Forza Horizon 4 Brings All Four Seasons to the United Kingdom

[karaokequeen3]

By far the best game out of the Xbox keynote last night. That FH4 will support 60FPS on Xbox One X might be the thing to finally push me to get the console. Also, getting some serious PGR2 vibes racing sports cars around Edinburgh. And this available day one on Xbox Game Pass. What's not to love?

It's no wonder MGS finally snapped up Playground Games as a result. Well done lads.

 

[Moglet]

Wait a minute, they got sheep in this game?

SOLD!!

Some of the gameplay they showed had someone driving through a field and the sheep running away all around them I'm loving the look of this game, I might have to get the Ultimate Edition on pre-order.

 

[Walkinshaw]

Looks really good

 

[TheNuvolari]

Four seasons you say? Let me just leave this here.

Spoiler

By the way, how big is the map? 1:15? Sorry I'm too lazy to check it. Looks really good.

 

[WarriusZero]

For the 1st time in a long while I could be tempted to put aside VR and wheel and enjoy a bit of arcade. This is really impressive looking, I want to see how much of Cumbria they are including.
However, the road surface is far too smooth. Where are the potholes?...

 

[UKMikey]

Four seasons you say? Let me just leave this here.

Spoiler

By the way, how big is the map? 1:15? Sorry I'm too lazy to check it. Looks really good.

Spoiler

I think they said the map is FH3-sized but because of the seasonal changes contains four times as many assets. Hopefully it'll be more complex than Australia as well.

 

[vinz7531]

Hi,
I was quite put aside from FH2-3 due to the fact road cars are not slowed in offroad. I've seen people offroading at 250kph with centenarios...
Or shortcut every corner of a race without loosing speed.
I hope this time they with slow road cars in off road.
They do that in Need for speed payback and The crew 2.

Vinz

 

[Tyger]

Hi,
I was quite put aside from FH2-3 due to the fact road cars are not slowed in offroad. I've seen people offroading at 250kph with centenarios...
Or shortcut every corner of a race without loosing speed.
I hope this time they with slow road cars in off road.
They do that in Need for speed payback and The crew 2.

Vinz

Agreed, that always puts me off more arcadey games like this too, along with the ability to smash through all manner of lamp posts and other roadside objects without even slowing down, let alone incurring damage to the car. I've always found it strange how devs go for that, and would love it if you actually had to avoid hitting things and leaving the asphalt.

 

[Eunosthedeer]

I am definetly curious to see how the map will work.. Will it cover the whole of the uk or just the north?

If I remember the Australian map was shrunken. In reality it would take you a whole day to drive from cretin places to the other.

I somewhat expect the same in H4, only 5 minutes to drive from Dover to Glasgow

 

[UKMikey]

I'd like to know how often the seasons change. I'm betting the new Blueprint/Course Creator option allows you to set time of year as an option which'll automatically change in the same way that time of day does once the race is over.

 

[vinz7531]

Agreed, that always puts me off more arcadey games like this too, along with the ability to smash through all manner of lamp posts and other roadside objects without even slowing down, let alone incurring damage to the car. I've always found it strange how devs go for that, and would love it if you actually had to avoid hitting things and leaving the asphalt.

The other problem with not slowing while offroad is that it removes the use of roads, thus flattening the map in terms of gameplay. Which is sad considering how much effort they put in creating the landscape.

 

[CSMDuty11]

Four seasons you say? Let me just leave this here.

Spoiler

By the way, how big is the map? 1:15? Sorry I'm too lazy to check it. Looks really good.

Alternatively...

Spoiler

 

[mekonrider]

This game really does come under the fantasy genre if you think you can drive fast on UK roads.

A)Most of the UK's roads are utter garbage now. My TT is just a teeth rattler on most roads, town roads near me are like something that's been carpet bombed and almost unbearable.

B)I will find it hard to detach from the stark reality that you can't really drive fast in the UK anymore. Too much traffic and too many cameras. At least when it was set in other countries I could perhaps revel in ignorance. The next GTA could have been set in the UK, outrunning cops through chav estates etc.

C)Looks hi-res but not particulary life-like. At bit like Assetto Corsa follow up, detailed but fake looking.

N.B. Bonus disappointment - I wanted Japan.

 

[MagpieRacer]

I pretty much must be one of the only people who didn’t want Japan.

 

[lancia delta hf]

Not interested in Horizon but this looks amazing with the environment being in the UK. First one actually wish was on the PS4.

 

[yabiggoose]

I pretty much must be one of the only people who didn’t want Japan.

No I also didn't care for that idea.

 

[Imari]

The other problem with not slowing while offroad is that it removes the use of roads, thus flattening the map in terms of gameplay. Which is sad considering how much effort they put in creating the landscape.

Or you could just use the roads if that suits the gameplay that you want. That's what I do for the most part. I like learning the roads and having corners to master.

 

[ImaRobot]

Or you could just use the roads if that suits the gameplay that you want. That's what I do for the most part. I like learning the roads and having corners to master.

