Forza Horizon 5 — The Racing Game for People Who HATE (& Love) The Genre

The first next gen Forza game has finally hit the market on the 5th, if you spent $100. Or on the 9th if you’re a peasant, like me.

It’s set in a fictional representation of Mexico and is a continuation of your character’s journey from Horizon 4. If you expected anymore story than that, then you’re looking at the wrong game series.

I am not a fan of racing games. (Surprise!) I can count on my hands how many I’ve actively enjoyed over the years. The only reason I preface with this is that ,when I say that Horizon 5 is a must buy for almost everybody, you’ll know that I mean it.

I will be upfront and say that I didn’t end up finishing the campaign before this article. I ended up putting in about 15-ish hours. The campaign is pretty long, depending on how quickly you finish accolades and complete the main missions. But it’s all just races.

Speaking of which; As a racing game, it’s really thrilling. The sense of speed is palpable, which is a problem I have in most other games in this genre. (I’m looking at you, Sonic and SEGA All Stars Racing.) Drifting and turning has a pretty hefty learning curve, which makes it all the more satisfying to pull off.

The different terrains (like the sandy beaches, wide open freeways, and tight city streets) all require specific cars. Which makes the huge library of 530-ish cars have a purpose. And the custom tuning and vinyls make each car more personable.

However, the game often feels more like an adventure than a serious racing game; which seems like the appeal of this entire spinoff series.

As much as I can respect simulation games; I love dumb fun wayyy more. And Horizon has boatloads of it. The optional rewind system alone makes this game way easier to recommend to everybody.

Most of the main missions are just set pieces from Fast & Furious. Despite playing a little bit of both 3 & 4 before 5’s release, the initial drive in this game still managed to wow me.

Outside of the campaign, you’ll be tackling a mound of side content scattered through this open world map that’s twice as big as Horizon 4’s. It’s not like a Ubisoft game where it all feels mindless and makes you want to skinny-dip off of the Hudson.

Each event has its own appeal. Speed, style. Some even require a bit of skill. Even better is that all of the side missions have a purpose. Completing them unlocks accolades. Accolades unlock main missions. And all of this stuff levels you up, which unlocks skill points and spinwheels; the latter of which unlocks cars, clothes, and emotes.

I know, it’s a lot.

So, needless to say, you’re not just going to be mindlessly driving from one side of the map to the other. Horizon 5 keeps the player motivated to do something new. Each time you think you’ve done everything in an area, something new is unlocked. Because of that, there’s never really a dull moment in this game.

I’m the last person to ask about graphics as I just like things that are pretty. And, as a slightly intelligent man, I can tell you that Horizon 5 is beautiful, no matter where you are on the map. Especially when the new weather system gets put to good use.

I’m running this game at High settings on hardware from 2014 and it looks amazing. I’ve even seen it running on lower end PCs as well as the Xbox One and the game still looks good no matter what it runs on. I can tell you that much.

I will say, however, that this game is not modest with how much power it needs. Sure, it still looks great regardless of what it runs on; but this is definitely a situation where, if you have extremely powerful hardware, it will use that to its fullest extent.

I like the accessibility options a lot. And I really, REALLY appreciate that the UI has been changed. Both 3 and 4’s menus. I’m seeing everything and nothing at the same time. It’s the epitome of why everyone hates mid to late 2010 Microsoft UI’s.

The customization is STILL just preset characters. Which bothers the hell out of me. Not to mention that there’s a sizable amount of clothing items and outfits that were just omitted from Horizon 5 for some reason?

It’s unfortunate that, with the amount of innovation and enhancements Turn 10 and Playground Games have made for this game, this customization is almost exactly the same as the other titles.

Sure, there’s more faces, and I do appreciate what is new. Like the prosthetics, hair colors, and pronouns.

But, I won’t rest until I can make my own character from the ground up. I’m talking Cyberpunk levels of changing the teeth.

The game also takes forever to load. It’s not as bad as Avengers on PS4. But it’s getting close.

And it’s installed on my brand new Seagate hard drive. Which may not be the fastest thing in the west. But, if it runs like that on my newer hardware, I can’t imagine what it’ll be like to play on aging hard drives, both on PC and Xbox One.

There’s honestly not much else to say. If you think I’m going to ask: “should you play Horizon 5?” Then, you haven’t been paying attention. The answer’s yes. A million times yes. It has more than enough enjoyable content and breathtaking visuals to get your money’s worth.

If you really want to give the developers your money and want to support them, then yeah. You could pay the full $60. But, if money’s tight, just play it on Game Pass. Your first month of Game Pass Ultimate is only $1.

So yeah, if you have a PC or an Xbox console, then there’s no reason to not play Horizon 5. Unless that reason is you only have a PlayStation or a Switch. In that case, why are you reading this? What’re you, a masochist?

Forza Horizon 5 is available now on Xbox One, Series X/S, & PC.