Forza Horizon 5

Forza Horizon 5 is the roadtrip holiday I’ve really needed after two years in and out of COVID-induced lockdowns. It brings me great solace to be behind the wheel, covering hundreds of kilometers of distance across an awe-inspiring piece of Earth. And even when I’m careening through the mud on a cross-country race, crashing into strangers on the internet, my mind is in an untroubled, fulfilling place. In 2021, Forza Horizon 5 is where I want to be.

Forza Horizon 5 is a marvel of a game and a standout title on the Xbox Series X. It’s a near-perfect racing and exploration game that looks stunning, plays like a dream, and just begs to be played over and over again.

Forza Horizon 5 looks phenomenal, plays well and is practically flawless. It is undoubtedly the best entry in the series and has the most detailed open world in any game to date.

I absolutely adore Forza Horizon 5, and while it’s possible to fault it as being a bit more of the same when compared to Forza Horizon 4, I’m not sure that’s actually a bad thing. It’s a more polished experience overall, and while it may be playing it safe just a tad, it’s hard to deny that the game is a technical marvel, and a fantastic show piece for Xbox Series X and 4K displays everywhere. Even if you opt to play in performance mode to hit that sweet 60fps spot, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how great everything looks in motion. So yes, if you’re not already convinced, do yourself a favor and check out Forza Horizon 5 when it launches this week.

Let’s be clear for a moment: Forza Horizon has always been good. From the moment it burst onto the scene in 2012 as a spin-off to the core, more po-faced Forza Motorsport series, it established itself as a fun, thrilling, and subversively moreish alternative thread for racing on Xbox. It was in many ways the spiritual, open-world successor to Project Gotham Racing, and in turn traced its roots back to arcade racing royalty like OutRun. This is a tough lineage to stand up to, but Horizon 5 takes all that history and experience and runs with it, incrementally upgrading this series into must-play brilliance. It’s an achievement of a game.

The people over at Playground Games proved -yet again- that they are capable of delivering the very best arcade racing experience. Forza Horizon 5 is truly a superb game in a league of its own.

It’s always a difficult task to raise the bar on something that’s already top notch, and when it comes to the racing games, due to the natural limits of the genre, the task gets even harder. But thanks to the now more mature than ever PlayGround studio, Forza Horizon 5 crushes its own bar and reaches a whole new level, easily becoming one of the best and most complete racing games of all time, if not THE best.

In conclusion, play Forza Horizon 5. There has never been a better looking game, and it plays like an absolute dream. It’s full of cars, full of challenge, full of glorious visuals and played out across a world like no other.

Forza Horizon 5 somehow raised an insurmountable bar to new heights. Playground Games continued to show off their prowess with game development and their striving to make a game that is fun for every type of player in every aspect of gameplay. Regardless of if you’re a racing fan or not, if you have Game Pass, Forza Horizon 5 needs to be the next game you play. You never know, it could be the jumping-off point into a new genre that you never knew you’d click with.

I went into Forza Horizon 5 expecting a pretty racing game. What I got was an experience, a splendid open-world car exploration simulator with light RPG elements and a trunk full of things to do and see. While I’d like to see Playground try something new or perhaps break free from the existing formula next time, this is a clear candidate for 2021’s best game and a must-play, whether you have Game Pass or not.

Forza Horizon 5 features all the content from the previous game and bumps the fun of this Horizon title. The game looks stunning and the gameplay is the same casual fun of Forza Horizon. The replayability of this game makes it outstanding and deserving of a perfect score.

Forza Horizon 5 is indeed the FAST & FURIOUSLY good and if you’re looking for a true next-gen racer, it’s finally arrived! And like Dom Toretto, Forza Horizon 5 lets you live your virtual life at a quarter mile at a time.

Forza Horizon 5 accomplishes that which so many franchises try again, and again, but fail to do so: get better with each and every entry. Playground Games and Turn 10 Studio's magnificent display brings about one of the best racing games of all time to Microsoft. Is this 2021's GOTY?

Overall, this is a Forza Horizon game in every sense of the word, and shows off the best of what Horizon can be. It’s fun, only structured if you want it to be, and seems to exist purely to make sure you have a good time. What more could you want?

Forza Horizon 5 is a true masterpiece. The new Mexican setting brings in wonderful landscapes, alongside a majestic implementation of the whole graphic compartment. And the contents offered are no less, with a mountain of modes suitable for both those who prefer the single player experience and those who love co-op or competitive ones. A sumptuous work and a true statement of love to the racing games genre in general.