While true, I feel the amount of memorable roads are far and few in between with the focus on being so open. It has kind of defeated the purpose of actually trying to stick to the road, for the most part, especially when it came to most of the races. I feel that more restriction can be put on the barriers of some roads. As soon as the game got more open, the roads got less and less interesting, in my opinion.

 

[Imari]

While true, I feel the amount of memorable roads are far and few in between with the focus on being so open. It has kind of defeated the purpose of actually trying to stick to the road, for the most part, especially when it came to most of the races. I feel that more restriction can be put on the barriers of some roads. As soon as the game got more open, the roads got less and less interesting, in my opinion.

Huh. I thought there was more than a few memorable roads in FH3. The run up the coast to Surfers is excellent, as is the back road from the Outback to Surfers. There's a couple of good routes through the rainforest to the Outback. Obviously the massive straight highway is good fun. There's some great rally loops in the forest near the Yarra. I'm not a big fan of Surfers itself.

Then there's Blizzard Mountain which is pretty much awesome all over. And Hot Wheels where you're actually literally required to be "on the road" for the vast majority.

Again, if you guys don't want to stick to the roads, that's for you to decide. It's not a super realistic game and it doesn't particularly pretend to be, it's clearly designed to sacrifice realism for fun when required. You can avoid the unrealistic parts or you can not. It's the closest it gets to the best of both worlds, but it does require just a little bit of self-discipline (or a little bit of dedication to actually play the game the way you want to).

IMO, if you want to drive on the roads but you don't care enough to actually do so when given the option, you didn't really want to drive on the roads as much as you thought. You'd be just as annoyed if you were made to go the long way to places on tarmac and pay credits to have your Aventador unbogged for the umpteenth time.

 

[ImaRobot]

Huh. I thought there was more than a few memorable roads in FH3. The run up the coast to Surfers is excellent, as is the back road from the Outback to Surfers. There's a couple of good routes through the rainforest to the Outback. Obviously the massive straight highway is good fun. There's some great rally loops in the forest near the Yarra. I'm not a big fan of Surfers itself.

Then there's Blizzard Mountain which is pretty much awesome all over. And Hot Wheels where you're actually literally required to be "on the road" for the vast majority.

I very much liked the cruises through the rainforest, and I also felt the roads the the Blizzard expansion where nice. I just would like to see them outside of the snow as well as I think that would have been those memorable roads that I was looking for.

I missed the Hot Wheels expansion, however. That is one I've wanted to dabble with but never spent the money on it.

Again, if you guys don't want to stick to the roads, that's for you to decide. It's not a super realistic game and it doesn't particularly pretend to be, it's clearly designed to sacrifice realism for fun when required. You can avoid the unrealistic parts or you can not. It's the closest it gets to the best of both worlds, but it does require just a little bit of self-discipline (or a little bit of dedication to actually play the game the way you want to).

I'm not so concerned with the realism of it, but it just seemed like a good majority of the races had less street oriented tracks, and more mixed, or mostly offroad. I feel like Horizon 1 had a good mix of how I would have preferred it, as that game wasn't as "free" as they are now.

IMO, if you want to drive on the roads but you don't care enough to actually do so when given the option, you didn't really want to drive on the roads as much as you thought. You'd be just as annoyed if you were made to go the long way to places on tarmac and pay credits to have your Aventador unbogged for the umpteenth time.

I think the thing is, when it came to actually using the multiplayer segment of the game, that suggestion kind of flies out the window. I can very much be the one to try to stay on the roads, but I'll be out of place with the rest of the racers in the game.

The issue also becomes apparent with the lackluster Blueprint feature, when creating your own point to point race. You don't really get to choose the route, just the starting and ending point, so most of the time it would be a good mix of offroad in there as well. If I'm just cruising at my own leisure, outside of races, yes you're very much right, I can get that sorted my self, but with what the game is actually throwing at you, it makes it a bit more difficult to do that. I think what I'm looking for is an option that allows you to select something like "stay on tarmac" when creating a route, or when joining multiplayer races.

 

[TokoTurismo]

I pretty much must be one of the only people who didn’t want Japan.

You're not the only one, since I don'r care for it either. I used to before, but changed my mind after because I'm sure only them JDM bros and drift kids want it.

I'm glad PG didn't listen to them because they would have still found something to complain about anyways. The UK looks freakin' gorgeous (not saying Japan isn't either, cause I like it as well), especially with different seasons!

 

[warp9engage]

How will the seasons work for those who play offline? Will you just have to stick with a season, pick a season?...

 

[Northstar]

How will the seasons work for those who play offline? Will you just have to stick with a season, pick a season?...

I’m guessing there will be a preset number of in-game days for each season.

 

[warp9engage]

I’m guessing there will be a preset number of in-game days for each season.

Yeah, probably that.

 

[AudiMan2011]

I pretty much must be one of the only people who didn’t want Japan.

