What Forza Horizon 6 must do to quell sceptics

I’ve just spent a week playing a preview build of Forza Horizon 6, and I have little doubt that Japan has what it takes to be the most diverse location in the series so far.

Exploring the rice fields, touge routes and cherry blossom-strewn roads was a delight, graphical fidelity a noticeable notch up from its 2021 predecessor. Light glints from water droplets as you dip your wheels into the sea, leaves fly up behind your tyres and the mountains in the distance are epic in their scale.

Yet, something felt missing. Actually, quite a few key elements.

We’re no strangers to testing unfinished games as Traxion. The process usually involves beta access on PC via Steam and a series of legal documents.

Horizon 6 was unique in that it could only be tested on an Xbox Series X|S console and locked to 30 frames per second. In the end, the game is so ravishingly pretty that such a restraint didn’t matter.

It was a quirk, however, that eschewed the usual process and perhaps prevented the game from looking its absolute best on a high-powered computer.

Even stranger was the long list of omissions. In essence, there was less than one hour of ‘true’ gameplay. Aside from the spectacular intro sequence emblematic of the Horizon franchise, it contained only three short career events, a handful of PR Stunts and some mostly pointless, at this stage, collectables.

Leading video game outlet IGN published a long series of exclusive content features, though not all have been well-received. One of these promotional elements focused on the new-for-Horizon 6 Rush events. There are two developers discussing the feature and gameplay of seemingly a full example.

But this was absent from the hands-on preview for other media and content creators. If you’ve already shown your hand, then why not allow critics to test it out?

I can’t wrap my head around this decision. I can appreciate why there’s no online multiplayer testing at this stage, but just over a month from the release of a full, AAA, Microsoft-backed title, previously unveiled core mechanics were blocked.

Several are no doubt lifted from prior instalments, such as Wheelspins, EventLab, the Autoshow, Barn Finds, the Festival Playlist and Car Mastery. Each is dripping with Forza Horizon vernacular and epitomises this particular flavour of open-world driving. 

Japan was also locked to the springtime, missing the spectacular snow drifts seen in the initial unveil trailer.

Most of the aforementioned features aren’t new. There are functional, known quantities unlikely to trip up the game during the preview period. So too, sadly, are vestiges of old car models, some of which are around a decade old.

I appreciate wanting to keep your powder dry and reserve some elements for future ‘campaign beats’, but I hope there are more new-to-the-series cars (there’s a distinct lack of true JDM models so far) and a separate overview of world-building The Estate soon. New multiplayer modes wouldn’t go amiss, either.

I just have this nagging feeling that the spectacular world, combined with progression heavily inspired by the earlier series entries, has been the main focus. Could it be that almost everything else is too iterative? Could Horizon 6 actually be a little bit of a miss?

I’m not yet convinced that it is a sparkling game throughout, simply because I was left a little frustrated by the preview limitations this close to release.

I’d love to know whether the Festival Playlist (weekly and monthly challenges) has been changed in any meaningful way. I’m also not sure Rush events can make up for a paltry two traditional Showcase events. I hope there’s a refresh of the multiplayer modes while I’m at it.

Despite talking ad nauseam about certain elements, there are, strangely, several relatively straightforward questions left unanswered at present.

However, even if, say, The Estate becomes another feature in a long list of Horizon ephemera and all the other main attributes are largely the same as its forebears, the wristband system could be the structure this series needs.

I say ‘needs’ from a subjective standpoint, as Horizon 5’s player numbers were objectively spectacular. So clearly, based on the numbers, you’d be forgiven for thinking that changing fundamental elements is a risk.

But for series loyalists, there is growing discontent that it isn’t innovating enough, and I can see that in our YouTube comments. Horizon used to be a bellwether for other similar games to follow, but over the past five years, titles such as The Crew Motorfest, JDM: Japanese Drift Master and Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown have come to market.

Motorfest can be, at times, too derivative of Microsoft’s attempts, but its environment is up there with the very best, and the Grand Race multiplayer mode is lighthearted fun.

JDM is far, far, from the finished rival, but it manages narrow village streets, something I have so far found lacking in Horizon 6. It’s something that Solar Crown also manages, and despite its many obvious shortcomings, there are now more varied mission types.

I still think this sixth edition will lead the genre, taking players on an enthralling journey, but I worry that it may not push the gameplay envelope enough in a time where competitors are snapping at its heels. Forza Horizon 6 could be too safe for its own good.

Which is why, when we provide our review in a few weeks, I hope the Playground Games creation team has actually kept something back in reserve for good reason – that the returning wristband system delivers a rewarding sense of advancement engrossing enough in its own right, irrespective of the location. Here’s hoping…