Clutch Is The Narrative-Driven Evolution Of The Forza Horizon Formula
Developer:
Maverick Games
The Forza Horizon franchise has been my favorite racing series since the release of Forza Horizon 3. The excellent racing mechanics, gorgeous visuals, and the fact that it doesn’t take itself too seriously coalesce into an experience that has resonated with me on a consistent basis. So, naturally, when I heard that several key members of the Forza team (including the director of my personal favorite, Forza Horizon 5) had left Playground Games to create a narrative-style game using many of the lessons learned from their time with that franchise, my interest was instantly piqued. But it wasn’t until I saw the game in action — and briefly got my hands on it — that it skyrocketed up my list of most anticipated games.
Clutch is a narrative action/racing game that puts you in the role of Theo Martial, an elite driver who was adopted into racing royalty alongside his sister. The first scene I see takes place in 2010. Theo and his sister Cass, also playable, are children in the back of the car. When their adopted mother steps inside for a moment, Theo jumps into the driver seat as Robbie Williams’ “Let Me Entertain You” plays. This serves as the tutorial, but also gives glimpses into the cinematic quality Clutch delivers.
Through subsequent scenes, it quickly becomes apparent the kind of story Clutch will tell. Penned by Skins co-creator Jamie Brittain, Clutch looks to tell a story rooted in the realistic racing circuit, but with action-movie elements similar to what you’d see in a middle entry of the Fast and the Furious film. Following that introductory sequence, we jump to 12 months in the future, as Theo has gone full vigilante and is speeding away from the police in the south of France. Next, it’s six months in the future, and Theo is participating in a street race as part of the Midnight Collective; unsanctioned races that are largely ignored by the police. Next, you slide into the driver’s seat as Cass in France amidst an offroad race.
This delivers a fine sampler of the content to come, but the final prologue sequence sets the stage, as Cass and Theo are set to participate in the R1K, the biggest racing circuit, in the current day. We see the two siblings joking with their friend, who is also a racer, and interacting with their adoptive father, who the team tells me is a racing legend, and a much better manager than a father. After a brief stint on the track, a massive crash occurs, and a peripheral character is killed on the track, sowing the seeds of doubt in Theo, as well as the R1K’s commissioner. In a post-crash press conference, the commissioner pledges that changes are coming, including new safety measures that will add measures like brake assist and traction control, sending racing purists into a fit.
The cutscenes hammer home the level of detail in the facial capture technology, as the animations are expressive and believable. Unreal Engine 5’s advancements are evident, not only in scenes like this, where we get close-ups of characters’ faces, but also in the world when you’re driving around. The game primarily takes place in one of the racing capitals of the world, Monaco, and it looks terrific. As you speed around, Forza Horizon fans will notice similar attractions to take part in, including quick-hit diversions like speed traps, where you must pass through an area of the street as fast as possible.
Back in Theo’s villa, you can walk around in third person. After a sequence where Theo mentions questioning his career as a driver following the catastrophic events of the R1K race, Theo’s father smashes a wine bottle on his floor and the two siblings speed away. Theo follows Cass to a meetup of the Midnight Collective, where he gets his first taste of the underground racing scene. You can also walk around in third-person at meetups, with Maverick Games hoping to establish more of a human/car connection than is typically put on display in racing games, allowing you to interact with cars in ways beyond just a floating camera. You can also walk up to a car and purchase it at these meetups, if you so choose.
In R1K races, you have one goal: to finish first and claim the top spot on the podium. In Midnight Collective races, it’s all about the ratings. The races are live-streamed, so your goals are much more diverse, including, yes, placement, but also style. Success is based on how many viewers you attract, with style points and racing on the track earning you more viewers. Each checkpoint you pass through earns more followers, but you can sacrifice that to cut across a shortcut, delivering a compelling risk/reward mechanic, as placing higher in the rankings also grants viewers.
The hands-off demo ends with the most narrative-leading part of what I saw. After getting in some hot water, Theo seeks out a fixer at a bar in Monaco. After the two drive around, she tells him to look for an Aston Martin Valhalla in an apartment complex. After Theo searches the entire garage, avoiding security, he eventually realizes it’s up in the penthouse suite. After sneaking in, he spots it, but the alarm is triggered. The only way is out through the window, but it’s on the top floor. Thankfully, the supercar is equipped with a harpoon, so Theo smashes out the window, harpooning a nearby helicopter, which allows Theo to safely touch down on the ground thanks to what the team admits is action-movie physics. But it works.
And the harpoon, which is the first of multiple gadgets you can equip on vehicles, looks extremely satisfying to use, either as a way to zip around corners, or on pursuing police vehicles to spin them out. I’m looking forward to what other gadgets are on offer in Clutch, but the team is remaining tight-lipped for now. That was how my hands-off demo ended, but I also had a chance to play through one R1K race.
As expected, driving feels much like it does in Forza Horizon, albeit slightly stiffer. I don’t know if this is because I was speeding around the track in a decked out racecar or if it feels that way across the board, but it was slightly less loose. Despite this, it still feels great, and offers many of the same control schemes and amenities as Forza Horizon, such as the driving line, which tells you when to brake and accelerate, and the rewind functionality. I appreciate that the rewind mechanic is manual, allowing you to dictate exactly where you want to rewind to, rather than Horizon’s chunks-at-a-time method. Unfortunately, my time with Clutch is way too short, but I saw and felt what I needed to, so I can’t be too upset.
I emerge from many demos and meetings at each Summer Game Fest excited to see how the game I just saw will pan out. There are many such cases at Summer Game Fest 2026. But Clutch is a rare case where I cannot wait to play through the full version of the game. Now, a few days removed from SGF, it is almost certainly my favorite thing I saw at the show, and I can’t wait to finally play the final game and see where Theo and Cass’ story takes us when Clutch arrives in 2027.
