Certainly no powerhouse, but Forza Horizon 4 has treated it gently using the dynamic optimization set to Medium and a resolution of 1080p. I rock a Lenovo Y700 laptop, outfitted with a Nvidia GTX 960M (4GB), Intel Core i7 6700HQ (boosts to 3.30GHz), and 8GB of RAM.

In fact, the game’s system requirements are lower than that of Horizon 3, so even more folks should get a chance to play this time around. I didn’t run into any of the same issues like what Horizon 3 had. It seems that Playground Games has really learned its lesson this time around, as the game runs beautifully. There are still a few titanium-grade trees here and there, but for the most part, Horizon 4 seems rather lenient when it comes to letting you romp around its open-world without much interruption. I was plowing through fences and shrubbery with ease, and seeing pieces break and fly all over was oddly satisfying. In particular, roadside objects are often breakable. What stood out to me is that there seem to be far fewer obstacles that’ll kill your speed. But the available portion has been incredibly fun to poke around, and it offers some breathtaking sights. The demo doesn’t allow you to explore the entire map, unfortunately. Horizon 4’s Britain is filled with little gravel paths that meander through the hills (and there sure are a lot of hills), acres of beautiful countrysides, lots of historical architecture, and a healthy amount of asphalt that blends nicely with the surroundings.

It’s a pretty big contrast to the Australian Outback from Horizon 3. The map has a surprising amount of variety, even in a single season. The included events do a good job of showing off various parts of Playground’s take on Britain. After that introductory race, the demo lets you try out a handful of other events during the summer season, teasing you with the incoming autumn release of the game.

Forza horizon 4 online demo