There aren't too many holes to pick in the brilliant Forza Horizon 4, which I've been playing and enjoying for many years now, but if there's one complaint I do have, it relates to the music selection and radio stations in general. Compared to something like Grand Theft Auto V, I feel like there's a lot of untapped potential.
It doesn't help that I'm not really the biggest fan of the songs in Horizon 4. There's a rock station but it's not really my type of rock, and there are multiple dance stations but it's not really my type of dance, so I usually just end up throwing Spotify over the top of it. There's a lot more variety in GTA V, so there's always something to suit my mood.
And the radio announcers in general are typically pretty boring to listen to. It's all bland chatter about how the Forza Horizon festival is progressing, the odd comment about how bad the weather is in the UK, and so forth. You're not going to get the same kind of absurd commentary as you do in a game like GTA V, but a little more depth would be welcome.
The biggest issue I've had for a long time now, and it relates to a wide variety of games beyond Forza Horizon, is that custom music is no longer an option. The Xbox One era seemed to do away with the ability to incorporate custom music in most games, but Forza Horizon 3 temporarily got around this by introducing a Groove Music feature. You could upload your own music to OneDrive, and this acted as a custom station in the game.
Sadly, Groove Music is no more, and Playground Games shows no signs of bringing back custom music for the upcoming Forza Horizon 5. Yes, you can always just whack on Spotify and listen to your favourite tunes while driving around, but the ability to actually incorporate those tunes into the in-game experience would add an extra level of immersion.
I'm not expecting the return of custom music for Forza Horizon 5, but I still think Playground Games could do more in terms of providing greater variety with the tracklist, giving the announcers on each station a bigger role and more personality, and finding a way to sync up the radio stations with friends online, as I've lost count of the amount of times we've simultaneously broken into a horrible rendition of the Backstreet Boys when playing GTA V together in the past.
Forza Horizon 5 will be great regardless, I'm sure, but these little details would make a big difference for me personally.
What are your thoughts on the music selection and radio stations in Forza Horizon? Tell us below.
Comments 18
Yep, definitely in the same mindset as you here. As a fellow fan of rock music I do feel most games, not just Forza seem to be lacking a bit here. That said, it was fun making do with the classical music stations as a substitute. It does feel like the newer games expand more on the hip hop/pop side of things as opposed to rock.
There are very few games where I leave the music on. In a racing game, I wanna hear the engines.
@ResoluteCustoms My thoughts exactly. Turning off the music is typically the very first thing I do in a racing game
Sure but GTAV has the worst radio compared to SA, Vice City...even GTA4 has some better radio stations!
FH3 is better than FH4 imo too!
I enjoyed the music in FH4. I like most music and making music is a big hobby of mine. I really wish XBOX had the Tidal app. I'd prefer if it felt like a "live" radio. Every few weeks put some more songs in. Rotate a few out. Definitely huge space for actual radio in the game or e-radio or podcasts.
@FraserG I agree with the music selection. Been playing Horizon 3 the past few weeks and after awhile I just tune (no pun intended) the music out.
I am guessing that maybe the music is the way it is is cause they don't want to spend the money for bigger well known bands. They are probably already shelling out alot for the car licensing. With that said though it does make one wonder why they don't bring back Groove Music.
We are going to Mexico get those Maracas out and make music.
All I want from Forza Horizon is a less intrusive story. Who needs story anyway? I don't want obnoxious NPC interrupting my game all the time to tell me how awesome I am.
I just enjoy that Scott Tyler is the only continuous character in the series. So long as he's still giving out those terrible jokes I'm good.
Personally I hope it does more with the single player campaign, FH4 was disappointing (especially compared to FH3).
There's some pretty solid tunes in FH4 - I was floored when MJ by Now, Now came on (I grew up in a neighboring suburb and used to go to their shows when they were still in high school - so cool to see them "make it big" or whatever), but I always get annoyed when I'm not digging any of what's currently playing and I can't skip to the next song (it's "radio" I know, but still). It would be amazing of you could connect to your Spotify account. I mean, that's how I listen to music when I'm driving in real life.
I normally used Spotify while gaming on PC and Xbox but I actually enjoyed the music in FH4. I just wish they had a classic rock station (60s, 70s, 80s)
I want a good Mexican music station. Hispanic hip hop is actually pretty good.
Hands down the best game for music is FH1. A good mix of new and old music (New Order, Stone Roses) all meant for driving and DJs that enhances the motoring festival backdrop.
Last game with radio stations I actually enjoyed was Rebel Galaxy Outlaw. Simply a great variety, which is key.
I still play Forza 7 very regularly but never use the game music.
I'm a massive Gran Turismo fan and created a 'Tracks for the Tracks' playlist on Spotify comprising of tunes from GT1-4 which I always listen to 😊
Nothing beats the hit of nostalgia when Feeder 'Sweet 16' or 'Just a Day' kicks in while I race 😁
4 had some of the worst music I’ve ever heard in a game and the stations didn’t have enough tracks. It was awful in that regard.
Good call! I put 200+ hours into FH4 and some of the tracks really started to grate by the end.
Out of interest is the delisting of previous Forza Horizon games down to the music licensing? or the cars?
If it's music it would be great if they could PLAN for this in advance. Even a silent game or a royalty free music channel would be better than nothing when the time comes. It's a real shame the earlier games, and especially their expansions can't be bought anymore. (You can get the base game physically if you have a disc drive)
Just having the ability to skip tracks would be nice to have
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