Driving familiar roads

The Forza Horizon series has been one of the most consistent games in the Xbox stable for quite some time. Each outing Playground Games really seems to up their game delivering even better visuals and features that make the game simply a joy to experience. Forza Horizon 5 has the distinction of being the first in the series designed with the next generation consoles in mind, which of course means that the visual fidelity is through the roof. Still with my dozens of hours spent racing around Mexico I couldn’t help but feel like the formula was starting to show its age. Horizon 5 is one of the most technically sound games I have played this year, but it definitely feels lacking in the evolution department.

Let’s kick off with the locale. These are always the main bullet points of each Horizon entry. This time players are thrust into the lush jungles and volcanic roads of Mexico. From the minute the game started the visual fidelity simply blew me away. This is one of the best looking games I have ever laid eyes on. The attention to detail is uncanny. The gorgeous water effects down to the skipping stones from debris is simply jaw dropping. I checked out both visual modes and settled on the performance mode. The graphics option has aggressive motion blur and simply does not feel as good to play, even with its added visual fidelity.

MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PC
Price I’d Pay: $59.99

The world of Horizon 5 is its most prominent asset. Mexico is a beautiful locale to race around in and I was rarely at a loss for areas to explore or visuals to be impressed by. This is truly a beautiful game from top to bottom. The performance mode delivers 4K visuals with an unwavering 60fps and was the way I played most of the game. The graphics mode drops the frame rate down to 30fps with aggressive motion blur, but does add extra visual touches as well as ray tracing in the Vista mode. These upgrades were simply not worth it for me though as I preferred the smooth handling in the performance mode.

The core game play of Horizon has not changed much from the previous game. There is still an event going on with a series of races across the map. Each race will slowly increase a progress bar that unlocks new expeditions, which were the highlight of the campaign mode. These events are similar to showcase races where I was climbing a volcano or racing a plane down a runway. These were my favorite parts of the game and the in between distractions became more and more as I went on. Horizon 5 never lacks anything to do. In fact it is starting to get to the point of most open world games where there might simply be too much to do.

Forza Horizon 5 for better or worse is fairly similar to the previous entries to the point that I think the formula is starting to wear on me. I love the minute to minute racing. The visuals are simply jaw dropping, but I found myself growing exhausted of the ‘pick a dot on the map and find the fun’ mechanic. There is simply so much to explore I rarely stuck with one thing for more than two races. Even championships don’t require me to keep going. I can abandon them and it feels like nothing is ever required. The game doesn’t do a good job of pulling the player to the next big thing and instead relies on its quantity of content to keep players busy. There are so many things to see and do, but it all does start to feel like busy work after a while.

There are an abundance of menus and rewards, I was getting checkboxes and updates after every race. Tons of things I accomplished without much reason for it. The UI is a mess sometimes with how much is going on and it feels like overload. Every small feat I accomplished the game celebrates it with a new badge or car or credits. I had over a million within the first hour of play. Don’t get me wrong, the content is plentiful, but it just doesn’t feel as meaningful when it is constantly barraging me.

I quickly found the types of events I enjoyed and mostly stuck to those. Thankfully there is so much content that I could focus on just what I liked and had plenty to do. I do wish the game would not attack skill points per car. When most of them are the same perks and there are 500 cars, that seems a bit excessive.

Seasons and dynamic weather return with some added twists. The new dust storm mechanic is menacing. Whenever one would crop up it was always an event. Again the visuals really carry this game a lot. It truly is Playground’s best work to date. I cannot wait to see the world they create for Fable. There are also new community challenges that are baked into other events and have the opportunity to really showcase the creativity of the community. Liveries and customization are in full force and like everything else in this game there is an abundance of it. I can customize my character down to prosthetic limbs, which is an awesome touch. The game is simply packed with content.

What makes a lot of this forgivable though is that this game is on Game Pass. I don’t think the quality is low, but I do feel like this is more of an expansion as opposed to an evolution of the series. That being said, this game is included in Microsoft’s monthly service and it delivers a quality experience. It certainly won’t revolutionize the genre it will certainly impress. It might be time for Horizon to become a platform with new locales and cars added each season as opposed to numbered entries. I know that is impossible with the way car licensing works, but this series screams for that style.

At the end of the day Forza Horizon 5 is like a delicious cake that is being delivered when I already had a ton of leftover cake from the previous party. It is good and I will enjoy it, but I think it is overpacked and in need of some dynamic changes going forward. I want to feel like the series is evolving instead of just getting prettier with new locales. Even with that said, this is easily the best racing game of the year and it simply looks gorgeous. There is little to fault outside of a lack of evolution and I am sure when all is said and done I will likely invest another 50-60 hours in the game.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.

Good
  • Absolutely gorgeous
  • Controls are as solid as ever
  • Tons of content to dig into
Bad
  • Formula is starting to show its age
  • Aggressive motion blur in graphics mode
  • Too many notifications and fluff
8
Great
Written by
Ken is the Editor-in-Chief of this hole in the wall and he loves to troll for the fun of it. He also enjoys long walks through Arkham Asylum and the cool air of Shadow Moses Island. His turn-ons include Mortal Kombat, Metal Gear Solid and StarCraft.