Forza Horizon 4 is the latest addition to the battle royale party, as the open-world racing game rolls out the 72-player The Eliminator mode.
Developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox One and PC, Forza Horizon 4 introduces seasons to add variety to the series’ gameplay, with a multitude of customization options and various things for players to do. The free Series 17 update, released on December 12, adds battle royale to the list of the game’s activities.
In The Eliminator, all 72 players start behind the wheel of a level 1 car, such as a 1965 Mini Cooper. As the match progresses, players will be able to upgrade their vehicles into faster models, with 10 levels in total, by grabbing randomly appearing air-drops.
Another way to upgrade vehicles is to challenge others to head-to-head races to a certain point, by pointing the camera at another player and honking the horn. The loser is eliminated, while the winner may choose to take their opponent’s car or receive an upgrade for their own. The race, however, will take place within the play area, so other players are free to interfere.
Following traditional battle royale mechanics, The Eliminator features a shrinking map, so after a while, it becomes very difficult to avoid head-to-head challenges. Once the map reaches its smallest point, remaining players will race against each other towards a specific point to win the match.
Battle royale started as an obscure mod, but it has grown into a worldwide phenomenon with the likes of Fortnite, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and Apex Legends. Most of the games in the genre are shooters, but as Forza Horizon 4 proves, that is not always the case.
Forza Horizon 4 follows puzzler Tetris and strategy title Civilization VI as unlikely games with battle royale offerings. In Tetris 99, players try to become the last one standing by clearing blocks while throwing garbage to other players’ screens, while Civilization VI‘s Red Death mode pits 12 players against each other in a race to escape the planet.
The battle royale craze is still going strong, so gamers should expect more titles from various genres to cash in.
