Last week I visited the McLaren Technology Centre for hands-on preview of a near final build of Forza Horizon 4 and took the opportunity to catch-up with Playground Games Creative Director; Ralph Fulton. Discussing the key features of the game and some of the new perhaps less well-known aspects that we can look forward to. Ralph discusses the structure of Forza Horizon 4 in terms of what they have learned from the previous titles, enabling players to discover the particular elements they enjoy most and play through the game in an approach and style of their choosing.
Another a big change comes with the introduction of a new online shared world, this all sounds very much like the Test Drive experience we’ve always wanted. Ralph comments that after around 6-7 hours of the prologue, players enter a shared world, though he points out “At this point if you don’t want to play online, we don’t force you to” he goes on to mention “but we do believe that your experience will be more fun and richer” noting your experience in the world will be a more vibrant and varied and that players will do things that are unexpected and unpredictive in a way that drivatars cannot match. This is an aspect I very much look forward to, indeed on my first play of the game, I found myself wanting to cruise around and explore in the very same way I did in Test Drive.
If you’re reading this it is likely you’ve already downloaded the demo, this giving a great indication of the quality of experience on offer. The level of graphical detail and richness of the environment is hugely impressive, Ralph notes the scale of the development team which has increased in size substantially, much of which was focused on developing this heavily detailed world through transformation of the different seasons, these all look stunning and I look forward to seeing how they evolve the gameplay. You can check out the full interview below.
Forza Horizon 4 Ultimate Edition is released on the 28th September with the core game going on sale on the 2nd October. Expect more preview coverage and a full review in the coming weeks, in the meantime I’m going to pop back onto the demo for a little explore of this gorgeous map and let us know your impressions of the demo in the forum.
For more information on Forza Horizon 4, check out our dedicated Game Page.