Format: Windows 11
Genre: Racing
Developer: Playground Games
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

On PC with the "Extreme RT" preset, Forza Horizon 6's ray-traced reflections and global illumination look wonderful. This reviewer once drove through a tunnel, with the sun filtering in through the gaps in the wall, and almost fell out of his chair. Unfortunately, and like all modern releases, for all of the progress in lighting fidelity game graphics still look like plastic, and are nowhere near reality. Not to mention, this game can eat even sixteen gigabytes of video memory without thinking twice. All the same, it's a colorful and aesthetically pleasing title with plenty of modern flourishes.

While modern music is positively awful, Forza Horizon 6 has a saving grace: a quirky Japanese radio station with "Gacha" in the name. The eclectic weirdness of it is fabulous, although the songs do rotate a bit too often. The corny, over-the-top voice acting from the previous title in the series has thankfully been toned down a notch, and the British chap is actually kind of amusing. The engine sounds are strong, and do a good job of representing especially iconic vehicles such as the Dodge Viper.

Forza Horizon 6 preserves one of the best things about the entire series: the clutch button! It's easy to look around from the exterior camera via a quick rotation of the right analog stick, while the cockpit view is superb for the actual races. But what happened to the car physics? They were fairly close to "Motorsport's" realism in the prior title-- but this sixth series edition feels disappointingly full-on arcade, even with all realism settings maxed. The map is well-constructed though, and car customization is as full-fledged as ever. There is even a chunk of land on which the player can freely lay out objects to make custom race tracks.

The biggest issue with Forza Horizon 6 involves a lack of progression system; almost anything can be instantly fast-traveled to, so once the fog of war is mostly erased there isn't a good incentive to simply drive around; the player is handed exotic cars almost right away, so it feels as though there isn't much to build up to; and the physics are so arcadey, there isn't really a skillset for the player to master either. All the same, when taken as it is Forza Horizon 6 is a fun live-service game with modern visuals, a huge car collection, and lots of events to do.