Forza Horizon was developed for the Xbox 360 and is the first open-world game in the series. It is based around a fictitious festival called the Horizon Festival, set in the U.S. state of Colorado. The game incorporates many different gameplay aspects from previous Forza Motorsport titles, like the large variety of cars, realistic physics and high definition graphics. The aim is to progress through the game by means of obtaining "Wristbands" by driving fast, destroying property, winning races and other driving antics.
Horizon features the physics of Forza Motorsport 4, which have been optimised to work on the 65 variants of terrain said to be present in the game. Players can drive off-road in select areas, while others are limited by guardrails or other means. Horizon allows the player to modify the car that is selected from the garage by changing numerous features both internally and externally on a car. The game is compatible with the Xbox One through backwards compatibility.
The 2013 Dodge SRT Viper GTS was the cover car, which also makes it the first cover car for the Horizon series. Forza Street is a free-to-play racing game developed by Electric Square that was initially released for Windows 10 as Miami Street on May 8, 2018. The game was re-branded as a Forza title on April 15, 2019, and was also released for iOS and Android on May 5, 2020.
A Nintendo Switch version of the game has also been rumoured to be in development. Forza Street uses Unreal Engine 4, unlike the series' in-house engine, ForzaTech. Unlike the main Motorsport and Horizon titles, Street features short, quick street races, and is meant to be played on low-end devices. Game-play involves players controlling only the acceleration and braking by pressing and releasing a button or a touch screen; steering is handled automatically.
There is no definite cover car, as the app icon changes the cars out based on what special event is going on. 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.
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. Create your own expressions of fun with the new EventLab gameplay toolset including custom races, challenges, stunts, and new game modes.
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. Until 2019, each installment of the franchise series have alternated on a biennial basis; the Motorsport entries were released in odd-numbered years, while the Horizon entries were released in even-numbered years.
This pattern was altered due to the absence of a new Motorsport game in 2019. Fans of racing games will get everything they want and more from Forza Horizon 5's stunningly realistic open world. Players are treated to unlimited gameplay opportunities thanks to the intricately detailed user customization and accessibility options.
Despite this, Forza Horizon 5 has pushed the capabilities of the new Xbox consoles to its limits, offering the most stunning and varied racing experience yet. It is playable on the Xbox 360 via backwards compatibility on the newer platform. It features 231 cars and multiple real-world and fictional racecourses. This game includes many tracks, including the return of Maple Valley Raceway, the fictional track last included in Forza Motorsport 4.
Forza Motorsport 7 has the largest set of playable vehicles of any Forza game to date, at 830 cars. 700 cars are included in the base game, while 130 were later added as downloadable content. Microsoft makes a big deal of accessibility, including in its flagship events, and its Xbox games are continuing in that spirit. While you're playing Forza Horizon 5, you can also expect flawless performance. I noted in my initial preview how smooth it played in both Quality and Performance modes, and this experience has more than held up. I mostly played in Quality mode due to my propensity to take pictures and enjoy the scenery, but I never felt my experience suffered playing at 30 FPS.
Performance mode makes smart cuts to texture pop-in, shadows and reflections, and other graphical settings to deliver a stable 60 PFS without compromising graphical fidelity. Loading times were also nearly instantaneous in both modes, including starting the game . 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.
Allowing you to explore fictionalised Mexican landscapes by car, users can drive hundreds of the world's greatest vehicles with complete freedom. Whether undergoing challenges, embarking on an expedition or racing other players, you can enjoy customising your races, stunts, cars and more. On Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, the framerate is capped at 30fps at the highest graphical fidelity, but whether you choose graphics or performance mode the experience is equally spectacular. Whether you're driving, photographing, or customizing them, they look pure perfection from every angle.
Each vehicle reacts differently and realistically to the environment, and they also provide a contrasting driving experience dependent on the weather. The controller rumbles dynamically to match the different styles of track, immersing you in the experience of being on the road. Similar multiplayer content from previous games will be included, allowing players to partake in a variety of street races.
Forza Horizon 5 Release Date 2020 More modes will be included, including the ability for players to create their own races and game modes. You can also look forward to new challenges, events, and cosmetics for your avatar. Most unique will be the gifting challenge, which will reward all players with an exclusive outfit and secret car if enough people give each other goodies. 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.
Forza Horizon 5 is massive right now, and it's only going to get bigger. 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. Forza Horizon 5 includes over 500 cars across a wide range of driving disciplines, including road racing, cross country, drifting, and mud racing. With so many options, it's hard to tell which vehicle is the nicest in Forza Horizon 5 – yet there isn't a single solution. Customizing and upgrading a vintage microcar into a drag racing rocket, or a delivery van into an S2-class race car, is part of the thrill in the game.
Each week, Forza Horizon 5 will cycle through four seasons, each with its own climate. Seasons offer new seasonal racing contests and PR activities , as well as numerous other time assignments like weekly Forzathon. Seasons will start after you've completed your first Horizon Adventure – Apex, Wilds, or Baja – and you'll be able to check the current season on the Festival Playlist screen.
To add to the complexity, Forza Horizon 5 offers four distinct 'Series', each lasting four weeks and featuring unique challenges and rewards. That brings us to the campaign (playable solo or co-op, as before), where most Forza Horizon 5 players will spend their time naturally. The biggest introduction is the new story-driven Expeditions mode — it's a bit of a guided adventure as someone will either be driving beside you, flying above you, or sitting next to you in your vehicle.
