It’s no secret that I’m an enormous fan of the Forza Horizon franchise. Each single one has been nothing lower than good, and so when longtime designer-turned-Forza-Horizon-5-creative-director Mike Brown left Playground Video games to discovered Maverick Video games simply three years in the past, I figured I’d be fascinated about no matter he and his new crew had up their collective sleeve. It was a protected wager, however an accurate one, as the studio’s first undertaking could be very a lot up my alley – and can most likely enchantment to loads of my fellow Forza Horizon followers.
It’s referred to as Clutch, and whereas it does characteristic multiplayer, it’s a extra single-player-focused open-world driving sport than Forza Horizon. It’s set in a spectacular place, like Horizon – the south of France, together with Monaco and the French Riviera – and it’s packing loads of real-world vehicles from the likes of Porsche, Aston Martin, BMW, Land Rover, and Renault, amongst others. It’s additionally obtained a rewind button, which Forza (albeit, Forza Motorsport) invented in racing video games.
However that’s about the place the similarities finish. As a result of whereas Horizon is about the competition from which the sequence takes its identify, Clutch could be very a lot about your participant character, Theo Martial, and his sister Cass. The 2 of you could have all the time been obsessive about vehicles, and as younger adults, they discover themselves making ends meet as, successfully, vigilantes – doing supply runs for less-than-above-board folks. You’ll meet loads of characters and expertise loads of drama; fairly actually, I don’t actually need to wreck any of the plot factors, as the story is ready to be a major calling card for Clutch. I suppose what I’ll say is that a whole lot of what I noticed from Clutch’s narrative jogged my memory of the current Brad Pitt blockbuster F1 – not by way of plot factors, per se, however with regard to tone and spirit. This is an effective factor, to be clear, as I had a blast watching that film. If Clutch’s story is simply as enjoyable as F1’s, I believe I’ll be in for a deal with.
Inside that story, you’ll be doing loads of acquainted Forza Horizon-like issues: racing, driving, and drifting – however generally with a extra cinematic aptitude. As an illustration, one mission I noticed throughout my transient demo tasked us with discovering a uncommon Aston Martin Valhalla (critically, open one other tab and look this automotive up for those who haven’t seen it; it’s borderline alien in its unique look and virtually a street-legal F1 automotive). The issue was, the automotive is positioned in its rich proprietor’s penthouse. You’ve obtained to get it out of there…and you may think about how that’s going to go.
Properly…nearly. There’s one a part of that Valhalla escape that you just undoubtedly gained’t expect: the harpoon you’ll be able to fireplace from the automotive. No, Clutch isn’t attempting to be Spy Hunter, however it’s mixing in some arcadey additions to the fundamental arcadey driving components. There are six whole instruments to unlock over the course of the marketing campaign, and as the harpoon was the just one I noticed, I can let you know which you could shoot it at any object in the sport. You can use it for traversal, for occasion, similar to firing it at a lamppost on a nook that will help you take a flip at larger velocity, a la the Tim Burton Batmobile in the 1989 Batman movie. I’m curious to see the remaining 5 instruments and what cumulative impact they’ve on the gameplay, however on the complete, Clutch feels similar to Forza Horizon by way of its driving: it’s grounded in actuality, however not a pure sim by any means.
I say that with a little bit little bit of expertise, as I did get to play one three-lap race at the finish of my demo. Luckily, rival-racer AI is aggressive, and also you do must drive good and drive properly so as to transfer as much as the entrance of the pack. If Brown and the crew have been aiming for the same dealing with really feel as Forza Horizon, my first impression is that they’ve fairly properly nailed it.
In all, I walked away fairly proud of what I performed of Clutch. I used to be intrigued by the characters and story I noticed, the driving felt good, the setting is one I sit up for spending time in, and it looks as if it’ll have a wholesome complement of vehicles from completely different automakers – although I wouldn’t anticipate something on the order of the 500+ vehicles that Forza Horizon brings to the desk. I’m desirous to see what extra Clutch has to supply when it drops in Spring of 2027.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s government editor of previews and host of each IGN’s weekly Xbox present, Podcast Unlocked, in addition to our semi-retired interview present, IGN Unfiltered. He is a North Jersey man, so it is “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.