Five things I've noticed about Forza Horizon 5

6 Million sales in its first week, glowing reviews from critics and consumers alike, and the excitement of what's to come in the future. Indeed, Forza Horizon 5 has made quite the splash into the racing game scene and it's easy to see why. Turn 10 and Playground Games usually release the Motorsport and Horizon titles every other year (Motorsport one year and Horizon the other), but with Horizon 4, they broke that cycle. FH4 was released in 2018 or three years ago and only just received its sequel a little over three weeks ago. Even though the fourth installment was kept fresh with many updates, it was time for a new locale and more improvements than a simple update could administer.

As such, the hype around FH5 has been unreal these past few months. Dev streams, the E3 trailer, leaks, the promise of significantly improved car sounds, and so much more has meant gamers were frothing at the mouth to get their hands on the new Horizon game for ages. Thankfully they (and me) wouldn't have to wait much longer, as on the 9th of November, everyone could finally get their hands on FH5 and see what all the fuss was about (or on the 5th if you bought the Platinum Edition). I too have bought the game pretty quickly to see what was what and discovered some interesting differences between Horizon 5 and Horizon 4. Let's get into my findings...

Difference 1: Cars feel more stable.

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Most of us know that Playground Games doesn't really fiddle with the physics system of their prized open-world racing game(s). They've got a pretty solid engine as it is, so why go reinventing the wheel? Even still, Playground has been known to tinker here and there with each new title and Horizon 5 is no different.

Fear not, it's all still classic Forza physics. If you've played the 4th or even the 3rd game extensively then you'll have no problem adjusting to Horizon 5. With that said, there are –of course– a few little discrepancies to be aware of. Chief among which is the overall grip levels...

In Horizon 4, I drove various Gen 5 Vipers almost exclusively. I had one that was even predominantly stock (save for some suspension tuning) as it was basically a glorified canvas for a design I made. Yet even with the suspension tuning, my completely stock Gen 5 Viper in Horizon 5 still feels more stable than the aforementioned canvas car. That shouldn't be possible, right? I even used the tried and true Hoki Hoshi tuning guide to get the ideal suspension setup on that prior car, so what gives?

From what I can tell, the secret lies in crests and bumps. In FH4, near the top of second gear at around 80 MPH on the peak of a crest or on a bump, I have a pretty high chance of experiencing wheel spin even in my stock Gen 5 GTS(s). The backend might even step out slightly if the conditions are right. In FH5, I have absolutely gunned it over bumps in the same gear at roughly the same speed and have yet to come across such momentary traction loss. The issue was even worse in FH4 if I was in first-gear, yet I can report no such issue in FH5. It's not that you can't feel the car go light via the rumble in your controller, you can, it's that you never feel the rumble indicate tire-slip past a certain point as you normally would. Failrace in his honest review of FH5 said that the game seems to give you a momentary increase in grip if you dip a wheel onto the grass or dirt at high speeds, and I think a similar system and or mechanic is at play here. Just as he describes, it feels like the game gives a temporary increase in traction so that you don't end up in a home that belongs to a family of ocelots.

Where his experience and my experience differ though is in duration. In Failrace's example, the game will eventually allow normal tire-slip once you've stayed on the dirt for too long. In my case, barring moderate circumstances, the game gives you this increase in grip all the way until the weight of the car loads up the tires again. In other words, that split second where you should feel the car lose grip when the tires are unloaded is gone. The result? An easier, slightly less active driving experience for casual players. That isn't to say the physics feels dull, dear lord they don't, but that little bit of liveliness present in the predecessor is now gone.

Ironically, while the handling has been “simplified” (in this regard), the braking is now more complicated. Failrace noted this as well, and I've experienced it a lot here lately, but the brakes are much keener to locking up now. I even run with the ABS on, and I have routinely locked up when full-braking pressure was applied. If locking-up is this bad with the ABS on, I'd hate to know what it's like with the ABS off...

Difference 2: The load times on Xbox One S are noticeably worse.

Better get used to seeing this screen...

Better get used to seeing this screen...

Yep! I didn't get FH5 for PC (well I did get the digital code, but my computer can barely handle FH3, let alone FH5), I got FH5 for my last-gen Xbox One S. As a result, that puts me in a unique position to not only talk about the game for those who –like me– are “stuck” with the last-gen Xbox, but also to talk about the loading times on said console. And guess what? The loading times seem to be worse than FH4 (perhaps not surprisingly). I haven't timed exactly how much slower FH5 is to start up, but I'd estimate it's anywhere between 1 to 2 minutes slower. That might not sound like much of a difference, but try timing 1 to 2 minutes and you'll see how it can feel like an eternity.

