Forza Horizon 6 review: The best open-world arcade racer ever made

The term GOAT (greatest of all time) is a term that's become incredibly overused and feels as though it's lost a lot of its original impact.

It's now usually used to refer to something that's pretty good instead of genuinely being the one thing or person in its field that's far better than everything or everyone else.

But that impact should not be lost on Forza Horizon 6. That's because this open-world arcade racing game set in a stunning Japan setting is, quite simply, the best of its kind in this genre.

Arguably, its predecessor Forza Horizon 5 already held the crown, but that gives Forza Horizon 6 the unenviable task of having to follow up with something even better.

And developer Playground Games has absolutely smashed it out of the park with the successor.

Some of the events in Forza Horizon 6 are outrageous but stupendous / Playground Games, Xbox Game Studios

Japan is the playground for Forza Horizon 6 and what a setting it is. As well as a brilliantly realised and lively version of Tokyo, it includes varied vistas, twisty forest tracks, the stunning surroundings of Mount Fuji and more.

Forza Horizon 6 doesn't reinvent the wheel when compared to Forza Horizon 5 - but it doesn't need to when the predecessor is already so good. Take everything that's good about Forza Horizon 5, refine it, put it in Japan and add more outrageous events to compete in? That's a winning recipe in my book.

This time around, a key refinement in Forza Horizon 6 is that it's more split between racing and exploration in terms of progression. These two elements were somewhat intertwined when playing through Forza Horizon 5 and there were times when I played that when I just wanted to race instead of being forced to complete certain events by exploring and discovering things.

It feels as though Forza Horizon 6 recognises this as there's a split in the campaign between Horizon Festival and Discover Japan. Horizon Festival features all the racing and is the primary focus whereas Discover Japan is all about discovery with both having their own set of wristbands to work towards.

Horizon Festival progress unlocks more events and Discover Japan progression reveals more of the setting's secrets to you, such as hidden cars and places of interest. It covers pretty much everything outside of racing but having said that, with it being a driving game, it covers jobs such as being a delivery driver, going on tours across Japan with friends and more.

And I can't get enough of this split. Because Discover Japan is never forced and is tracked completely separately, I actually found myself engaging with it more as I've been given the freedom to explore on my terms.

As someone that just usually likes to go and race, I actually found myself going off the beaten path more to find new routes, smash through XP boards and mascots, discover rare supercars and more.

And this is a key component in what makes Forza Horizon 6 feel so satisfying to progress and play through. However you want to play, the answer is simply 'yes'.

Japan is a brilliant setting for Forza Horizon 6 and there's lots to find and explore / Playground Games, Xbox Game Studios

On the racing side of things, there are all the events you'd expect from a Forza Horizon game, such as road races, night-time street fights, dirt events, cross country skirmishes and more and it constantly feels varied, along with some absolutely outrageous events which I won't spoil here.

There are PR stunts too such as speed traps, trailblazer gates and drift zones. Horizon Life events allow you to immediately start challenges such as time trails and drag races, competing for the top spot on a leaderboard instead of going head-to-head directly.

It's so fun thrashing your favourite cars across different terrains and working out what vehicles suit you and which ones don't. Each vehicle feels genuinely different and inputs feel a lot more responsive in Forza Horizon 6 than previous entries, which helps to make each car feel unique in its own granular way.

Speaking of the cars themselves, the selection is superb, spanning decades and decades of iconic motors with the widest selection ever in a Forza Horizon game at 550. It feels as though developers have really understood how big car culture is in Japan specifically with its selection too.

As before, you start with lower class vehicles before working your way up, earning credits along the way to purchase more powerful cars as well as the ones you can find in the world.

There are cars that can be found at a discount when exploring and even hidden supercars where you're given a picture as to where they are and have to find it. I found myself spending a lot of time doing this as the rewards are completely worth it.

As ever, Forza Horizon can be played solo or multiplayer with XP being tied to your account in the same way, however you want to approach it. I managed to have a 90 minute session along with some of the devs and fellow reviewers and I couldn't stop grinning like a Cheshire cat throughout.

I'm someone that likes to play solo usually but I couldn't get enough of trying to get the edge over fellow competitors, especially in spec racing when everyone is in the same car and it's all about skill. These delivered the most intense but, for me, fun races.

Forza Horizon 6 has an impressive variety of events / Playground Games, Xbox Game Studios

With racing games, on-track and the feel is where it matters most and Forza Horizon 6 absolutely nails it on this front. It doesn't hurt either that the game is stunning on the whole too - but there are some small caveats to this, especially on Series S.

Let's get my small gripes about Forza Horizon 6 out of the way. The character creation is quite straightforward by modern standards and character models look quite simplistic.

I also noticed that if you're driving through fields (because why not if it's quicker to get from A to B?) then foliage doesn't really react to you tearing through it and it can actually appear tearing through vehicles. During night-time street races, the smoke that guides your way for each checkpoint is really pixellated too and can take you out of the immersion. Destination markers can strobe too.

But aside from those points, the cars look fantastic with insane interior detailing for each vehicle, the scenery is spectacular and playing on performance mode (as I always prefer having that smoother frame rate when the action is constant), I did not notice any frame rate dips whatsoever.

To note, on Series S, performance mode is 1080p at 60fps (frames per second) and quality mode is 1440p at 30fps. On Series X, performance mode is an upscaled 4K at 60fps and quality mode is a native 4K at 30fps.

The game cycles between different seasons and they all look fantastic and varied. Rain plays a huge factor too and looks stunning, also having an effect on how your car behaves. Day rolls into night and back again as well.

You can also buy estates and build freely in different settings and communities, offering players a great way to express themselves if this is something they want to do by creating the perfect property and car showcase to share with friends and other players.

There are nine radio stations in total spanning an eclectic mix of genres, including house, drum and bass and hip-hop. Driving along when that perfect track comes on never grows tiresome, especially with the wide variety of songs you'll come across.

Forza Horizon 6 is the best open-world arcade racing game ever made / Playground Games, Xbox Game Studios

Forza Horizon 6 is, quite simply, the best open-world arcade racing game ever made. Throughout my time with it, I couldn't help but think about just how much fun it is, grinning from ear to ear while thrashing cars around Japan and its different regions.

It even got me to organically explore and want to discover every nook, cranny and collectible this game has to offer which isn't usually something I spend my time doing in these kind of games. Normally I just want to race.

Speaking of which, the racing is superb, especially in multiplayer, and the variety of things to do is nothing short of astounding. Forza Horizon 6 looks great on the whole and performs as you'd expect with the odd caveat here and there.

While no game is ever fully perfect, Forza Horizon 6 is almost as close as you can get.

9.5/10

A review code was provided by the publisher and I played Forza Horizon 6 on Xbox Series S. Forza Horizon 6 is out on Xbox Series X/S and PC on 19 May and in Early Access on 15 May.

Elsewhere from Indy100:

• I've played Forza Horizon 6 and it could be the best arcade racer of all time
• Xbox CEO statement after 'brutal' Microsoft earnings call

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