Forza Horizon 5 was recently released on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The game has hit the ground running, exemplified by its incredible 3 million player base on the first day of its official release. This impressive figure was undoubtedly helped by the game's inclusion in Microsoft's Game Pass service, though Forza Horizon 5 already had 1 million players before the game had even been officially released.
It's not hard to see why the game is so popular, as the gaming industry has been pouring praise onto Playground Games' latest release. For those interested to know what the hype is all about, we've listed some of the game's best features, along with a couple of its shortcomings.
7 Loved: Beautiful Visuals
Forza Horizon 5's visuals have been at the center of praise from fans and critics, as the game makes full use of the Xbox Series X's hardware by offering a stunning rendition of Mexico.
Along with the sheer quality of car designs, Forza Horizon 5 offers an impressive range of 11 different biomes, each with its own unique feel and look. The various biomes offer fantastic diversity to Forza Horizon 5's aesthetics, and it's an absolute joy to drive through each one.
6 Loved: Its Wide Appeal
One of the key reasons for Forza Horizon 5's enormous success thus far is that it appeals to a wide range of audiences, with both casual and hardcore gamers finding plenty to love. The game also finds an outstanding balance between appealing to car enthusiasts and those who'd struggle to name more than a handful of vehicle brands.
This is particularly evident with the vehicle customizability features. Each vehicle has a plethora of mechanics that can be tuned, letting players adjust their vehicle to their liking while also suitably adjusting them for each biome; those less interested in vehicles are kept in mind too, though, as they can simply flick through the Suggested Tunes tab to implement easy to understand adjustments.
5 Loved: The Wide Range Of Events
One aspect of Forza Horizon 5 that may surprise new players is the vast range of event types on offer. Instead of simply offering A to B races, Playground Games have implemented a wide variety of events from day one, giving the game excellent variety.
Sure, events consisting of photographing certain statues or landmarks may not be as exhilarating as the competitive races, but they offer a welcome change of pace that ensures the game won't become stale anytime soon.
4 Didn't Love: The Lack Of Innovation From Forza Horizon 4
Forza Horizon 5 has been receiving waves of plaudits since its release, though that doesn't mean that the game is without shortcomings. One of the main complaints that has been directed to Forza Horizon 5 is its lack of innovation.
Granted, the game has an entirely different look to it following its move from England to Mexico, but the core mechanics have remained largely the same. Playground Games could justifiably use the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" reasoning for this, though it would have been nice to have had some more gameplay innovations to make Forza Horizon 5 feel like a true step up from its predecessor.
3 Loved: The Map Size
Forza Horizon 5's map size is one aspect that certainly has improved from Forza Horizon 4, as the map is 50% bigger than the one featured in the previous game.
Open worlds with huge maps are often criticized, as the maps tend to contain a lot of empty space and copied environments. Forza Horizon 5 certainly doesn't run into this issue, as each corner of the map feels meticulously designed. As mentioned before, the game's map is split into 11 different biomes, offering fantastic variety and truly making the game feel like its own complete world.
2 Loved: Excellent Solo Gameplay and Difficulty Balance
Although Forza Horizon 5's online features are excellent, there will still be many people who prefer to play the game solo.
Unfortunately, some sports games have started to treat their single-player modes as an after-thought, presumably to encourage people to play online. Thankfully, Playground Games didn't opt for this underhanded tactic and did their best to ensure that solo players would have a fantastic time with the game.
The difficulty balance is particularly great in Forza Horizon 5 and deserves recognition. Difficulty balance is an important thing to get right in the racing genre, as a racing game that is too easy or too hard will struggle to keep players engaged. Forza Horizon 5 doesn't suffer from this issue, and most players will find a perfect difficulty level for them.
1 Didn't Love: Extra Fees
Complaining about extra fees and microtransactions almost feels redundant at this point, as it's clear that the gaming industry will continue moving in this direction. Still, it's a shame that so many exist in Forza Horizon 5, with the Car Pass, VIP Membership, and more, temping players to dig further into their pockets at every corner.
Sure, Forza Horizon 5 has launched on Game Pass so most people are getting a great deal with the game, but it's still a shame that some players will feel the need to continue sinking more money into the game to keep up with friends and online opponents.
Forza Horizon 5 is out now for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.