The “Forza Horizon” series is already at the top of its genre but can a project focused on cars be game of the year? With “Forza Horizon 5,” Playground Games makes a strong case that a racing game should earn the top honor. The last time a driving game was this good was during the early days of the “Gran Turismo” franchise.
That should come as no surprise. The developer has been pushing the boundaries of its open-world racing game for years. It created a dynamic environment with changing seasons in “Forza Horizon 4.” Over the past few entries, it has been expanding the type of activities beyond races. “Forza Horizon 5” feels like the natural culmination of this effort.
CREATIVE JUICES ARE FLOWING
The game is supercharged with boundless imagination. The jump is comparable to when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson joined the “Fast and the Furious” franchise. Street racing and solving crimes took a back seat to over-the-top action and a rambunctious atmosphere, where the cars basically acted as superpowers.
“Forza Horizon 5” crackles with that energy as the campaign takes players to Mexico. Players create their own avatar, customize the protagonist and have the driver take the wheel as the Forza Horizon superstar. They’re essentially the Michael Jordan of the driving world and Mexico, with its diverse biomes, becomes their court.
Players will explore deserts, beaches, jungles, canyons, abandoned airports, ancient temples, the historic city of Guanajuato and the rim of a volcano. Playground Games fills “Forza Horizon 5” with an array of activities that match the range of locales. Meanwhile, the detailed visuals pop, becoming a showcase for the Xbox Series X|S hardware. Touches like a fiery sky during sunset or an endless view from a cliffside will make players want to snap a screenshot (which they’re encouraged to do).
Complementing the scenery is a plethora of race disciplines, stories, seasonal activities and multiplayer games. If players aren’t into drag racing, they can hit the road and tackle underground street racing or sanctioned road courses with crowds. If scoring the most points on jumps and drift zones are more to their liking, players can find PR Stunt activities strewn about the map.
WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO
Playground Game sections off the Horizon Festival into five main activities: Road racing, dirt racing, cross country racing, street racing and PR Stunts. Players earn accolades by performing skills while roaming or by tackling the available contests. These accolades unlock more parts of the festival, letting players explore the diverse offerings. Most of the events cleverly use the beautiful Mexican setting to unveil more of the world to drivers.
The players who level up and collect enough accolades gain access to showcases, expeditions and stories. This is where “Forza Horizon 5” excels and where the developers let loose creatively. These activities are where players will drive through sandstorms straight out of “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Elsewhere, they’ll race a buggy against a pair of monster trucks while also trying to avoid being smashed on the road. In another scenario, they’ll even help researchers study a volcano that dominates the landscape.
The stronger emphasis on Stories adds more of a narrative flare to the experience. These side stories incorporate established gameplay mechanics into episodic missions. A little bit of narrative dresses up a race between two cars into a movie shoot for “Vanguard Force 10,” in which the player steps in for the role of an actor who can’t drive. Another quest line focuses on fixing up a Volkswagen Beetle that has been in a family for a generation. Not all these missions are stellar but playing them in a racing game and seeing how the scenarios impact race design is fascinating.
It plays up the best parts of the franchise. The campaign hits on all cylinders when it pushes the boundaries of what a driving game can be and zooms past expectations. That was a hallmark of the franchise when players raced a train or treaded across surprising terrain. Those unexpected moments of delight show up constantly in this chapter.
What’s even better is that “Forza Horizon 5” bolsters its support for user-generated content. Players are given more tools to create their own events, giving the campaign a near-limitless source of content. The value is further bolstered by multiplayer and seasonal offerings. Convoys return but players will have more activities on hand that include races and even a few playground games.Seasonal content features limited-time events, and it also reflects how the weather impacts the game. Just like the U.K. in “Forza Horizon 4,” the latest sequel in Mexico features seasons that impact weather of the map, which, in turn, has a profound effect on race conditions. It shows a dynamism that most open-world games lack.
All of it adds to a stellar effort that shows that a racing game can not only be a contender for game of the year, it can be the front-runner.
‘Forza Horizon 5’
4 stars out of 4
Platform: Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
Rating: Everyone
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