Forza Horizon 5 matches a perfect score with an absolutely perfect game. If you love driving, don’t even think about anything else. Play it. Playground Games nailed it.

History repeats itself as Playground Games once again delivers one of the best open world racers you'll ever play.

Forza Horizon 5 is the culmination of all of Playground Games' efforts to perfect its craft, and the result is the best open-world racing game you can play. It combines the most beloved parts of Forza Horizon 3 and 4 into one ultimate racer.

Forza Horizon 5 sets a new industry gold standard for racing game visuals, gameplay, and map design. Our expectations of map design just leveled up with Horizon 5, and it’s another massive victory for Game Pass members who will get it on release day. The good news for players is that there’s future DLC content to come, which will only add to what is comfortably the most exciting next-gen racing game released so far.

Collectively, Forza Horizon 5 does everything right, and in doing so makes Playground Games’ latest entry into the Forza franchise an absolute must-play for any racing enthusiast or casual racing fan.

Forza Horizon 5 is a stunning and beautifully crafted entry in the series that's full of memorable races, creativity, and fantastic additions.

Forza Horizon 5 is a deep and nuanced car nirvana for revheads and auto geeks to endlessly collect, tinker, and experiment. It’s also an extremely accessible buffet of racing spectacle open to everyone, from Deluxe Edition diehards to Game Pass nomads – no matter their driving skill or mechanical knowledge. It’s an occasionally goofy but always earnest Valentine to Mexico’s world-famous culture, and a romantic ode to the magic of road-tripping through postcard-perfect vacation vistas. It’s a long haul, MMO-inspired racer that’s exploding with more races, activities, and event types than can comfortably fit on some parts of the map – and yet it still always feels relaxed rather than daunting. It never locks you into something you don’t want to do and steadily rewards you for however you choose to play it. It looks beautiful, it sounds magnificent, and it is glorious to play. Yes, Forza Horizon 5 is a lot of things. Above all, however, it is the result of a racing studio at the peak of its craft and the best open-world racing game I’ve ever played.

Beautiful, vast, creative, varied, and exciting, Forza Horizon 5 is an incredible game that will have you hooning around Mexico for months. There's an amazing sense of variety to everything about this game, and the smart Accolades system should have many achievement hunters hooked as they explore the full extent of what this remarkable racer has to offer. Fantastic handling, interesting events, and a wonderful history-spanning selection of cars makes for an amazing experience — arguably the best game in the series to date, and inarguably the best game in the series to DOOT. See you in Mexico, amigos...

Forza Horizon 5 proves that even the best games can get better. An unparalleled driving experience that also happens to be a graphical showcase like no other.

Forza Horizon 5 is the best game in the series and the best Xbox Series X/S game to date. Its flawless racing and wealth of activities are backed up by a gorgeous setting and a fantastic new progression system which encourages players to focus on the features they enjoy most. Utterly essential.

Forza Horizon 5 is a visual spectacle and a masterpiece, providing plenty to do and tons of fun to be had around every corner.

Forza Horizon 5 is a must buy game for racing fans and casual gamers alike. I don’t know how, but Playground Games has made gains over Horizon 4 that I really didn’t think would be possible. The visuals are stunning, the sound is amazing, the number of things to do is almost overwhelming and the gameplay feels refined, making it an amazing open world racing game experience. The freedom to go pretty much anywhere in the Mexican will eat up a lot of time. Sure, there have been network issues, but these seem to be disappearing, allowing for an almost flawless experience. So, why are you still reading, go play this game on Game Pass, or flip a few extra dollars for the deluxe version and you get the VIP ranking, access to two expansions and a few extra cars that you might most likely enjoy.

Forza Horizon 5 is not an innovation, but its excellent quality makes it one of the best racing games even if it is conservative. It's a place of speed and limit, of wildness and freedom, which makes adrenaline soar all the time.

Forza Horizon 5 takes an already-amazing series and makes it better with a grander scale, but also an increase in quality. Even in its earliest days, it’s clear that the game will have a longer shelf life than prior entries thanks to the revamping of user-generated content adding more kinds of gameplay to the mix. Having things like obstacle courses thrown in helps evoke a bit of Project Gotham Racing, while the increase in NPCs and overall world-building makes for a better overall experience. Forza Horizon 5 is a more back-to-basics game in the sense that it puts the player on an ascendable ladder and doesn’t feel aimless like the prior two games – which in hindsight, were a bit unwieldy with regards to giving the player a set path to actually enjoy its many offerings. Forza Horizon 5 is the best entry in the series yet and should only get better as time goes on and more content is added.

