening hours.
Our hands-on early look at what Forza Horizon 6 has to offer was limited. Alongside the game's opening prologue, the preview build featured just three races, split between a road race, cross country sprint, and trail race. Most of the map was open to explore, but with only a few dynamic events, consisting of just a handful of speed traps, drift zones, trailblazer sprints, and other familiar markings of the series. Collectibles, such as the returning bonus boards and new, region-specific mascots, were available in full, however, showing just how dense the map can be when you're hunting for all of them across your journey. Still, outside of open access to the largest map in Forza Horizon history, there wasn't much to provide a read on the quality of this entry's overall racing.
Even with a limited slice of Forza Horizon 6 on offer though, it's clear where Playground Games is trying to shake things up. The game opens up in the series' typical climactic fashion, throwing you around different scenarios and widely different cars as you're introduced to the various locales you'll be whizzing through over the next couple of hours. It's the type of showcase that Forza Horizon has perfected over the years, but unlike previous entries, this introduction doesn't end with your entry into the Horizon Festival. Instead, the camera pulls back into a sparsely furnished garage, the festival playing on a nearby TV, and all the horsepower you were in command of just seconds ago ripped away.
Forza Horizon 6 doesn't instantly put you into the shoes of a legendary driver like before. Instead, you play as an up-and-coming enthusiast who has to fight for a spot in the festival, moving up the tier ladder and building your repertoire of cars as you go. You're given three capable but entry-level cars to get started with, each with its own strengths for the different event types ahead. Each event gives you the opportunity to purchase new eligible cars before starting, with balanced pricing preventing you from putting yourself behind the wheel of a Ferrari or McLaren within the opening few hours. It's a welcome change that should add more weight to your progression through the Horizon Festival when compared to previous entries, and I hope that that feeling of clawing your way to stardom is sustained as you continue climbing up the ranks across hours of racing.
While progressing through the Horizon Festival this time around is slightly different, the events that you'll participate in are very familiar, at least based on the very few offered in this preview. You can expect high-octane point-to-point sprints across varied terrain, cramped lapped races in traffic-filled streets, and cross-country skirmishes with loads of opportunities to launch your car into the air. Taking part in dynamic world events also contributes towards your progression, including lap-based time trials and straight-line drag-race events that you can start just by wandering into them. Even with so few on offer, it makes Forza Horizon 6's world feel primed for racing around every corner and rewarding regardless of what you choose to do, even if all of its activities are of a flavor that you've already decided if you like or not.
What it lacks in surprising racing thus far, it more than makes up for with its setting. Japan has been a dream locale for Forza Horizon ever since the series started gaining popularity, and it's confounding that it's taken this long for Playground Games to get here. But it's a world that is lovingly crafted based on my experience. Like previous entries, it condenses many of the country's most eye-catching sights into a small, digestible map, letting you race through the twisty avenues of Tokyo City and plow through a countryside littered with rice fields just a few minutes from each other. Playground Games has made a point of mentioning the numerous consultants it has brought onto the team to help craft an authentic and accurate representation of Japan that is also exhilarating to race through. Without having visited the country personally, I can't talk to its accuracy, but spending hours exploring the massive world on offer certainly hit all the notes I was expecting from this alluring setting.
Forza Horizon has always managed to successfully distill the best parts of the regions it visits in a smaller, curated space, but Japan feels like its most diverse yet. You can be racing through narrow rural streets, zipping past older homesteads and wide, open farmlands, before quickly, but naturally, transitioning into the highway-heavy streets of Tokyo City, which truly comes to life when you catch it during a heavy downpour at night. As I casually explored the hundreds of roads on offer, I found myself breezing through dense bamboo forests, delicately traversing snowy mountain passes with dangerously twisting pathways, navigating the 90-degree turns of the shipping container-laden docks on the outskirts of the city, and enjoying an ocean-side sunset cruise on a wide highway. Forza Horizon 6 is rich with picturesque views that invite you to slow down every now and then to appreciate the amount of detail around you, but it manages to look just as good when they're blurring together as you race on by.
The world not only looks good but feels alive, too. Streets were suitably populated with slow-moving traffic and energetic racers alike, washing away concerns from recent gameplay showcases with empty streets. Standard trips from one race to another were often accentuated by the flutter of cherry blossoms behind my exhaust as I whipped around a twisty path, or the surprise of a silent bullet train sprinting past as I raced parallel to its tracks. You're getting an intimate view of Japan with Forza Horizon 6 without the presence of the Forza festival getting in the way. Even without all the dynamic racing opportunities in place yet, this world has all the spectacle you need.
I spent a lot of time just exploring Forza Horizon 6's world without a waypoint on the horizon or events to be distracted by, and I was surprised by how therapeutic and engaging the experience was. It goes to show just how much attention you can draw through a setting alone, letting the backdrop do most of the work when there's little more than weaving through traffic to focus on. There's going to be a lot more to the final product, with many, many more races, new car meets, and even more ways to enjoy Japanese racing culture at its best. But even with all of that stripped away, Forza Horizon 6 is delivering on its setting alone. And after waiting all this time, I'm so excited to see what other surprises it has in store.
