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.