Tag: Multiplayer

After starting our journey in the US, then through to southern France and Italy, heading down into the Australian outback, coming back to Europe for a slice of the UK, then across the Atlantic into Mexico, we now find ourselves in the beautiful country of Japan for the 6th instalment of Horizon.

Welcome to Japan

You start your time in Japan as a guest visiting your friend but find yourself without a car. Well, you’re in luck; you get given three good starter cars, which isn’t annoying at all to the progression of the game and something that is always slandered in these titles…. Nevertheless! It’s a decent start and I feel like this time, Playground has really taken the progression aspect into account more. From the get-go, you do feel like you’re earning your cars more and all the credits that come along with it! Most importantly is the amount of wheel spins you get given. Yes, the wheel is back! But for GOD SAKE, Playground just take the fucking horns, emotes and clothing out of them! You have given us less spins, but now a spin might still land me a new horn that plays camp town fucking racers, YAY! Forza 7 better fix that.

A Map Worth Getting Lost In

As always in a Horizon game, exploration is such a huge part and my god, what a breathtaking map. I will say as well that my entire experience of this game has been on my ROG Ally and it’s just gorgeous. The usual suspects are out to play. You have your roads to find, your boards to smash, and your breakables to find. Horizon 6 is split into ten regions and each one is special in its own way. Whether you’re in Tokyo centre or up in the snowy mountains wishing you’d chosen a four-wheel drive car, you can guarantee that every single drive you do will ultimately need you to be able to handle all terrain and also not be afraid to tank through every tree and see what insane jump you can find (also a bonus if you happen upon a 5,000 xp smashable sign).

Playground has definitely taken a very solid approach to the culture of Japan as well. The only tree you can’t decimate at 200mph is the cherry blossom due to their cultural stance in Japan. The world is packed with life and NPC vehicles who seem to be programmed for one thing and one thing only, indicating into my fucking lane at the very last second. My favourite part though is the stance you can take on push bikes. I found an entire section under a bridge that was just full of push bikes. As an avid hater of them, I ran through the lot in my Mustang and went about my day. It was rather enjoyable.

Classic Horizon Chaos

The races are the same as always. You have your Road, dirt & cross country, and they are shaken up very well in this instalment of Forza. I tended to use the game’s suggestions a lot with regards to what I should do next, so it gives a good mix of racing, sightseeing, and also all the trials as well: speed, drift, trailblazer, launch. A wonderful variety has me never finding it getting stagnant or repetitive, and I’m now at about 29 hours played. (I’ve only got about another 80 roads to find.) The collectible whore in me gets reeled in far too easily to this kind of stuff.

Let’s talk about an elephant in the room with this one. There’s been quite a bit of fuss about the auto-drive function you can use. Here’s an idea: just don’t fucking use it. It’s optional. I never even felt the need to do it, hell I didn’t even know Horizon had a fast travel until this one because why would you fast travel?! Just don’t use it. OPTIONAL MEANS OPTIONAL.

After every section of the game, you earn a new wristband, and your objective is to get the golden wristband and get to Legends Island. The Horizon events are some of the best there’s ever been. You race against a giant fucking mech! Two jets, you’re doing a time trail whilst a rocket is launching. The jumps, the views, the feeling of sheer adrenaline whilst you’re racing all these different things is just true Forza formula, and it’s enough to make me keep coming back for more.