The latest rendition of the Forza series, Forza Horizon 4 has everything. It welcomes you, no matter what. It rewards you for everything. Whether it be exploring, painting, buying, racing, tuning, photos, ANYTHING. In an era where racing games are vastly underappreciated and highly niche, this is a game that welcomes everyone. Forza plays however you want it to play, whether you want it to be a fun arcade racer or a hardcore simulator. This game also covers you with 8 different difficulty levels. And it has several assist options for control of the car. If you even partially like racing, this is an absolute must-see.
And a fun video on Winter Season.
Corrections:
Horizon seasons change every week.
Forza Horizon 4 contains more cars than the previous one.
You should really buy a game CDKeys using our affiliate link @
http://www.cdkeys.com/?mw_aref=HardModeGamers
Forza Horizon 4 is the best racing game ever made.
No, wait, Forza Horizon 4 is the best current gen game ever made.
No no no, Forza Horizon 4 is the game ever made forever. End of review.
Score: 11/10
Okay, no. Fine, I’ll do a real review I guess. Forza Horizon 4 is the eleventh entry in the Forza racing series exclusively on Xbox One (and PC). It’s the racing game for people who love racing games, and also those who don’t. Developed by Turn 10 and Playground Games and published by Microsoft, it’s one of the only killer apps that the Xbox has in terms of exclusive properties. It’s hard to understand why it’s good, even for people who enjoy it. The game in general just has a way of accommodating all types of players. You can play it as a hardcore simulation racing experience full of professional competitors. Or, you can play it as an arcade racer with enemies who are dumb as bricks. Or, you could just ignore the entire game and make a name for yourself exclusively on making liveries and tuning setups for cars. In addition, you can also stare at and sit in the cars you purchased. How could you go wrong?
GRAPHICS: 2/2
The power of the Xbox One is in full bloom on this game. Whether you’re playing it in glorious 4K on your X model, or just playing the vanilla version on your S model, Horizon 4 is absolutely stunning. It’s first party games like these that use the full potential of the Xbox’s capabilities. This game is the first one to feature changing seasons to keep the game lively. Every week, the game swaps between Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer. The appearance and condition of the large (but not too large) map change dramatically with every season, promising you a different experience every time you get on. Each one of these seasons is expressed in stunning detail, whether you’re driving across the frozen lake of winter or blowing through the foliage of autumn. Every car is excellently crafted. This is a perfect 1 to 1 model of their real-life counterparts. Not to mention the greatest looking rain effects ever, as the car you’re driving gets littered with tiny specks of water. They glisten on your hood and roof as you sprint through the picturesque city of fake Edinburgh.
STORY: 2/2
This game has an astounding way of keeping you invested in the game. You are merely a competitor in the Horizon racing series, as opposed to being the boss in 3. The game conforms to suit the kind of racing you want to play. Four is the power number in this game. There are 4 racing types: Dirt, Cross Country, Street, and Road. The more you complete in a specific series, the more races of that type will appear on that map. For instance, street racing isn’t my bag, so I stick to playing the other types. There are only 3 street races on my map, but several dozen races of my preferred series dotting the landscape. The same goes for stunt challenges, four of which are: danger signs (jumps), drift zones, speed zones, and speed traps. If you like speed traps and beat them, you’ll get more. If you hate drift zones and don’t bother, there will only be a few.
The racing experience itself does a great showcase of the game to get you into the grove. Before you join the official Horizon roster, you have to prove yourself by playing “Year One” of the festival. You get to experience all four seasons in a very short period of time. During that, you learn of all these game types, as well as learning what earns you ‘influence,’ the progress tracker of the game that determines your driver level. You can get influence from practically everything, from races, painting, shopping, you name it. The game is also content throwing Wheelspins at you. Which sounds like gambling loot boxes, but you CANNOT buy them with real money. It’s simply a reward given to you for taking part in the game, and it is very generous.
Finally, the game also has 4 story modes: Stunt Driver, Drift Club, World’s Fastest Rentals, and LaRacer @ Horizon. These challenge races have replaced the “bucket list” of former games, giving you more context to a litany of racing challenges. It gives the game a lot more power to give you some context as to why you’re driving the car they gave you and what the challenge is. Of course, Horizon has its showcase races as well. Five races in which you perform a Top Gear style race against certain vehicles. You race a train, a large hovercraft, and a VTOL, among other things. Never a dull moment.
AUDIO: 2/2
All the cars sound authentic. All the DJs are as annoying as real DJs. Voices are fine. The licensed OST is certainly a crowd-pleaser. Although it actually features fewer radio stations than the previous iteration, the lineup of songs still fit the mood of the game to a stunning degree. That is if you even care about the soundtrack. I do, but many gearheads may agree that the only sound they need to hear is the sound of the motor.
