Forza Horizon 4

One of the great triumphs of the Forza Horizon series – and FH4 is as great an example of it as any of the previous entries – is how it manages to make every type of car, every degree of horsepower, every variation in handling, feel thrilling.

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The slow trundle up the car class or short-lived novelty of an iconic but underpowered vehicle doesn’t happen in Forza Horizon 4. In this game every car has something to offer. From the most ridiculous hyper car to the little P50 single-seater with three wheels, everything is a joy with which to explore the tarmac.

This really comes down to two key elements. The most obvious is the handling of each car, which can be very different. Some have exquisite control and precision that makes you feel invincible on the track; others seem to slide around erratically, but if you can just tame them they rocket off with stunning speed and yet others play on the edge between chaos and precision, drifting around corners and nipping in and out of traffic. The second element though is the course design, which is brilliant throughout. There are often recommended classes for each race that are optimised for that style of vehicle, but so many of them are impressively versatile.

There are so many challenges to pick from at any given moment, but each offers its own appeal. There are actually more events than there needed to be to continue up through the ranks and progress through the race-by-race ranking system that has been introduced into this game. But every one of them has its appeal and can be explored or avoided as you see fit. We’re not always big fans of drifting, so we dipped in and out of that, but cross-country and dirt racing are an absolute blast, so we focused in on those a lot.