Just like Forza Horizon 4, Forza Horizon 5 is a cross-gen game that is also being released on Xbox One consoles, but it's still a big leap forward for the open-world racing franchise. It's definitely one of the best-looking games you can play on Xbox Series X|S consoles today, featuring the largest open world ever seen in a Forza game. It's also an excellent casual game for players who aren't really into racing games, and it remains far more accessible than the pretty demanding Forza Motorsport series. Forza Horizon 5 is a racing video game set in an open world environment based in a fictional representation of Mexico. The game has the largest map in the entire Forza Horizon series, being 50% larger than its predecessor, Forza Horizon 4, while also having the highest point in the Horizon series.
The map was described by creative director Mike Brown as one of the most diverse Forza Horizon maps the team has built. The map contains an active caldera volcano, jungles and beaches, ancient Mayan temples, and towns and cities such as Guanajuato. Players can explore the open world freely, though they can also compete in multiplayer races and complete the campaign mode.
Both the cars featured in the game and the player character can be extensively customised. Players are able to create custom liveries and tunes for cars, and perform engine swaps, drivetrain swaps, or install body kits on certain vehicles. Forza Horizon 5 already has a tough act to follow with its polished predecessor set in Great Britain, but there's so much on offer in Playground Games' take on Mexico. As the biggest and most expansive map in the series so far, you really are spoilt for choice when it comes to what you want to spend your time doing. There are also some fantastic new additions that really bring renewed life to the experience and strengthen what already makes the series so great. With the arrival of the Horizon festival in this new Mexican setting, your core Horizon adventure revolves around setting up various outposts throughout the different regions, and unlocking events by earning accolade points.
Being the fifth instalment in the series, Playground Games has taken huge steps to make the driving experience more immersive. Starting with the map size, which is 50 per cent larger than Forza Horizon 4, the game features countless locations such as an active volcano, jungles, beaches, ancient Mayan temples, and the narrow, colourful streets of Guanajuato. Besides the standard campaign mode, players can take part in online multiplayer races and explore the open world with no restrictions.
This game is set to feature the largest map yet in the Forza Horizon series. On top of this, the developer promises a new Expedition mode and a new feature called Events Lab. This feature allows players to create their own game modes, experiences, and races. Unfortunately for PlayStation players, it seems unlikely this series will ever get across consoles. Forza Horizon 5 seeks to differentiate itself from the competition by how it plans to evolve. This is due in part to Playground Games' commitment to the Festival Playlist, which will provide monthly updates with more content and new cars.
On Xbox Series X and Series S consoles, loading times are almost instantaneous, which is really convenient when you want to use the map to teleport yourself to another location. Compared to Forza Horizon 4, the game's menus have also been simplified and it's now easier to browse your car collection or check your progression in the game. It's also easier to see the other online players on your server, though you can still opt for the "Horizon Solo" experience and play the game offline. With these beautifully realized graphics, you can really appreciate the colorful creativity of the custom experiences you and other players can make using the new EventLabs toolset. With a blueprint library full of different props, ramps, platforms, flags, and festival decorations, you can let your creativity run free and make your own unique races, challenges, and unique modes with a ruleset tool to publish and share.
One EventLab blueprint event I try out by another player sees me go through a track that brilliantly pays homage to Jurassic Park, where you need to hit a series of boxes behind the wheel of a Jeep. The tools are very easy to use, and it'll be exciting to see just what else the community can come up with in the future. Create your own expressions of fun with the powerful new EventLab gameplay toolset including custom races, challenges, stunts, and entirely new game modes. Customize your cars in more ways than ever before with new options such as the ability open and close convertible tops, paint brake calipers, and more. Use the new Gift Drops feature to share your custom creations with the community. Meet new characters and choose the outcomes of their Horizon Story missions.Take on awe-inspiring weather events such as towering dust storms and intense tropical storms as Mexico's unique, dynamic seasons change the world every week.
Keep coming back for new events, challenges, collectibles, and rewards, and new areas to explore. No two seasons will ever be the same.Play on Xbox Series X and Xbox One consoles. For the first time, Forza Horizon 5 takes the long-running open-world racing series to Mexico, and it's a sight to behold. Forza Horizon 5 was only in development for one additional year over previous entries in the franchise, but enjoys such a massive leap in quality that it feels like it must've taken much longer. Unfortunately, a Forza Motorsport release date hasn't been shared but whenever it does arrive, it'll be available on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC. With the game being targeted for the newest consoles available, we can reasonably expect it to take advantage of some new features, such as ray tracing or even offering a 120fps mode.
Like all Xbox first-party games, it'll be available on Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate the day it is released. Create your own expressions of fun with the new EventLab gameplay toolset including custom races, challenges, stunts and new game modes. Forza Horizon 5 is also an impressive test case for Microsoft's cross-generational hardware strategy.
I played the game for several hours on my Xbox One X, and it doesn't feel compromised compared to anything else on the console. It's still a better-looking game than 3 and 4, and it looks more or less the same as the Series X version's 60fps mode — just running at half the frame rate. The One X is generally a machine designed for 4K/30fps games, and that's what you get here with Forza Horizon 5.