GAMEPLAY: 2/2
As stated before, you can play this game however you want. When you set up the difficulty, you can choose from more than 8 difficulty levels of driver AI. The AI itself is good because it simulates real drivers, rather than relying on cheap rubber band tactics like other games do. From there you can pick if you need traction control, stability control, or steering help. Then how to see how much help you need with breaks and whether or not you need a line to show you where to drive or just where to hit the brakes. Then you select transmission. Then you set if you want damage to be real, simulated, or completely absent. Then you select if you want the rewind feature enabled. All of these settings determine how much money you get at the end of a race. The more assistance you turn off, the more bonus money you earn. It absolutely is a “play how you want” game that will accommodate everyone.
There’s also a section in the menu screen called “My Horizon Life” that tells you what your progress in every facet of the game. The race types, exploration, photos, cars owned, paint jobs, online races. Absolutely everything is tracked and rewards you accordingly. And those wheelspins you earn are a fine motivator to keep you playing. That’s along with the perks you get just from getting points earned from driving, in or out of races. Also, every week, with the new season, comes new challenges. In the #Forzathon section of the menu, you can view challenges that are started daily, and up to 3 can be completed per day. There’s a challenge of the week that will ask you to buy a certain car or type of car and complete four challenges with it. Furthermore, all this challenge participation will give you an alternative currency (which also CANNOT be bought with real money) that you can spend on special prizes for the season. You can also partake in “Live” events, which is basically a team car meetup where you all head to a place, have a chat, take photos, then work as a team to complete 3 challenges. The multiplayer is seamless, and unless you specifically ask to play alone, you will encounter other drivers. But you have nothing to wait for when you launch the game. Just boom, you’re playing and other people are on the map.
FUN: 2/2
As stated many times, the game constantly finds ways to reward you. Everything you do in this game will get you credits and influence. You can do anything you want to and the game will cater to how you want to play it. The only frustration I’ve found in the game is that during multiplayer races, one bad turn can ruin your entire run. But that’s my fault because I rely too heavily on rewind and drive like a maniac. No more needs to be said. Unless you hate racing games explicitly, there’s no way you can hate on this title.
The developers of Forza Horizon 4 worked very hard in making sure that this installment of the series addresses a few of the sticking point and nags from the prior entry, but even that game was merely just shy of absolute perfection. This one finishes the job while opening up the game to new possibilities for the future. I implore you, please play this game. The demo is free, and you can play the full game if you own Xbox Game Pass. You could get the whole entire game for just a $10 single monthly subscription. Or just buy it, you can do that too. And you should. It’s that good.
Rumors. Cardboard. Sneakers. This Lucky Gamer Recap has it all.
Another week another surprise announcement from companies we thought were out of surprises. This week in gaming news Activision publishing CEO takes a walk, Nintendo tells us to play with the packaging, and information leaks from every pipe in the house to fuel rumors. As In read that back I realize it sounds like Video Games went back to middle school for a week. That’s ok though, we all need to tap into our inner child every now and then. Don’t worry its totally cool as long as you come back to adulthood in a reasonable timeframe. I mean I spend have of every week acting like a child on purpose and look at me. Probably not the best example, any way here are the goods to make you feel lucky this week:
1. Nintendo literally tells kids to go play with a Box.
When it comes to video games, Nintendo is the crazy uncle in the family who you’re never really quite sure what he does or how but you know he’s bringing in the big bucks. Ever year Nintendo drops this insane, outrageous, damn near ridiculous plan for a new product. This year that product is Nintendo Labo, a line of build it yourself experiences for the Nintendo Switch. Players will be able to build cool experiments that can be connected to the Switch and interact with specific software. I could talk about the fact these kits are completely modular or I can reference the silliness that is Nintendo calling them your creations Toy-Con’s (sounds pretty bad out loud) but instead I want to tackle something bigger. All the kits are made of Cardboard Sheets designed to interact with your console. That’s right. Cardboard. That’s what they’re selling us now. A variety Kit for $69.99 that includes materials to build a two cars, a fishing rod, a house, a motorbike, and a piano OR a Robot Kit for $79.99 (that brings material to build a robot suit). And I’d be a damn liar if I said I didn’t want them all.
