Forza Horizon 5 is a racing video game set in an open world environment based in a fictional representation of Mexico. The game has the largest map in the entire Forza Horizon series, being 50% larger than its predecessor, Forza Horizon 4 while also having the highest point in the Horizon series. The map was described by creative director Mike Brown as one of the most diverse Forza Horizon maps the team has built. The map contains an active caldera volcano, jungles and beaches, ancient Mayan temples, and towns and cities such as Guanajuato. Players can explore the open world freely, though they can also compete in multiplayer races and complete the campaign mode.
Both the cars featured in the game and the player character can be extensively customised. Players are able to create custom liveries and tunes for cars, and perform engine swaps, drivetrain swaps, or install body kits on certain vehicles. The game is the first in the franchise to support ray tracing on cars . However, Forza Horizon 5 is on another level on Xbox Series X and it's one of the few games where I prefer the 30fps quality mode to its 60fps equivalent. The increase in fidelity and the more graceful LOD transitions combined with the upgraded visuals elevate it significantly beyond performance mode.
True, it's not 60fps but the motion blur is the best I've seen in bridging the gap. Of course, it is possible to play this game at full frame-rate with Series X's mixture of high, ultra and extreme settings - and that's where the PC version comes into play. We'll be reporting back on our testing and experiences there soon. Just like Forza Horizon 4, Forza Horizon 5 is a cross-gen game that is also being released on Xbox One consoles, but it's still a big leap forward for the open-world racing franchise. It's definitely one of the best-looking games you can play on Xbox Series X|S consoles today, featuring the largest open world ever seen in a Forza game. It's also an excellent casual game for players who aren't really into racing games, and it remains far more accessible than the pretty demanding Forza Motorsport series.
In order to replicate the Xbox Series X quality graphics mode on PC, gamers should at least have an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super. But in order to enjoy the PC's biggest advantage, higher frame rates, a more powerful gaming PC is required. With reduced settings equivalent to the Xbox Series X performance mode, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super was not entirely able to hold a steady 60 fps at 4k resolution. PC gamers who would like to play Forza Horizon 5 on these settings should have at least anRTX 2080. Additional technical details, including further explanations of the hardware requirements and recommended settings of Forza Horizon 5 on PC are included in the video embedded below. Developer Playground Games has quite the track record when it comes to optimizing its games, and the latest Forza Horizon installment is no exception.
As expected, there are graphical and performance differences between the platforms with the PC version running the game on maximum settings on an NVIDIA RTX 3080. Interestingly, however, is that the Xbox Series X matches the highest PC settings in the game's quality mode (4K@30FPS). The Series X also supports a performance mode that runs the game in 4K resolution at 60FPS – this mode decreases the quality of reflections, ambient occlusion, shadows texturing, and vegetation in order to maintain a steady framerate. Forza Horizon 5 is also an impressive test case for Microsoft's cross-generational hardware strategy. I played the game for several hours on my Xbox One X, and it doesn't feel compromised compared to anything else on the console.
It's still a better-looking game than 3 and 4, and it looks more or less the same as the Series X version's 60fps mode — just running at half the frame rate. The One X is generally a machine designed for 4K/30fps games, and that's what you get here with Forza Horizon 5. Would the Series X game have looked even better if it didn't have to run on Xbox One consoles?
Maybe, but it's hard to complain about the performance on either platform. Forza Horizon 5 doesn't change the basic structure, and there's still a huge amount of stuff dotting the Mexican map. But it does do a better job of easing you into its mountain of content. You're able to choose which specific types of events to unlock as you progress, so, for example, I preferred to focus on closed-track road races early on before delving into cross-country rallies. I feel like if I stopped playing the game and came back to it weeks later, I'd have a much better sense of what I'd been doing and where would be best for me to spend the next couple of hours.
In turn, that makes me feel better about simply driving around the landscape in search of whatever esoteric quest I might come across. Unlike with 4, I've never felt like I'm wasting my time in Forza Horizon 5, as I always have more of a sense of what I could be working toward. Hop on in and pick from over hundreds of world-class cars and begin your horizon adventure today. This is Your Open World - 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 powerful new EventLab gameplay toolset including custom races, challenges, stunts, and entirely new game modes. I played Forza Horizon 5 on both my Xbox Series X and Series S consoles over the past week, and I'm happy to report that performance is excellent on both consoles.
Players get to choose between Quality and Performance modes, and I think that Forza Horizon 5 is one of the rare racing games that don't feel too uncomfortable playing at 30FPS. This consists of a series of mini-multiplayer games strewn across the map. One of these mini-multiplayer games is called "Piñata pop" where the Horizon Festival's cargo plane drops piñatas. The goal is to pop as many piñatas as they can with the help of other players. It also introduces the "EventLab", a toolset in which players can create custom games, races, and more depending on their personal preference. According to Brown, it is an AI assistant that tracks the current statuses of players, helping them to link with other players online and play together.
