Is Forza Horizon 5 Everything we hoped and more?

I've had Forza Horizon 4 for just short of a year, and, until recently it was the best game of its kind that I'd ever played. Now, I'm not sure.

On Monday 8th November, one day early, Forza Horizon 5 was delivered to my house. I started downloading it when I got home and it was finished just as I went to bed. Disappointing. I woke up at 5, however, and played for nearly an hour. At this point, I was tired and therefore struggled to formulate an opinion. It wasn't until the next time I played that I realized just how good this game actually is.

Firstly, the map

I know, I know, I'm basically recycling my article from October.

I know, I know, I'm basically recycling my article from October.

Despite the long, winding jungle roads and the colourful beauty of Guanajuato city, a considerable number of players enjoy spending time on the airstrip or up 'La Gran Caldera'. And can you blame them, really? With the jumps, the space to achieve incredible speeds and... well.... the lava.

The motorway is pretty special too. Stretching, pretty much, the length of the map, it takes somewhere around 8 minutes to drive from end to end. It's pretty authentic too, with advertisements, accurate road signs and inconsiderate drivers. There are exits leading to the stadium, the village of Mulegé, Baja California, and, eventually both the beaches and La Selva (the jungle)

The new features

I'm going to be honest, of the 11 new features I listed in my pre-release article in October, I've probably used no more than 5. I've (obviously) customised my character, I've sent and received some gift drops (and therefore Kudos), I've enjoyed Horizon Story and I've taken the roofs down on a couple of supercars. Other than that, though, I've barely scratched the surface.

New cars

Whilst I am trying to experience as many of the new cars in Mexico as possible, I am running a pretty eclectic garage with only 3 fixed cars (at the moment). These are the 2021 Ford Bronco Badlands, the 2020 Land Rover Defender 110X and the 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo S. In a nutshell: The Bronco is a car with the speed and agility of a Mustang and the capabilities of a classic Bronco, if not better. The Defender is exactly as expected - as luxury and comfortable on-road and as rugged and wild off-road as ever. Slower than the Bronco, mind you. The Taycan is just mind-blowingly fast with brakes that could've avoided the sinking of the Titanic - incredible.

Noteworthy cars that I've owned/driven: Audi RS2 Avant (kept that one), Aston Martin DB5 (like a broader, squarer, faster E-Type), any of the 'Welcome Pack' cars (I am playing with the full add-ons package. Very worth the money), Ferrari Portofino, McLaren 720s, Jaguar I-Pace.

FH4 Comparison

Funnily enough, I haven't played Horizon 4 since the delivery of Horizon 5. I definitely will play it again some day, whether it's because Horizon 5 is updating or because I'm feeling nostalgic. But there are a few differences - firstly, as I've already mentioned, it takes a lot longer to drive from one side of the map to the other. Also, the traffic cars are different and slightly more exciting. There are several more roundabouts (I find them to be an important feature), beaches and, of course, the volcano. There is a much larger amount of cars available on the Autoshow too.

Small features that I love

There several little features that weren't advertised with the game because they are, in the grand scheme of things, pretty irrelevant. However, I love these. For example, whilst driving along you can access the 'Cars' menu. But! That's not all!

The Cars Menu

The Cars Menu

Because, on this menu, you can access the 'BUY NEW & USED CARS', and clicking this gives you the option to Fast Travel to your nearest Horizon Site free of charge! A massive improvement on Horizon 4. However, you do still have to pay to Fast Travel anywhere else.

Another small thing that I love is the Super Wheelspin. Obviously, that is not a new feature, but to me it seems that the prizes are bigger and better on the new game. And, I seem to be receiving them more frequently than I did on FH4, and it's always great to see a number by the 'MY HORIZON' tab, and then to see the same number by Super Wheelspins (or regular Wheelspins, actually, because, either way, it's free stuff.)

Small features that I do not love

A small feature that I do not love (I don't mean that I dislike the Autoshow)

A small feature that I do not love (I don't mean that I dislike the Autoshow)

Being a cynical person at heart, I obviously have to talk about a couple of things that I don't adore. And the first of these is the mini-photos of the cars in the Autoshow. It appears that the graphics on these images have got a bit worse, and the cars themselves now look like die-casts. As it is a game, this shouldn't irritate me, yet it does. I could only guess as to why.

Another thing that I dislike is not something that was better in Horizon 4. In fact, it wasn't a feature then. It's not actually a feature now, for that matter , but I would love it if we could change camera position. This especially bothers me when on inside view of the vehicle (one of my two favourites - the other being the slightly zoomed-out car-following camera) because in some vehicles the camera position on the drivers' seat is very unrealistic, so that the top of the screen is practically at the top of the ceiling. Rant over.

My thoughts on the graphics (I am NOT an expert)

I am playing on an Xbox One S and, quite frankly, there is not that much difference to Forza 4. Whilst it is a small improvement, I wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't looking for it. This is probably because the game is enhanced for the Xbox Series X, which I obviously don't have. Maybe I'll upgrade some day.

Finally, my hopes for FH6

Based on Playground Games' previous release pattern, we can expect the next instalment in the Horizon series by the end of 2023. I saw an post on my Instagram Discover feed asking users to vote in the comments on where they think Horizon 6 should take place. One of the options was Japan, another was the West Coast of America and another was somewhere in Central Europe. Sadly, I can't find the post again to link it.

One thing I think we can be certain of in FH6 is that the Flagship vehicle will be electric. Perhaps something from BMW's ever growing 'I'-range. I do hope, though, that our favourite ICE vehicles stay in the game.

If you've managed to get this far....

Thanks very much for reading. If you are yet to play the game, read my article from October about what we could expect from Forza.