Would the Series X game have looked even better if it didn't have to run on Xbox One consoles? Maybe, but it's hard to complain about the performance on either platform. You can run it at 60 frames per second on Xbox Series consoles, or there's a 30fps mode that further boosts the graphical features; I personally find it hard to play racing games at 30fps, but each mode delivers a convincing presentation. This consists of a series of mini-multiplayer games strewn across the map. One of these mini-multiplayer games is called "Piñata pop" where the Horizon Festival's cargo plane drops piñatas.
The goal is to pop as many piñatas as they can with the help of other players. It also introduces the "EventLab", a toolset in which players can create custom games, races, and more depending on their personal preference. According to Brown, it is an AI assistant that tracks the current statuses of players, helping them to link with other players online and play together.
Forza Link can also link players' GPS systems if they accept the invitation from another player. Xbox gavean extended gameplay of "Forza Horizon 5" during E3 2021, showing off some of the locales, different modes, and social aspects. One of the biggest changes to the gameplay is the Horizon Arcade, which allows players to queue up to play wacky mini-games and challenges.
The infamous battle royale racing mode from "Forza Horizon 4" returns, meaning that fans can still participate in the chaos of The Eliminator. In this chaotic mode, cars fall from the sky to engage in races, with the loser of the race being eliminated from the competition. However, Forza Horizon 5 is on another level on Xbox Series X and it's one of the few games where I prefer the 30fps quality mode to its 60fps equivalent. The increase in fidelity and the more graceful LOD transitions combined with the upgraded visuals elevate it significantly beyond performance mode. True, it's not 60fps but the motion blur is the best I've seen in bridging the gap.
Of course, it is possible to play this game at full frame-rate with Series X's mixture of high, ultra and extreme settings - and that's where the PC version comes into play. I played Forza Horizon 5 on both my Xbox Series X and Series S consoles over the past week, and I'm happy to report that performance is excellent on both consoles. Players get to choose between Quality and Performance modes, and I think that Forza Horizon 5 is one of the rare racing games that don't feel too uncomfortable playing at 30FPS. The next time I jump in, I get a reply thanking me for the gift, and it's not long before I receive a new car of my own from another generous player. Your kindness is rewarded in Kudos, which is a way of recognizing when you've done something that another player appreciated. Kudos is shown in your My Horizon menu, so you can always be reminded of your good deeds.
Other online features that also encourage a sense of community include the Forza Link which allows you to ask nearby players if they know the location of a barn you're trying to hunt down. Gift drops are such a great way to brighten someone's day with a shiny new car, and I can already see how Forza Link will bring players together and encourage teamwork. Throughout all of the stories, races, expeditions, and every else in between, I'm consistently impressed with just how smooth and responsive all of the controls are.
With a wealth of settings and accessibility options to fine-tune your experience and make it suit your requirements or preferred style of play, Playground Games really puts you in the driver's seat in more ways than one. To top it all off, a slight update to livery customization makes it even easier to add decals and, and with the return of tuning, you can once again make the car of your dreams. If you're an arcade racing game purist, Burnout Paradise has a lot to answer for. Ever since, virtually all big-budget arcade racing games have been made in the shadow of Paradise, with most tracks consisting of lines drawn across vast, explorable maps. At the time of writing, there's no confirmation on what cars could be added to Series 4 of the game.
That being said, we know the new series will add a selection of new cars that players can attempt to unlock as part of the Series 4 Festival Playlist. In addition, we should also see four more cars available for Car Pass owners (added DLC that delivers new cars to your game weekly, one per week.). For the sake of clarity, Series 2 delivered 7 new cars (+4 with Car Pass), whilst Series 3 added 8 new cars (+4 with Car Pass), so we imagine we'll see a similar number released with Series 4. Forza Horizon 5 is coming off the back of a very successful year, which included numerous shortlists in fans and critics 2021 game of the year awards. It's obviously no surprise, given how extraordinary the game looks and plays. More recently it was announced that Forza Horizon 5 has reached over 15 million players within just 65 days of launch.
Now with a thriving player base, all eyes are turning to when the game's next season of content will begin. Keep reading for absolutely everything you need to know for Forza Horizon 5 Series 4. Forza Horizon 5 also features a brand-new weather system, where players will be able to experience different climates in different parts of the country. Additionally, you are also introduced to the Horizon Arcade, where you can play a series of mini-multiplayer games spread across the map.
"Forza Horizon 5" brings back the seasons mechanic from the previous game, which changes the weather and the environment on a weekly basis, shifting between the four seasons. Forza Horizon 5 is big, which means it's likely every single player will take a different path to the Hall of Fame, and every single one of those paths is equally valid in the eyes of Playground Games. I haven't even touched on how Forza Horizon 5's Festival Playlist will continue to add new content and cars to the game over time, including evolving the world with new events, seasonal decorations, and more. Or how future DLC expansions will add huge amounts of gameplay in new areas. It has been confirmed that Forza Motorsport will feature ray tracing, as confirmed by creative director Chris Esaki. He has also stated that players will be able to enjoy impressive visuals across all tracks, games, and environments in the upcoming Forza Motorsport game.