Forza Link can also link players' GPS systems if they accept the invitation from another player. Some will prefer the expanded frame rate and see that as a necessary trade-off, but we have to say that the 30fps quality mode still plays very well indeed and you get the maximum visual effect, to boot. Forza Horizon 5 has finally hit consoles and computers for all users , so racers ready for the latest racing experience can enjoy some truly impressive graphics and customization options. One of the things we love about Forza is how friendly its various Tours and racing matches are, from trying out different competitive modes to joining a team and making your way through a world tour together. Keep in mind thatHorizon 5 also includes Kudos and Gift Drops to share with the community, so teamplay is a core aspect for many gaming 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. Take on awe-inspiring weather events like towering dust storms and intense tropical storms as Mexico's unique, dynamic seasons change the world every week.
Keep coming back for new events, challenges, collectibles and rewards, and new areas to explore. Forza Horizon 5 has finally arrived, bringing with it the biggest and best map in an open-world racing game ever. With a ton of content crammed onto it, over 500 cars on the roster, and cutting-edge visuals, there's plenty to keep you drifting and danger sign jumping for hours on end. As such, you may be wondering what the deal is with Forza Horizon 5 crossplay, so you know exactly what the deal is with your progression carrying over from one platform to another. Forza Horizon 5 features a number of robust multiplayer modes that are part of the base game.
You race against other players or participate in cooperative challenges. Horizon Arcade allows you to take part in various mini-games such as smashing objects or jumping over cars, while Horizon Open lets you band together for a low-stakes competitive experience such as seeing who can drift the longest. On Xbox Series X and Series S consoles, loading times are almost instantaneous, which is really convenient when you want to use the map to teleport yourself to another location. Compared to Forza Horizon 4, the game's menus have also been simplified and it's now easier to browse your car collection or check your progression in the game.
It's also easier to see the other online players on your server, though you can still opt for the "Horizon Solo" experience and play the game offline. If you're an arcade racing game purist, Burnout Paradise has a lot to answer for. Ever since, virtually all big-budget arcade racing games have been made in the shadow of Paradise, with most tracks consisting of lines drawn across vast, explorable maps.
Some could even find it a little unoriginal, as the racing elements feel more an extension of the last game than something new, but considering it's already the best feeling experience out there, we think it's essential. The game just plays beautifully, especially across the multiple track types and biomes. Even just haring around the slice of Mexico outside of set races is a joy, with spectacular views and scenery to take in. Plus, with an extended career campaign that includes new expedition story missions and more characterisation, there's more than enough new to make Horizon 5 an upgrade. In one of several extensive videos featuring Forza Horizon 5, Digital Foundry concluded that the quality mode on Xbox Series X mostly matches the maxed out settings on PC. But at a native 4k resolution, the Xbox Series X only manages to output 30 fps with these settings.
Therefore it looks like the PC settings in Forza Horizon 5 do not provide a lot of headroom when it comes to visual quality, also because raytracing is only active in photo mode and can't be activated for regular gameplay. This is an Evolving Open World - Take on awe-inspiring weather events such as towering dust storms and intense tropical storms as Mexico's unique, dynamic seasons change the world every week. Keep coming back for new events, challenges, collectibles, and rewards, and new areas to explore. The new Forza Horizon is here, but the word "new" must be handled with care.
The content has just swelled in all aspects, the career has deepened its storytelling and fans of multiplayer and shared experiences have even more options to get rid of it. This is the fullest part ever with the potential to entertain you for years to come, and since the four are among the best racing games of all time, its slight evolution can't be any different. Switch from 30fps to the 60fps 'Performance' mode and you'll immediately feel the difference. Playground state that this is still running at a maximum 4K resolution, but that "additional graphics settings adjusted to maintain target framerate". In practical terms motion blur is reduced significantly giving it a much more gamey feel and pop-in is now noticeable, . However, it's also just that much more responsive feeling when you play the game and, after a short time at 60fps, a switch back to 30fps feels like daggers in your eyes.
Take on awe-inspiring weather events such as towering dust storms and intense tropical storms as Mexico's unique, dynamic seasons change the world every week. Create your own expressions of fun with the new EventLab gameplay toolset including custom races, challenges, stunts and new game modes. Yes, Forza Horizon 5 does support cross-play across Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S and PC players, meaning you can group up in convoys or race against multiple players no matter which platform they happen to call home. Forza Horizon 5 also supports cloud gaming too, so those who are playing via mobile devices can also experience cross-play with all the regular platforms. Those playing the game on Xbox One X will be interested to learn that the game only offers a quality mode that runs the game in 4K resolution and 30FPS, matching the visuals of the game running on the Series X|S in performance mode. That said, Spencer's focus on Twitter was to highlight the almost instantaneous launch day success Forza Horizon 5 experienced.
