Gamescom 2018 has been one mad week of gaming announcements, reveals, and trailers, and GamesRadar's been at the eye of the storm with After Dark, our live show featuring all the news and previews you could hope for about the biggest games on the horizon.
Speaking of horizons, Playground Games' upcoming open-world racer, Forza Horizon 4, looks to be one of this year's must have exclusives for Xbox One owners, and Creative Director Ralph Fulton was able to stop by After Dark this week to talk all things Forza, particularly with regards to what's new in this British-set sequel.
You can watch our full conversation with Fulton in the video above, alongside breathtaking raw footage of Forza Horizon 4 in action, but here's a breakdown of some key points from the chat if you're in a hurry.
First of all, barns are back. These secret locations have been a staple of the Forza Horizon series, each storing special, high class vehicles for anyone lucky enough to find them scattered across the open world, and they'll be peppered around Playground Games' recreation of the UK too.
Fulton explains that some of these are tied to Forza Horizon 4's new season system, giving the example of an island in a lake that you can only reach when it's frozen over in Winter. "There are seasonal barn finds, so they only appear in specific season. Lots of them don't, because we don't want to gate you from doing things you want. But we do have four seasonal barn finds, one specific to each season."
That aforementioned season mechanic, arguably the biggest change since Forza Horizon 3, works as follows; every full week in the real world translates to one season in Forza Horizon 4, and Fulton clarifies that the changes between each season won't be gradual, but will just switch whenever a new week begins.
"The actual gameplay will change from season to season. There'll be season specific events that only appear in spring, or only in summer, so every week will bring new stuff for you to do and new opportunities for gameplay, and because it's a shared world game you take on those opportunities with other people."
Highlights aside, we recommend watching the video in its entirety, not just because it's a great way to catch up on everything new in Forza Horizon 4, but the showcased demo is one of the most beautiful things to have come out of Gamescom this year.
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