However, with E previously canceled due to the current global situation, the trailer for Forza was instead released online. While not giving us too much information, the minute-long teaser trailer gave hints towards new game modes, tracks, and some of the cars that feature in the upcoming Forza Motorsport. Until the release of Forza Horizon 4 three years ago, Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios used to alternate with a new Forza Motorsport and a new Forza Horizon game every year. However, the transition to a new console generation has affected this well-oiled release cycle.
As a result, Microsoft's next-gen Xbox Series X and Series S consoles only had two "next-gen" racing games at launch, an updated version of Forza Horizon 4 and Codemasters' Dirt 5, which I personally found quite disappointing. Forza Horizon 5 is the best game in the series and another essential release from PlayGround Games, and it sets a pretty high bar for the upcoming Forza Motorsport 8 from Turn 10 Studios. In many ways, Forza Horizon 5 can feel like more of the same, but the graphics are truly stunning on Xbox Series X and the gameplay is still just as addictive as ever.
Playground Games has definitely cemented its place as one of the best studios Microsoft acquired in recent years, though we'd love to see the studio try something a bit different and take more risks with its future games. The expansive new setting of Mexico really does have so much to offer, and longtime players and newcomers alike are sure to have a blast discovering everything you can get stuck into. I've lost count of the number of races I sped my way through that I immediately wanted to experience all over again. As another fantastic entry in what is already a very strong series, Playground Games delivers impeccably detailed graphics, stellar audio design, and smooth controls that all work together to make Forza Horizon 5 an utter joy to play.
Forza Horizon 5 doesn't change the basic structure, and there's still a huge amount of stuff dotting the Mexican map. You're able to choose which specific types of events to unlock as you progress, so, for example, I preferred to focus on closed-track road races early on before delving into cross-country rallies. I feel like if I stopped playing the game and came back to it weeks later, I'd have a much better sense of what I'd been doing and where would be best for me to spend the next couple of hours. In turn, that makes me feel better about simply driving around the landscape in search of whatever esoteric quest I might come across. Unlike with 4, I've never felt like I'm wasting my time in Forza Horizon 5, as I always have more of a sense of what I could be working toward.
Despite the name and the hundreds of accurately modeled real-world cars, Forza Horizon has little in common with Turn 10 Studios' Forza Motorsport series, which is more of a serious racing simulator. While Horizon isn't exactly a Ridge Racer-style arcade game, it's certainly on the more accessible side of things. The physics feel somewhat grounded in reality, and you'll notice big differences in how various cars handle, but the driving model is very forgiving, and it's easy for anyone to pick up and play. These are two massive Microsoft games, and with Halo, for instance, we haven't seen a full entry for since 2015's Halo 5. Microsoft is going to start cranking out a whole bunch of games that launch day one on Game Pass over the entire rest of this console generation.
Hellblade, Fable, Perfect Dark, whatever the next Gears will be and however Halo expands. And then there's the entire Bethesda catalog, which so far has really only put old games on Game Pass. But starting with Starfield, and then every new entry in existing series like Dishonored, Doom, Wolfenstein, Prey, Fallout, Deathloop and Elder Scrolls seem likely to be day one Game Pass entries as well. Forza Horizon 5, the latest open world racing game from Playground Games, was released for premium customers last week and everyone else will get the game this week.
The open world arcade-sim racing game is now set in Mexico and returns to North America for the first time in 9 years — since the original game that was based in Colorado. One of the things Playground Games and Turn 10 have mentioned is that Mexico is the biggest map they have developed for any Forza Horizon franchise till date. Allowing you to explore fictionalised Mexican landscapes by car, users can drive hundreds of the world's greatest vehicles with complete freedom.
What New Cars Are Coming To Forza Horizon 5 Whether undergoing challenges, embarking on an expedition or racing other players, you can enjoy customising your races, stunts, cars and more. With just over 30 hours in Forza Horizon 5 at the time of writing, I still haven't even finished a third of what's available right now. It would probably take me at least 100 hours to 100% Forza Horizon 5 if I wanted to, and that's not even considering the replayability of everything in the game, especially the online portions. The animations for first-person driving, for example, don't look amazing, which is unfortunate considering the huge improvements to character creation. Role-playing gamers will be disappointed by the continued lack of options for turn signals, headlights, and turning the engine on and off, even if the addition of convertibles and race modes is a huge gain. There's also no 900-degree steering in first-person view, something that players have been requesting for years.
Despite these missing features, I still had a blast playing Forza Horizon 5 the entire time. Players will keep on the right side of the road in the fifth title of the Forza Horizon franchise. Previously the game was situated in the United Kingdom and Australia and hence players had to drive on the left side of the road.
Along with the new games, players will get to experience Horizon Arcade which comes with 12 minigames that can be enjoyed by the players. Forza Horizon 5 has been released for Premium customers on November 5, 2021. For this early access, Premium customers have paid more than the regular customers of the game.