The Xbox head said in his November 9 post the game had already surpassed 4.5 million players "across PC, cloud, and console" and peak concurrent players was 3x higher than Forza Horizon 4 at the same point. He followed by saying it was the largest Xbox Games Studios launch day release and thanked both players and Playground Games for its success. Despite the name and the hundreds of accurately modeled real-world cars, Forza Horizon has little in common with Turn 10 Studios' Forza Motorsport series, which is more of a serious racing simulator.
While Horizon isn't exactly a Ridge Racer-style arcade game, it's certainly on the more accessible side of things. The physics feel somewhat grounded in reality, and you'll notice big differences in how various cars handle, but the driving model is very forgiving, and it's easy for anyone to pick up and play. Terrible online, on which, in principle, the whole game is tied, disconnects and few players in sessions who, moreover, disappear.
Here, "crossplay" means that, when playing, you can match with gamers who are on PCs or other Xbox systems. That greatly improves the pool of gamers to draw from, which makes it easier for races to fill up and get started. It also makes it easier to play with friends who may prefer to use their PC racing setups — and vice-versa for those who enjoy racing on a console in front of their TVs. To an extent, cross-saving is also supported, so some gamers are able to switch between PC and console without losing progress. In my tests I found that - generally speaking - there are three tiers of graphics fidelity on the consoles.
Xbox One is at the base of the pile, as you may expect, but still gets the job done. Xbox One X's graphics profile at dynamic 4K is broadly equivalent to the Series machines in their 60fps modes - but each version has its own plus and minus points. In some areas, Series X's performance mode seemed to deliver improved ground detail over Xbox One X. Elsewhere, Series S's textures didn't look as detailed as Xbox One X's (and resolution is lower at a dynamic 810p-1080p).
Series X performance mode matches One X's 1600p-2160p DRS Plus profile - however, I do want to stress again that resolution changes are difficult to track by eye. It's also nigh-on impossible to find any drops from the target 60fps in the Series console performance modes. The only exception to this rule is for those PC players who are playing through Steam. Steam players do not have cross-save support on their version of the game. Only Microsoft Store versions of the game will feature cross-save support with Xbox consoles. For the most part, Forza Horizon 5 does support cross-saves, meaning that you can continue your progress on other platforms, which is great if you've got multiple gaming set-ups.
Forza Horizon 5 Xbox One Vs Xbox Series X However, it's worth noting that players on Steam will not be able to use the cross-save feature, though they'll still experience the benefits of cross-play with other platforms. The Xbox Series S version of the game offers two graphical modes – a performance mode that runs the game in 1080p at 60FPS and a quality mode at 1440p and 30FPS. For example, driving a Toyota Supra is easier than a Ferrari Portofino. Usually when it comes to open-world racing games with countless vehicles, like Burnout Paradise Remastered or The Crew, they tend to feel quite similar if you've tried enough.
While I've yet to collect many more cars, the hundred or so that are in my garage each have their own quirks. Learning when to accelerate, when to brake, and what terrain each vehicle works best on is a worthy pursuit. As you use each vehicle more and more, you level it up and this accelerates the rate at which you earn XP from participating in various activities like drifting or races.
This audio ray tracing approach transforms the Forza Horizon audio experience almost as much as FH5's revamped visuals do, once again making the game world feel much more alive and 'close'. Particularly during races, where the intensity and tension of the action is massively amplified by the way you can hear your rivals' cars coming at you from all sides. Forza Horizon 5 is the best game in the series and another essential release from PlayGround Games, and it sets a pretty high bar for the upcoming Forza Motorsport 8 from Turn 10 Studios.
In many ways, Forza Horizon 5 can feel like more of the same, but the graphics are truly stunning on Xbox Series X and the gameplay is still just as addictive as ever. Playground Games has definitely cemented its place as one of the best studios Microsoft acquired in recent years, though we'd love to see the studio try something a bit different and take more risks with its future games. Don't worry about hyphens, the system takes care of those for you. On your PC, press the Start button , then select Xbox Console Companion from the list of apps.Make sure you're signed in with the account that you want to redeem the code with. Meet new friends in Horizon Open and Tours and share your creations with new community gift sharing. Traxion is a collective of racing, esports and gaming enthusiasts.
Bringing you the latest news, reviews, updates, opinions, and insight from the most recognized and respected names from the world of racing games. We are building a positive community of likeminded gamers, sim racers and fans and we want you to be a part of it. It is stunning to look at, with 4K 60fps racing available, and has the biggest open-world map of the series so far. It can feel more an extension of Horizon 4 at times, but that's nothing to be sniffed at as that game was already at the pinnacle for arcade racers. If the Xbox Series X was demanding a game to hang its hat on, this is surely it. The game still gets its graphical intent across, but the LOD scaling really shows this console's age.
As you race through jungles, you'll notice that the tree foliage stays in its blobby low level of detail until you're almost right up against it, at which point you will have whizzed on by. At times it feels like the game engine shouldn't bother trying to pull in those higher detail assets. The gameplay still holds up though, and a steady frame rate in this situation is going to be the most important aspect. 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.