Difference 3: The sense of speed is much improved.

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If there was one gripe I had with FH4 (and I had a few), it was definitely the lackluster sense of speed. Going 120 MPH felt like a piddly highway journey at 60 MPH, and 200 just didn't have the gravitas (or terror) it should. In FH4, speed had an annoying sense of leisure about it, rather than the theater that makes high-speed journeys so thrilling. Thankfully In FH5, things are much improved. Not perfect, driving fast in the cockpit cam doesn't have the drama I'd like, but there's no denying things are much better here. Going to the north side of 200 MPH in a Gen V Viper genuinely feels like you're at the ragged edge of the Viper's performance, and the same can be said of the Porsche 918 Spyder when you crest 230 MPH. The sense of speed is so improved in fact, that when you drive a Koenigsegg Yesko at 190 MPH, it feels like a light jog. That's particularly impressive because James May had a similar experience when he drove the Bugatti Veyron on Top Gear years ago. Saying to Clarkson that he nearly opened the door (thanks to impatience) until he looked down and realized the car was going 70 MPH. To recreate that strange sensation (and make it far more noticeable) is a welcome improvement and pretty impressive.

Difference 4: There is much more verticality to the map.

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No, I'm not saying that just because the volcano is much higher than the –comparatively– piddly little hill we got in FH4. That's low-hanging fruit. I'm saying that because there's more elevation changes around the entire map. It's more noticeable on the North-Eastern side of the world (near the Horizon Rush outpost) but meaningful elevation changes can be found all over. In the case of the gorgeous mini-mountains around the previously mentioned outpost, it's like driving around and looking into a more lush Grand Canyon. Seriously, viewing the cliff faces from the valley below is jaw-dropping, and surveying the mountains from sitting atop one is equally astonishing. I can't recall a Forza game ever having such diversity of elevation, and certainly not one where you could see it without the use of a glitch.

Things do get less pronounced if you travel far south, but hints of the wide-ranging altitude can still be found. Particularly at the suspension bridge, where looking across the mountain range and even driving off the bridge itself gives you a magnificent idea of the vertical scale of Horizon's Mexico.

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Even across the mid-section of the map (roughly highway level) things are better. While there are no mountains, and the hills aren't quite as big, the terrain climbs and falls with a frequency not seen in the previous game. That leads to the roads feeling more dynamic, which means they're better to drive as a result.

That's not just lip service either! I was genuinely amazed by some of the roads further east of the main festival. If the roads were longer (and slightly curvier), I would've regretted not including them in my article about predicting the best driving roads in the game! They really were that good.

Difference 5: The S1 PI-threshold has seems to be wider

(Left = FH5 Viper, right = FH4 Viper). Despite both being identical in handling, driveline, and chassis mods, I had much more PI to play with regarding engine mods in FH5 than in FH4.

(Left = FH5 Viper, right = FH4 Viper). Despite both being identical in handling, driveline, and chassis mods, I had much more PI to play with regarding engine mods in FH5 than in FH4.

Now maybe it's just a select few cars like my (other-other) gen 5 Viper, but I think the devs changed how “costly” certain upgrades are. Not the literal cost of them, but how much PI they use up. In FH4, I built an S1-900 Gen 5 Viper –without aero– and the only engine mods I could get on it was a Race Exhaust. It had all the chassis and driveline upgrades, racing slicks, one of the lightest wheels in the game (a set I like from a company called Wedsport), and all that was enough to get that Viper to S1-900 with 654 horsepower. Now? I can get all that, and even more engine mods! The result? A PI level of S1-897. That doesn't sound like a big difference on the face of it, but it is when you consider this Viper (in FH5) makes 737 horsepower! No joke, the only difference between my S1 Gen V in Forza Horizon 4 and my S1 Gen V in Forza Horizon 5 is how many engine mods the two have! That is what leads me to believe the PI “threshold” if you will has been increased. How else would you explain two nearly identical Vipers being separated by almost 100 horsepower?

I don't know if this applies to lower or higher classes as well, I'll need to make carbon copies of more cars from FH4 in FH5 to truly see, but from that one example alone it's looking like a distinct possibility to me.

What differences have you all noticed in FH5 from FH4 though? Think there's something (not obvious) I missed? Let me know in the comments below!