Forza Horizon 4 keeps giving, this time with the Emory RSR

Forza Horizon 4 has been actively provided with a steady stream of content since its release in 2018, and much of it is free. This kind of consistency in long-term support is rare in games – outside of blockbuster titles like Fortnite, anyway – but it is assured that I return FH4 Every few months. This time I was drawn to the addition of Rod Emory’s Porsche 356 RSR.

The Emory RSR is the crown jewel of this Series 34 update, which is slated for release next week. Players can claim it by completing 50% of the summer season playlist – basically an assortment of varied goals, from racing wins by performing some stunts. It is joined by another addition, the 1968 Pontiac Firebird.

I have a love / hate relationship with FH4. On paper, it’s an extraordinary game. The range of cars on offer really has something for enthusiasts of all walks of life, the miniaturized version from UK developer Playground Games is refreshing to explore through the seasons – even if Edinburgh feels a bit lifeless – and the game is perfectly optimized for PC, my platform of choice. There is so much Things in Horizon, you would wonder how a car nerd and arcade racing enthusiast could not be totally in love with it. And yet …

FH4 is a shining example of a game that suffers from excess. He’s aimless in his progression, far too willing to reward players for every piddling feat, and tries so desperately to be everything to everyone that he fails to cultivate his own personality. It’s kind of like someone you meet at work or school who is obnoxiously, robotically kind to everyone indiscriminately. I also don’t like the rubbery physics of the game, although this is a very subjective question and they are certainly usable.

It’s my philosophical beef with FH4, and I could go on for an eternity and a day about thorny little complaints – from the franchise’s stagnant approach to car customization and color editing, to its reliance on old and inaccurate car models. Forces past. Ultimately, though, I’m looking the other way on most of these issues and just playing the game anyway, as it’s a staple at this point. All it takes is a car like the Emory RSR to take me back for a week.

The outlaw Porsche is a very controversial vehicle by its very nature – a colleague of mine called it “cheesy” despite being “technically cool”. But this is the exact type of car that you can’t really drive in any more game. FH4. And the Horizon The series has always been very good at focusing on these marginal areas of automotive culture – the weird restomods and the curious one-offs. Need of speed tried, although these games tend to have an exponentially shorter lifespan than Microsoft’s runners.

That much, FH4 is less of a game and more of a place to go. And although I respect him for his resistance, I deeply hope that both Power Franchises have hit the reset button now that we’ve entered the Xbox Series X era – that Turn 10 and Playground are ditching everything and cleaning up the slate. I have a furtive suspicion that they won’t, just because it never really was Forza modus operandi, and that the next iterations of Sports car and Horizon will feel more or less like their predecessors with a lot of the same content, but brighter. I wish I was wrong.

Until then, I’ll just dive back into FH4 and tool around in the Emory. It’s not like I have a lot of choices, since every other new racing game I’ve gotten excited about in 2020 has been delayed.