Forza Horizon dumbs down

[Splinterdog]

I had really high hopes for this game and stayed up last night (as you do) until the clock struck midnight for release, eager to get behind the wheel for a spin around the Lake District of England. That part was fun, the driving's as good as FH3 and the visuals are eye-popping...then come the avatars, emotes and dancing idiots.
This game now wants us to adapt the 'Horizon Lifestyle' and dress up in silly clothes. Fine, but all I want to do is drive around like a lunatic and not watch dancing avatars poncing around on a stage. Who cares what what you look like when you're driving at 200mph anyway?
Wheel-spins lean heavily towards outfits, horns and other nonsense and the emphasis on styling our characters is quite nauseating actually and I feel Playground Games seem to have taken a leaf out of Forza Motorsport 7's (Turn 10) book of ideas, bearing in mind the stupid avatars they came up with.
Okay, we can ignore all that crap up to a point, but I have a feeling they've lowered the bar in this game, maybe by playing too much Fortnite in their tea breaks.

 

[Vayra86]

Chicken suits? I'm afraid Forza has entered 14 year old territory...

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Chicken suits? I'm afraid Forza has entered 14 year old territory...

Did you really doubt that?

 

[king of swag187]

Did you really doubt that?

I was 14 when the first one came out in high school

 

[StrayKAT]

It's always been the lighthearted/arcade version of Forza though. There weren't chicken suits, but even the first one did push some sort of "lifestyle" in the world building.. with the "racing festival" backdrop. edit: I'd prefer more wackiness in the gameplay though.. rather than the world. Like Burnout.

 

[Supercrit]

Next up, Battle Royal with cars?

 

[king of swag187]

Next up, Battle Royal with cars?

GTA V had that for a bit...

 

[Splinterdog]

Having said all that, the scenery is lovely and incredibly realistic. I'll probably do a mini review when I've played it a bit more, because the pros definitely outweigh the cons.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Chicken suits? I'm afraid Forza has entered 14 year old territory...

The Crew 2 did too. Unfortunately, catering to 10 year olds with social media accounts is trendy right now.

 

[Splinterdog]

The Crew 2 did too. Unfortunately, catering to 10 year olds with social media accounts is trendy right now.

That makes me feel ancient now

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

The Crew 2 did too. Unfortunately, catering to 10 year olds with social media accounts is trendy right now.

a model set by Fortnite.

 

[notb]

It's always been the lighthearted/arcade version of Forza though. There weren't chicken suits, but even the first one did push some sort of "lifestyle" in the world building.. with the "racing festival" backdrop. edit: I'd prefer more wackiness in the gameplay though.. rather than the world. Like Burnout.

It was an "arcade" game, but it was fairly serious until Horizon 2 (the one I'm playing now).

To be honest... the whole series has a very Californian feel. And I mean Los Angeles, not Silicon Valley. You know: surfing, baseball, rap and stuff...
The game itself is excellent, but many things are irritating. For example: why can't the handbrake be called "handbrake" (like in the whole world outside of US and all racing games I've played to date)? Before playing Forza I wasn't aware Americans call it "E-brake".
Or why isn't there some rock radio? Or casual pop? I play it with radio off until the classical music station gets unlocked...

H3 is very... well... Australian. I didn't like the theme and decided to ignore the game.
By analogy, I hoped that H4 will be more British. I guess that isn't happening...

On the other hand, lets not forget that current F1 champion, born 50km from Greenwich, looks like a baseball batter:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Lewis_Hamilton_2016_Malaysia_1.jpg

 

[Splinterdog]

FH3 is well worth a go and it's the first Horizon I played, mainly because it's the first to come out for PC - the rest are console only.
I still go back to FH3 even though I've completed most of it, because it's so much fun and looks so damn good. Also it's not infested with avatar crap either, since it's all about the driving, the stunts and the cars, which is as it should be.

 

[Splinterdog]

My take on FH4's dumbing down...
https://davescomputertips.com/forza-horizon-4-a-dumbed-down-overview/

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Wow, was considering putting it on a wishlist but seeing that...no, just no. The Crew 2 went in this direction too but markedly less so. I can at least tolerate the cringe in The Crew 2 because it's so rare and they added so much variety to the game.

 

[Splinterdog]

Here's the second part after a few weeks of winning pink shoes, spangly shirts and hats.
Forza Horizon 4 – A Dumbed Down Overview Part 2

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Here's the second part after a few weeks of winning pink shoes, spangly shirts and hats.
Forza Horizon 4 – A Dumbed Down Overview Part 2

I am wondering , did you purchase it, I ask because i obtained it via Xbox pass, I've not got an Xbox either but anyway , i have still got completed race's on the map i can redo and it's still adding races atm a few winters have passed, is it different in both guises or have you just played it more, in at 77 i think and i have completed a lot of the race's.

 

[INSTG8R]

Yeah I do get annoyed with the wheel spins and getting stupid hats and emotes I’ll never use. The rest of I absolutely love other than having to continually reset the map filters to cut down on the clutter Also Vega absolutely loves this game never have I seen it boost so high and consistently while still remaining surprisingly cool. Literally have every graphic option maxed and still getting between 75-100 FPS @1440

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Yeah I do get annoyed with the wheel spins and getting stupid hats and emotes I’ll never use. The rest of I absolutely love other than having to continually reset the map filters to cut down on the clutter Also Vega absolutely loves this game never have I seen it boost so high and consistently while still remaining surprisingly cool. Literally have every graphic option maxed and still getting between 75-100 FPS @1440

Im on extreme everything on 4k , 2xmsAA is the only required tweak for a solid 60 on vega at 4k, no dynamic scaling obviously.

 

[INSTG8R]

Im on extreme everything on 4k , 2xmsAA is the only required tweak for a solid 60 on vega at 4k, no dynamic scaling obviously.

Obviously

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Obviously

Im tempted to try my 5k (think virtual though that's not on afaik, but monitor says it supports it) max res with it on

 

[eidairaman1]

Let me guess-arcadish like heatonline/project torque became?

 

[INSTG8R]

Let me guess-arcadish like heatonline/project torque became?

It’s a nice balance. All the cars have their own character of course. Sound and visuals are top notch. The cockpits are fantastic. Then variety is great too I have my classic and modern NSX more Porches then I’d think I’d ever have because I’m not a big fan but I did want a Cayman and now I have 2, a GT4 and GTS which is my go to. I was a HUGE TDU fan so this really scratches that itch

 

[jboydgolfer]

heres a fun racing game.

 

[eidairaman1]

heres a fun racing game.

This would be good for burnout

It’s a nice balance. All the cars have their own character of course. Sound and visuals are top notch. The cockpits are fantastic. Then variety is great too I have my classic and modern NSX more Porches then I’d think I’d ever have because I’m not a big fan but I did want a Cayman and now I have 2, a GT4 and GTS which is my go to. I was a HUGE TDU fan so this really scratches that itch

Thats how PT/HO/LR started out to be then they dumbed it down