Round Up: 'The Map Is a Showstopper': Forza Horizon 6 Previews Heap Praise on Open World Racer

When Forza Horizon 5 launched on PS5, it was an undeniably great open world racing game, albeit filled with an ungodly amount of bloat.

The good news is that Forza Horizon 6 is on the way, coming to PS5 a matter of months after its May debut on Xbox and PC, and it looks like it'll represent a fresh start for all players.

The even better news — it's shaping up very nicely indeed. According to a bunch of new hands-on previews from the press, that is.

Across various outlets, we're seeing a huge amount of praise for Playground Games' racer, which takes the series to Japan and totally overhauls the structure and progression.

Sentiment broadly seems to be that the driving itself is more of the same, which is to say it's smooth, satisfying, easy to grasp.

It's the map that's getting the most brownie points, though, with most previews pointing out how good the game's Japan setting is. Like past Forza Horizon games, it's a truncated rendition of the country it represents, featuring a greatest hits of Japanese points of interest, like the city of Tokyo and switchback mountain roads ripe for drifting.

Changes to how the game is structured seem to have gone down well, too; you have to earn the right to drive better and faster vehicles as you climb the ranks of the festival and its myriad events, while you can also make progress by simply driving around the map and soaking in the sights.

It sounds like, if you're a fan of the series, Forza Horizon 6 is shaping up to be another great entry. For PS5 players, it might be the best time to climb aboard.

Game Informer: "Captured the beauty of Japan"

"As is expected in the Forza Horizon series at this point, racing around feels fantastic. The physics, surface simulation, and sense of speed all feel in line with the best-in-class prior entries. And with Japan as the backdrop, I cherished every moment in this short, fun preview experience."

GamesRadar: "Set to become one of the best racing games of the generation"

"There's a magic to street racing through Tokyo City. The downtown area illuminated by streaks of headlights, the soundscape suffocating under screeching tyres as the two-litre, four-cylinder VTEC engine set inside my Honda S2000 brushes 0-60 in 5.5 seconds. The adaptive triggers of the Xbox Series X controller whir as the vehicle shifts past 160mph, jolting as I wrestle the speedster into a drift through winding city streets. Somewhere behind me, a Drivatar is swerving into incoming traffic. You have reached your destination: open-world racing like you've never experienced it before."

IGN: "I just can’t get enough of it"

"I’ve always been a total sucker for that authentic feeling of digital tourism that a truly high-quality open world is able to provide, and Forza Horizon 6 is absolutely oozing with it. My initial reluctance to comb though the map too thoroughly before the full game arrives next month was rapidly overridden by just how successfully the world of Forza Horizon 6 immersed me in its Japanese driving fantasy. I’ve found myself constantly compelled to explore and discover, with every new road bringing with it something eye-catching and interesting."

VGC: "A wealth of jaw-dropping environments to discover"

"If the rest of the game is as good as the small taste I’ve played, we’re potentially looking at one of the year’s best. We’ll have a review of the full game nearer to its release, but at this stage everything’s on track to give Forza Horizon 5 a run for its money and take over pole position as the best open-world racing game around."

Are you excited for Forza Horizon 6? Tell us in the comments section below.