2. It seems even publishing maybe exhausted from Call of Duty.
After eight years with the company Activisions Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg will be leaving the company. Eric had an incredible run with the company and is making the strong decision to go out on top with Call of Duty WWII and Destiny 2 both dominating the top selling games list of 2017 (#1 and #2 respectively). For some this may be a huge moment of exciting because you are thinking “COD is trash anyway, maybe the new guy can make it better” but you’re wrong. That wasn’t his job. For some people this is terrifying new because you are thinking “Damn now COD is gonna be trash, the new guys going to ruin it.” but you to are also wrong. His job was to sign off on titles getting published so we can play them till our hearts collapsed. So if you’re thinking “thank god maybe we wont get anymore awful ports or licensed games” you are absolutely right cause those were totally his fault. Damn you Eric. However, on a serious note, Where ever Eric moves on to, we at Hard Mode Gamers wish him the best and thank him for all his hard work for this ungrateful and under satisfied industry. Don’t be mad you know damn well we are never fully satisfied as gamers.
3. Strong chance there will be significantly fewer happy people this spring.
Things happen in this industry regularly because there are so many uncontrollable variables. I’m not gonna do the list thing sorry. Originally slated for an April 13th release date, We Happy Few has been delayed till sometime time in the summer. Compulsion Games, the guys developing the game, have simply said they just need a little more time to polish the game up. The detailed version seems to point at story pacing revisions as the primary concern so who knows exactly when it will be ready. This game has had quite an interesting development cycle if you ask me, so while you wait for it to release in some undisclosed timeframe, catch up on the whole process on the developers website. Crowdfunding for the win!
4. Let’s put the good Xbox rumors in the same place and as the bad ones last week.
As you get to know me you’ll get to understand I treat all systems equally. No bias or inequality in my world. Do something good you get applause, do something bad you get the saw. This week, if all these rumors pan out to be true, Xbox gets a huge applause. First rumor is that a new Fable games is in development at Playground Games, home of Forza Horizon. Supposedly the recent success of Horizon Zero Dawn, the other horizon game, was a major influence on this decision and if so, that is the type of healthy competition we need. Second rumor on the report is that Microsoft is working on another Xbox Elite Controller for it’s most elite players. There obviously aren’t a ton of concrete details but, if rumors are to be believed the new control will bring rechargeable battery built in, a USB C port, three levels of hair-trigger locks, a three profile switch, and more. All of which, in my opinion, is sooper dope.
5. More on the rumor mill.
Like I said this was the week of gossip gamers, so let us soak it all in. A series of European tore listings let slip that a last generation THQ game may be getting a new generation facelift. Red Faction: Guerrilla may be seeing new life on PS4 and Xbox One as early as sometime in the near future. See that’s how rumors work they tell you a bunch of information that ultimately goes nowhere. Not my fault, come at me bro. In a completely unrelated leak, comicbook.com reports that TT Games may be working on two new Lego adventures for us to die over. The first being a Lego Incredibles game, obviously to coincide with the release of the highly anticipated Incredibles 2 film. That one I’m pretty inclined to believe is true because of the blatant marketing opportunity. The second rumored Lego game in development I’m not entirely convinced is real yet. Supposedly the other Lego game in development is a DC villains game centered around the Rogue Gallery (you know the Joker, Lex, Harley, Mr. Freeze, etc.). Unless a rogue gallery film is in the works or this was supposed to coincide with the Justice League sequel we will never get, I don’t know how this would entice the normies. But hey what do I know?
6. Blizzard World is here! Almost.
The long-awaited Blizzard World Map for Overwatch, announced back at Blizzcon 2017, will be available on January 23rd. See straight to the point for all the fans who came here for one thing and one thing only. If you are unfamiliar for some outrageous reason, Blizzard World is a new Overwatch map that pays homage to Blizzards other franchises that paved the way. Featuring areas themed around games like World of Warcraft & Hearthstone you can expect cool easter eggs to be laced all around the theme park. Exclusive streaming deal with Twitch, an incredibly supportive community, and new content on a regular basis, Overwatch has made it very clear it plans to be a part of E-Sports for a long long time.
7. The partnership of incredibles! Playstation themed basketball shoes.
Nike reveals a brand new pair of incredible basketball sneakers called the PG-2. Why is this video game news? Well I’m glad you asked. You see these particular basketball sneaks are the birth child of a unique breeding ritual between Nike, Playstation, and Paul George. Paul George is a basketball player who plays for the Oklahoma City Thunders and is a long time Playstation fan. Playstation is one of the greatest video game platforms of all time and with basketball games that features Paul George and Nike clothing. Nike is a clothing company that just had to sit back and watch one of its main competitors dominate the “nerd culture” community by starting a DBZ sneaker line. This combination was just a heavenly match waiting to happen. How this beautiful shoe came to be is unbeknownst to me however. I will absolutely need a pair when they are made available for purchase on February 10 at a look shoe dealer near you. If I don’t get a pair, Just be careful walking back to the car.
