Forza Horizon 4 is a game I never wanted to play. It’s a racing title, one that’s renowned for being great, but it’s still a racing title. This is a genre that I always veer away from because I’m just not that interested in them. I appreciate that others love racing, particularly F1, and there are games that can cater to that. I really enjoy gardening, so I take every opportunity I get to replicate that in games. It’s what we all do, though I hope no one plays shooters because they love shooting others. However, I’ve recently been playing a bit of Forza Horizon 4 in preparation for the fifth game, and I have to say that I’ve fallen in love with it. It’s not because of the cars I get to drive, or even the game world, though that part is breathtaking. Instead, it’s about the focus on driving well over driving fast.
Most racing games I’ve played have this innate focus on pushing players to drive so fast they can’t see and take out other cars. Maybe I’ve just been playing the wrong games, but I’ve never really gotten on board with it. Sure, I love the Burnout franchise, but those games are built with destruction in mind. When other racers bring destruction into the core mechanics, it never really works, at least for me. It feels like the game is trying to do too much. Having beautiful cars and accurate stats, but also over-the-top explosions and crashes.
Forza Horizon 4 isn’t a game you can crash others in. Instead, it’s about following the racing line and avoiding contact with others as much as possible, just like in real life. If you crash, you sacrifice speed and direction, both of which can cost you a race. I’ve loved following the line that the game generates and using the skill I’m developing to work around the cars on the road. It gives me a much better feeling of success if I win a race and don’t touch another car at all. I think that I’ll definitely be playing the next game, but for now, this one, which is available on Xbox Game Pass, is an absolute joy.