Man am I excited to talk to you guys about Forza Horizon 5! Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite make a fantastic one-two punch for Xbox this holiday season. While the fifth game in the Forza series feels very familiar, it truly is the best game in the series to date. Not only that, I would say it is one of the greatest racing games that I have played in nearly 40 years of gaming!
How to Download Forza Horizon 5
You can download the game from the Microsoft Store for your Xbox or Windows machine or, alternatively, you can get it from Steam. Click on the Download button at the end of this review. Check out also what we think about the predecessor of this title – Forza Horizon 4.
The Game Review
What really drew me to this game (apart from loving the series) was the new location, Mexico. This new map is the largest the Forza series has ever seen. Not only is the map truly massive, but it is also very diverse. From lush jungles, lots of sandy tracks, and even areas with ancient Mayan temples
There are also some fantastic weather effects that truly do come to life when playing on an Xbox Series X. I do not think I can overstate how good this game looks, it is the best and most realistic looking game to be released in 2021. Some screenshots look so real that it is hard to know for sure if they are from the game or a real photo.
Speaking of “photo” that brings me to the one area that Forza Horizon 5 faltered a bit. The photo mode is a great idea, especially with how amazing the cars and scenery look. However, I found the photo mode to be a bit sluggish to control. I do hope that they address this with an update at some point.
The roster of cars in Forza Horizon 5 is stacked. It has a great selection of cars that do not just look different, they also drive differently. You really need to embrace this aspect of the game. You will be partaking in many different kinds of racing and challenges so you will have to try and get familiar with different types of cars.
There is a great sense of progression in this game. You earn money and XP at a very fair rate and I found myself always close to getting a new car. The way you can find a barn and then get a classic car is not just awesome for adding a new car to your fleet. It is also awesome in how it gives you bits of information about the car scene in Mexico which I found very interesting.
Some people will tell you Forza Horizon 5 is an arcade racer, but I would disagree with that. Forza Horizon walks a very fine line between that is right in the middle of the arcade action and simulation. It is not as sim-heavy as the Forza Motorsport games, but it is still a far cry away from the very arcadey stuff like the Crusin or Mario Kart games that people seem to like to put in the same category as.
When it comes to stuff to do, Forza Horizon 5 is stacked, so much so that the map can be a tad overwhelming. From races, time trials, special events and more the festival in this game is jam-packed with things for you to do. This is a game that is going to take a very long time for you to complete it, especially if you are going for that 100 percent completion. For multiplayer fun, there is the new Horizon Arcade that has a bunch of mini-games.
Without a doubt, Forza Horizon 5 is going to be on my game of the year list! This truly is one of the greatest racing games that I have ever played. It is a ton of fun to play as it feels fantastic! The visuals and the sound design are amazing too. The game just does everything right and I have a hard time imagining how the series can get any better!