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Our hands-on early look at what Forza Horizon 6 has to offer was limited. Alongside the game's opening prologue, the preview build featured just three races, split between a road race, cross country sprint, and trail race. Most of the map was open to explore, but with only a few dynamic events, consisting of just a handful of speed traps, drift zones, trailblazer sprints, and other familiar markings of the series. Collectibles, such as the returning bonus boards and new, region-specific mascots, were available in full, however, showing just how dense the map can be when you're hunting for all of them across your journey. Still, outside of open access to the largest map in Forza Horizon history, there wasn't much to provide a read on the quality of this entry's overall racing.
Even with a limited slice of Forza Horizon 6 on offer though, it's clear where Playground Games is trying to shake things up. The game opens up in the series' typical climactic fashion, throwing you around different scenarios and widely different cars as you're introduced to the various locales you'll be whizzing through over the next couple of hours. It's the type of showcase that Forza Horizon has perfected over the years, but unlike previous entries, this introduction doesn't end with your entry into the Horizon Festival. Instead, the camera pulls back into a sparsely furnished garage, the festival playing on a nearby TV, and all the horsepower you were in command of just seconds ago ripped away.
Forza Horizon 6 doesn't instantly put you into the shoes of a legendary driver like before. Instead, you play as an up-and-coming enthusiast who has to fight for a spot in the festival, moving up the tier ladder and building your repertoire of cars as you go. You're given three capable but entry-level cars to get started with, each with its own strengths for the different event types ahead. Each event gives you the opportunity to purchase new eligible cars before starting, with balanced pricing preventing you from putting yourself behind the wheel of a Ferrari or McLaren within the opening few hours. It's a welcome change that should add more weight to your progression through the Horizon Festival when compared to previous entries, and I hope that that feeling of clawing your way to stardom is sustained as you continue climbing up the ranks across hours of racing.
While progressing through the Horizon Festival this time around is slightly different, the events that you'll participate in are very familiar, at least based on the very few offered in this preview. You can expect high-octane point-to-point sprints across varied terrain, cramped lapped races in traffic-filled streets, and cross-country skirmishes with loads of opportunities to launch your car into the air. Taking part in dynamic world events also contributes towards your progression, including lap-based time trials and straight-line drag-race events that you can start just by wandering into them. Even with so few on offer, it makes Forza Horizon 6's world feel primed for racing around every corner and rewarding regardless of what you choose to do, even if all of its activities are of a flavor that you've already decided if you like or not.
What it lacks in surprising racing thus far, it more than makes up for with its setting. Japan has been a dream locale for Forza Horizon ever since the series started gaining popularity, and it's confounding that it's taken this long for Playground Games to get here. But it's a world that is lovingly crafted based on my experience. Like previous entries, it condenses many of the country's most eye-catching sights into a small, digestible map, letting you race through the twisty avenues of Tokyo City and plow through a countryside littered with rice fields just a few minutes from each other. Playground Games has made a point of mentioning the numerous consultants it has brought onto the team to help craft an authentic and accurate representation of Japan that is also exhilarating to race through. Without having visited the country personally, I can't talk to its accuracy, but spending hours exploring the massive world on offer certainly hit all the notes I was expecting from this alluring setting.
Forza Horizon has always managed to successfully distill the best parts of the regions it visits in a smaller, curated space, but Japan feels like its most diverse yet. You can be racing through narrow rural streets, zipping past older homesteads and wide, open farmlands, before quickly, but naturally, transitioning into the highway-heavy streets of Tokyo City, which truly comes to life when you catch it during a heavy downpour at night. As I casually explored the hundreds of roads on offer, I found myself breezing through dense bamboo forests, delicately traversing snowy mountain passes with dangerously twisting pathways, navigating the 90-degree turns of the shipping container-laden docks on the outskirts of the city, and enjoying an ocean-side sunset cruise on a wide highway. Forza Horizon 6 is rich with picturesque views that invite you to slow down every now and then to appreciate the amount of detail around you, but it manages to look just as good when they're blurring together as you race on by.
The world not only looks good but feels alive, too. Streets were suitably populated with slow-moving traffic and energetic racers alike, washing away concerns from recent gameplay showcases with empty streets. Standard trips from one race to another were often accentuated by the flutter of cherry blossoms behind my exhaust as I whipped around a twisty path, or the surprise of a silent bullet train sprinting past as I raced parallel to its tracks. You're getting an intimate view of Japan with Forza Horizon 6 without the presence of the Forza festival getting in the way. Even without all the dynamic racing opportunities in place yet, this world has all the spectacle you need.
I spent a lot of time just exploring Forza Horizon 6's world without a waypoint on the horizon or events to be distracted by, and I was surprised by how therapeutic and engaging the experience was. It goes to show just how much attention you can draw through a setting alone, letting the backdrop do most of the work when there's little more than weaving through traffic to focus on. There's going to be a lot more to the final product, with many, many more races, new car meets, and even more ways to enjoy Japanese racing culture at its best. But even with all of that stripped away, Forza Horizon 6 is delivering on its setting alone. And after waiting all this time, I'm so excited to see what other surprises it has in store.
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