Expeditions usually involves driving to a place, like say an active volcano or Aztec ruins. Once you're there, you can unlock a bunch of optional accolades by finding objects of interest, if you're willing to spend the time in the area. Then you reunite with the non-player character partner who takes you on a wild journey, be it sprinting through a tropical storm or running down the side of an active volcano. It's meant to be the highlight of a region — and unlocks a new festival site in turn.
Firstly, there is the choice between the standard edition of the game and the premium one, which offers a plethora of early game unlocks and promised expansion packs, but costs almost twice the price. Whether you're struggling to find the rare cars hidden in various barns across the map, or you want the latest kooky sounding horn or wacky emote, Forza Horizon 5 has the in-game shop for you. Many can be unlocked via gameplay and chance, but you're certainly encouraged to pay upfront to unlock your favorite in-game items.
Highlights here include the accessibility menu, offering subtitling and colorblind-friendly gameplay, and a wide range of difficulty options that allow you to adjust everything to your preference. There are even extensive tuning options for every vehicle, so you can get them to drive just the way you want them to. Outside of the menus, you're spoilt for choice – to open up cross-country tracks, or road-racing, to finish story missions or excel on one type of track; it's all down to you. The first thing you'll notice when launched into the world of Forza Horizon 5 is just how vast the map is.
Despite taking place all in one region, the game blends together 11 different habitats; from ancient cities to modern citadels, sleepy beaches to active volcanoes, each road you drive down provides something new to see. Gameplay is broken up into six different styles of racing, including dirt tracks, street racing and PR stunts, so you can select missions depending on your preferred style of ride. 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.
; Italian for "strength") is a series of simulation racing games for Xbox consoles, Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android devices published by Xbox Game Studios. The series seeks to emulate the performance and handling characteristics of many real-life production, modified and racing cars. Progression in Forza Horizon 5 is tied to Accolades, which are earned by doing pretty much anything in the game, from completing a race to simply discovering a location for the first time. Earning Accolades nets you Accolade Points , which contribute towards your Horizon Adventure. Once you collect enough Accolade Points to progress to the next chapter of the Horizon Adventure, you can choose what to unlock.
So If you'd prefer to leave the races behind and focus on exploration, creative portions like liveries, PR Stunts, or anything else, Forza Horizon 5 will still ensure you're rewarded for your time and effort. Even better, Accolades continue after you reach the Hall of Fame, giving players continued rewards for playing and trying new things. There's even a Hall of Fame leaderboard, where players can compete to earn the most number of Accolades with friends or other players.
Once you get past how bloody gorgeous Forza Horizon 5 is, you sort of have to play the game. For those who have played past Forza Horizon games, this one should be familiar. You're let loose in an expansive open world filled with dozens of events, challenges, races, and more. It's up to you to figure out where to go, what to do, and what to drive. Forza Horizon 5 feels great to play for those who enjoy that kind of freedom, and it's exactly why it isn't just another racing game.
I love the update to the barn finds where you actually deliver the car to the location, such a great little detail. The voice acting given to the main character is also a nice touch, as well as the improved motion blur and haptic feedback system. It truly adds back that feeling of speed that I've been missing in Horizon 4, found in Forza Motorsport 7. Forza Horizon 5 was one of Microsoft's biggest updates at Gamescom 2021, with more information revealed about both gameplay and cars.
With details on Mexico's map, biomes, features, and that all-elusive release date, there's lots to get excited about. So far, Playground Games has unveiled all-new landscapes in the game and an extensive list of 426 cars, with the developers stating that even more models will be added before the game's release date. The fifth iteration of the franchise also boasts the largest map yet – it's 50 per cent vaster than Forza Horizon 4. Accessibility options for difficulty and needs, as well as the ability to finely tune each vehicle, ensure a truly unique experience for all. However you want to experience the expansive world of Forza Horizon 5, somewhere here there's a way to do so. But there are possibilities for even more modes thanks to the new Eventlab.
The new toolset lets players create their own races, game modes, and gameplay experiences, with a whole suite of customisation options. Forza Horizon 5 was developed for the Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows 10, and is set in Mexico. It was released on November 9, 2021; Premium Edition owners received early access on November 5, 2021. The 2021 Mercedes-AMG One and two 2021 Ford Bronco Badlands, one being gray and the other being yellow, are the cover cars. This also makes Forza Horizon 5 the first Forza game to feature three cover cars.
After having a lot of fun with Horizon Open, we moved on to Horizon Arcade. This was one of the most interesting features of Forza Horizon 5's multiplayer for me, presenting you with a ton of different minigames that range from speed-based challenges to simply smashing piƱatas. These minigames appear all over the map, and anyone can automatically join. Some may lament that Forza Horizon 5 doesn't require players to start as a "nobody" and work their way through the ranks with terrible cars and no connections, but that's not the kind of game it wants to be.
This is the ultimate sandbox for anyone with even a passing interest in exploring a giant beautiful world, unleashing their creative tendencies, or racing in meticulously rendered vehicles. You enter Forza Horizon 5 as the "superstar of Horizon UK" from Forza Horizon 4, and it's up to you to carve your own Horizon Aventure. Like Forza Horizon 4, Playground recorded the real sky on location for hundreds of hours and handpicked the best bits, stitching everything together to achieve the majesty of the game's sky. This means it naturally evolves over time, with rolling cloud coverage that changes depending on where you are. The new tropical storms and dynamic weather events look beautiful and even a little intimidating, with a real sense of depth and scale that many games lack.