I didn't want Japan either.

 

[DDastardly00]

I like the UK setting, should be fun to drive around.
I like the dynamic weather and seasons.
I like the inclusion of the TVR Cebera speed 12 but can we please have the Griffith 500?

I hope the map is at least 30% bigger than Horizon 3's is.
I hope any Map expansions (DLC) are tacked on to the map seamlessly, no load screens.

Please stop with The Crew 2 comparisons, not only are they different games, but one game doesn't have to 'beat ' other other one, this isn't a boxing match.

 

[Imari]

I think the thing is, when it came to actually using the multiplayer segment of the game, that suggestion kind of flies out the window. I can very much be the one to try to stay on the roads, but I'll be out of place with the rest of the racers in the game.

The issue also becomes apparent with the lackluster Blueprint feature, when creating your own point to point race. You don't really get to choose the route, just the starting and ending point, so most of the time it would be a good mix of offroad in there as well. If I'm just cruising at my own leisure, outside of races, yes you're very much right, I can get that sorted my self, but with what the game is actually throwing at you, it makes it a bit more difficult to do that. I think what I'm looking for is an option that allows you to select something like "stay on tarmac" when creating a route, or when joining multiplayer races.

Fair point. I had a few races online before I gave it up as a bad job. You're right, it's very much a free for all type of multiplayer and that doesn't work at all when there's something specific that you're looking for. You play the way the game tells you or you don't bother. I too was disappointed that races largely turned into "point yourself at the finish, floor it and hope you land any big jumps cleanly".

I'll be one of those that will be turning off their multiplayer system in FH4. The likelihood of finding fun and cooperation as opposed to douchey trolls is too low, and I'd rather just cruise at my own pace and enjoy. It's a shame as they sound like they're putting a fair bit of work into it, but I just don't see how it could add to my appreciation of the game given what I know about the average behaviour of an internet denizen - present company excluded of course.

 

[ImaRobot]

Fair point. I had a few races online before I gave it up as a bad job. You're right, it's very much a free for all type of multiplayer and that doesn't work at all when there's something specific that you're looking for. You play the way the game tells you or you don't bother. I too was disappointed that races largely turned into "point yourself at the finish, floor it and hope you land any big jumps cleanly".

I'll be one of those that will be turning off their multiplayer system in FH4. The likelihood of finding fun and cooperation as opposed to douchey trolls is too low, and I'd rather just cruise at my own pace and enjoy. It's a shame as they sound like they're putting a fair bit of work into it, but I just don't see how it could add to my appreciation of the game given what I know about the average behaviour of an internet denizen - present company excluded of course.

Yeah, I tend to stay away from the online segments of the game as well. I think if they can just put more effort into the blueprint feature, it would have been everything I needed to get what I wanted out of the game. I really don't mind the offroad segments, but they always seem to be front and center compared to what I was looking for.

I'm really just looking for a nice set of twisty roads, that have some barriers so that way even if I do race someone online, they'd have to use the same route as well. If they can manage to incorporate something like that into the next game, while still retaining the openness they have in these games, then I think that would be the best of both worlds. That, and the option to have races that revolve around certain race-types that you're able to filter, something similar to the server filters in the BattleField games - I want offroading today? Cool let me select that. Feeling like staying on Tarmac? We got you. Want a mix of everything? dont change any options and you'll be good.

I'll likely turn off that multiplayer system as well. I didn't like it one bit in Need for Speed 15', and even though the other cars will ghost on impact, I think that will take away from the game just as much as letting them ram you. I remember I couldn't even get around to taking pictures in NFS becuase it was running in real time while in photomode, so I would get rammers mess up very often. The internet can be a ridiculous place, but you'll also more than likely find a gem in the rough I have my fair share of roughness, I admit though

All this might also be stemming from my general lack of interest in the game as of late as well. I haven't really wen't "Wow" in a while, with the series.

 

[Imari]

All this might also be stemming from my general lack of interest in the game as of late as well. I haven't really wen't "Wow" in a while, with the series.

I have, but I think it's because I've been so much less exposed. I don't have an X1, so I've only started getting back into Forza with the PC releases. So FH3 was a massive step up for me from FH1, and just last week I got FM7 which is an ENORMOUS step up from FM4. The Forza games I played on 360 are so old now.

I do get the general weariness with the franchise though. The regular releases and the incremental steps each time do make it all very samey. It's only when you get forced out for a while like I did that you get to see just how far they've come. Both FH3 and FM7 are pretty stellar examples of their particular game types.

P.S. Buy Hot Wheels, get drunk and prepare to giggle. It's pure stupidity, but the best kind of stupid. It's that kind of epic ridiculousness that Horizon does so well.

 

[PzR Slim]

Inside Xbox on at the moment. Scottish Highlands, Edinburgh, Welsh Valleys, Yorkshire Moors, Lake District, Bamburgh Castle (which is on Northumberland Coast not too far from me), all mashed up.