Forza Horizon 4 swaps the dusty roads of Australia for the rolling hills of Britain, and it is the best the series has ever looked. The core loop is unchanged: you drive fast cars across a beautiful open world, entering races and stunts at your leisure. But the setting is not just a coat of paint. Seasonal weather changes the landscape, the driving physics, and even the races available to you. It is a bold, confident reinvention that makes the familiar feel fresh.
A Fictionalised Britain
The game is set in a fictionalised version of Britain, and it is a treat to tear through. You will blaze past stone cottages, through Edinburgh’s narrow streets, and down the sides of mountains in the Lake District. The map is dense with detail, and the Horizon festival’s cheerful anarchy is everywhere. The seasons are the headline act. Autumn turns the leaves amber, winter freezes lakes into drivable ice, spring brings mud and puddles, and summer dries everything out. Each week, the game rotates the season for all players, so the world feels alive and shared.
Winter Turns Lakes to Ice
The seasonal change is not cosmetic. Winter turns lakes into solid ice, letting you drive across them and discover new routes. Spring makes off-road sections slippery and treacherous. Races change their layouts, and new events appear that are only available in a specific season. This forces you to master different driving styles and car types. A car that is perfect for summer’s dry tarmac is a liability in winter’s snow. It is a clever system that gives the open world a sense of purpose and rhythm.
The driving itself remains peerless. Cars feel weighty and responsive, and the game walks a tightrope between arcade fun and simulation depth. You can drift through a corner with the handbrake or grip it out with a racing line. The game’s “Horizon” spirit means there is always a race, a speed trap, or a stunt zone nearby.
Racing Against a Train
Forza Horizon 4 is a shared-world game. You will see other players driving around, and you can team up for races or just cruise together. The game pushes you into this social space, and it works well. You can join a convoy with friends, and the game’s “Horizon Life” mode is a seamless blend of solo and multiplayer. The online integration is smooth, and it rarely gets in the way of the single-player experience. It is a technical achievement, and the game runs at a solid 60 frames per second on the Xbox One X.
The game’s progression is built around “Horizon Stories,” which are scripted missions that introduce you to different disciplines like stunt driving or off-road rallying. They are short and varied, and they do a good job of breaking up the racing. The main structure, however, is the festival. You earn influence by completing events, and that unlocks new races and showcases. The showcase events are the highlights: you race against a train, a hovercraft, or a plane. They are ridiculous and brilliant.
Over 450 Cars
The car list is enormous. There are over 450 cars, from classic Minis to modern hypercars like the Lamborghini Centenario. The game’s “Forzathon” events give you challenges to earn exclusive cars, and the auction house lets you buy and sell with other players. The car culture is deep, and you can spend hours tuning and painting your vehicles. The game is generous with its rewards, and you will rarely feel stuck or underpowered.
The audio is a mixed bag. The engines sound meaty and authentic, but the soundtrack is a bland mix of pop and electronic music that you will likely mute. The in-game radio stations are forgettable, and the voice acting in the stories is stiff.
The sheer breadth of content and the quality of the driving make Forza Horizon 4 a benchmark for the genre.
A Technical Showcase
The game looks stunning. The lighting is superb, and the dynamic weather effects are the best in the series. The draw distance is long, and the frame rate is stable. On PC, the game offers a wealth of graphics options, and it scales well to lower-end hardware. The load times are short, and the menus are snappy.
Forza Horizon 4 is a masterclass in open-world design. The seasonal change is a stroke of genius, and the shared world is a natural fit. It is a game that respects your time, offering constant rewards and a steady stream of new challenges. It is not without its flaws: the story is forgettable, and the soundtrack is weak. But these are minor quibbles in a game that is so generous and so much fun.
The Bottom Line
The game is a must-play for any racing fan and a compelling reason to own an Xbox One or a gaming PC. It is a high-water mark for the series and for the genre as a whole. It is a game that understands that driving fast is fun, and that a beautiful world makes it even better.
- Platforms: Xbox One, PC
- Developer: Playground Games
- Publisher: Microsoft Studios
- Release Date: October 2, 2018
- Car Count: Over 450
- Score: 9.2/10
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