If there's one obvious criticism you can levy at Forza Horizon 6, aside from who bankrolled it, it's that Playground Games' latest racer's very much an iterative sequel. There's plenty to it you'll have seen and done before if you've played previous entries. Clutch, the debut racer ex-Forza director-headed studio Maverick Games recently revealed, certainly isn't content just to follow a single established path. Having just watched devs Maverick's first lengthy livestream of it in action, it's trying to spin even more plates inspired by different moulds of driving game than I initially thought. Though, whether it nails all of those elements remains to be seen.
In the livestream, Brown and a couple of fellow Maverick devs played through the opening hour or so of Clutch. As you might expect from a story driven racer with Forza roots, that meant a lot of jumping between choreographed set pieces and cutscenes introducing characters like sibling protagonists Theo and Cass. Compared to what's been shown off to this point, though, my prevailing thought coming out of the stream is simple: by jove, Clutch is trying to emulate a lot of different types of racing game.
There's the Horizon-esque element of driving around an exotic locale - the south of France in this case - collecting cars that was front and centre right out of the gates. Beyond that, though, the tech-laden heists leading to police chases and more track-oriented racing of the R1K racing series seem less like extra layers within an overall very Horizony game as I initially thought, and more like Maverick have attempted to glom together a Horizon game with Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit and Codemasters' most recent Grid games.
At one point in the stream, protagonist Theo's roped into stealing an Aston Martin fitted with an experimental harpoon from the mafia in a sequence that feels like it'd not be too out of place in 007 First Light. You skulk around a car park avoiding the vision cones of security jeeps and ducking down in the seat when they go by. Then you takes a lift to the penthouse and control Theo as he walks on foot around it until he spots the car, promptly driving it off a helipad. From there, the ensuing chase is the sort of run from both grounded and airborne cops that you get in Hot Pursuit.
Meanwhile, over in R1K land, there's a dramatic F1 Drive to Survive-esque story about the series being in crisis over the need to increase safety while not losing the raw edge to its racing. The on-track action's more Forza Motorsport than Horizon, with each car decked out in sponsored liveries and taking the fastest lines rewarded over stylish sliding.
Both are very different propositions to Forza Horizon's typically quite chill feel, where just expanding your garage amid a motoring celebration's the be all and end all. Even Clutch's street races add a twist to the mix, featuring a scrolling chat full of comments from anonymous randos on the HUD, in order to mesh with the idea that these races are being livestreamed. It all looks exciting, but there's an awful lot going on or off in different directions at all times.
As a result, even if the game's intro's certainly not the best bit to judge this from, I'm a tad concerned that in trying to pack so many driving activities with different vibes and requirements in, Clutch might end up excelling at none of them. Forza Horizon might not be trying enough new stuff, but its devs clearly know what they're trying to nail above all else - the thrill of taking on scenic open roads in any car you fancy - and stick to it. Kudos to Maverick Games for taking a crack at going all out, though, rather than feeling they had to narrow their vision and arguably play things a bit safer. I certainly hope Clutch can stick all of these landings.