Forza Horizon 5 Review
The Forza series has long been the benchmark for what Xbox hardware can achieve. Always packing in sharp model cars and detailed environments, the franchise often coincides with Xbox’s marketing for a new console. This year is no different, with Forza Horizon 5 appearing at some of Xbox’s biggest events. And while it doesn’t make drastic changes to the core Forza Horizon formula, Forza Horizon 5 is one of the most technically impressive games on the market today. Forza Horizon 5 wastes no time throwing players into things, literally. It opens with the player being dropped from a cargo plane onto an active volcano before moving on to several other sequences, giving players an idea of what they’re in for throughout the rest of the experience. It’s similar to what previous entries in the Forza Horizon sub-series have done in the past, but it’s an even more impressive spectacle this time around. After the intro, Forza Horizon 5 opens up quickly. There is a wide range of races, challenges, and scattered different objectives for players to cross off the list as they roam the world, exploring and face off against other players in head-to-head races. It never feels like there’s nothing to do in Forza Horizon 5, and the subtypes of races are varied enough to keep things relatively fresh as the hours go on.
However, to be clear, Forza Horizon 5 probably won’t win over those who weren’t fans of the last games in the series. Whether it’s a casual indifference to racing games as a whole or a preference that leans towards Horizon’s less arcadey sibling Forza Motorsport, Forza Horizon 5 is more of the same, for better or for worse yet. Those who enjoyed the other games will probably enjoy this one, though that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have tricks up its sleeve. Forza Horizon 5 ups the ante in ways that make it worth playing, and it introduces one of the most interesting settings to date. This time around Forza Horizon is set in Mexico, providing one of the most geographic settings featured so far. There are mountains, forests, and long stretches of plains that serve as the perfect playground for players to ride. Many of the missions that aren’t proper races – mainly the multi-part stories aptly called Stories, which tie into the larger campaign – will take players to ruins, offering little in the way of interaction, but still well explored . While the characters contained within Forza Horizon 5 aren’t particularly memorable, the adventures associated with them are arguably some of the most interesting on offer. The massive, recurring storm featured in Forza Horizon 5 is a technical marvel, often appearing during those characters’ Stories. When those storms are combined with drifting through mud and gravel, the right song playing, and haptic feedback, the idea of putting down the controller and relaxing feels repulsive.
It certainly helps that Forza Horizon 5 is as good as it looks. Engines roaring, tires screeching on asphalt, and dirt being kicked up from the ground are all in perfect focus. There are distinct differences between how the cars sound, varying between on-road and offroad options, as well as between the classes of cars themselves. It’s another reminder that the Forza series is all about the technicalities, the little things that add up and make cars worth it. For those playing to test as many cars as possible, Forza Horizon 5 offers hundreds of cars, sometimes handing them out like candy and making players work for them in others. There is a well-integrated reward system that players advance by completing races, stories, or challenges. Those awards will often grant players rare new cars, as well as credits, customization options, and more, creating an enjoyable extra reward loop. All of this is wrapped up in an experience that encourages players to interact with each other without being oppressive. There’s a communication feature in Link that makes it easy to interact with nearby players, issue challenges, aim for community goals, and more. It’s an easy way to find players on the fly and makes for a more interesting world all around.
Additionally, there are Forza Arcade challenges, which are cooperative objectives that players can complete together to earn rewards, helping to push that engagement even further. Usually, they ask players to go through certain sections of the map, make impressive jumps, or other content in a similar vein, highlighting the bombastic side of Forza Horizon 5 in an entertaining way. Like many of the other Xbox Series X games, Forza Horizon 5 offers both quality and performance modes, the latter of which slows down the visuals for an all-around smoother experience. It’s hard to express how much of a difference it makes without seeing it firsthand, but it’s worth emphasizing that Forza Horizon 5 should be played entirely in performance mode. While the quality setting doesn’t degrade in any way, the experience feels better with the frame rate bump. Plus, it’s still a visually impressive game. The biggest issues with Forza Horizon 5 often feel like nitpicks. The soundtrack isn’t as good as some previous entries, but this largely comes down to individual musical tastes. The only real bug we ran into was an issue that would make some completed objectives stick in the UI, which was fixed by reloading a save. Developer Playground Games has created a game that is as refined as the vehicles in it.
Forza Horizon 5 is flashy and colorful. It contains almost everything one could want from a racing game, with a wide selection of cars, tracks, and challenges to complete. Its addition to Xbox Game Pass alone should be reason enough to give it a try, but it stands as one of the best Xbox exclusives right now regardless. It might not do much to separate itself from the other entries mechanically, but Forza Horizon 5 feels the best of the series. Forza Horizon 5 releases November 9 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Early access opens November 5 to Premium Edition buyers. Today Technology was given an Xbox Series X code for this review. MORE: Xbox Game Pass Day One Game Forza Horizon 5 Explained