Forza Horizon 5 is the leap to the new generation of Xbox. Playground Games has been able to improve an almost unbeatable experience, with an exquisite localization and gameplay, which manages to offer a level of immersion rarely seen before in the open world driving genre.

Forza Horizon 5 is the best open world driving game ever and one of the best in the speed genre globally. Playground Games has once again surpassed itself with a varied ‘crossover’ in which each kilometer traveled is worth its weight in fun and spectacularity.

It's unbelievable, but Playground games has surpassed the already brilliant Forza Horizon 4 in every way and sets a new standard for the fun you can have in a racing game. Forza Horizon 5 is a must-have, even as a racing novice, and the perfect excuse to get an Xbox Series X. Viva la Mexico!

Forza Horizon 5 [is] the first killer, can’t-miss game for the current generation Xbox Series X and S consoles as well as Microsoft’s Game Pass subscription service. It’s a game that I think anyone can immediately find appealing.

Forza Horizon 5 is the best Forza yet and, not only that, but it also makes a strong case for being the best racing game period. A joyous combo of arcade racing and simulation-level depth, all wrapped up in a beautiful bow thanks to its diverse, expansive Mexico setting, this is an unmissable iteration in what is arguably gaming’s most consistently fantastic series.

Forza Horizon 5 is the pinnacle of the Playground Games series and is the new king of open world courses. To oust such a noble predecessor was not easy but the Leamington boys have further embellished the playful recipe and made the progression in Horizon Adventure clearer. In addition to the splendid expeditions around Mexico, the arrival of 360-degree editors such as Event Lab will allow the community to create wonders and expand a basic offer with few equals, both in terms of quantity and quality. Hypercars of all brands are even more enjoyable to drive and the audiovisual presentation goes to great lengths to strive for the full next-gen. While waiting to know what the future holds for us as a flagship team of the Xbox family, we can finally enjoy this monumental experience.

Forza Horizon 5 turns "more of the same" into a mark of true excellence, furtherly polishing and improving on a winning formula and making it exponentially more spectacular on a technical level and more enveloping on an environmental level, and mixing it all with its distinctive driving model, a unique mix of a simulative superstructure with an arcade heart beating beneath the hood.

¡Ay, caramba! Forza Horizon 5 is maturing under the Mexican sun a recipe concocted by Playground Games that has already delighted millions of pilots. Like an antojito, Forza Horizon 5 can be enjoyed in a good mood with anyone, anytime. Rolling over everything that has already been technically done and taking advantage of the Xbox Series X springboard to stamp the skies, Microsoft's software climbs the volcano of fun and unleashes an exhilarating torrent to be experienced alone or with others. It’s the festival of the decade.

At every turn, Forza Horizon 5 impresses in ways few games have. From the first mile, I was on the edge of my seat. With so much to do in such a relentlessly gorgeous world, I suspect it won’t be long before I get the itch to jump back into the driver’s seat of my favorite car. Even amidst a competitive racing field, Forza Horizon 5 is a finely tuned supercar.

We can't turn a blind eye to the sporadically unfair AI, but that is also the only genuinely bad thing we have to say about Forza Horizon 5, a phenomenal racing game that excels on almost every front which makes this one of the best race games to date. This is a must have: a love letter to racing and pure, unadulterated fun.

If you're looking for an arcade racing game with an enormous amount of races, an awesome multiplayer, a lot of things to find and collect, and amazing graphics, you have finally found it!

Though it’s iterative in a lot of ways, Forza Horizon 5 is a near-faultless open-world racing experience that’s so sure of itself and its offerings that it goes the extra mile to sprinkle in the kinds of fan service that people go wild for. As a game it’s tremendous, but it’s also a brilliant, interactive postcard for a culture that is passionate about few things more than their country and their cars.

Its stunning visuals, huge content and fun multiplayer ideas prove that Forza Horizon 5 is the most enjoyable racing game of all time.

Forza Horizon 5 is the "best of" all the series entries. Playground Games found the key to present the ginormous amount of content in a smooth way in one of the best open worlds ever made. Mexico is a magical, fascinating and adventurous place to drive in, and the glorious graphics of the game give us the real next gen experience we were looking for.

Following to the letter its own formula in terms of gameplay, controls, structure and open world design, Forza Horizon 5 becomes the new pinnacle of the franchise due to the special way that it transports us to the beautiful Mexican landscapes, taking harnessing all the power of the Xbox Series X to become one of the first games of this new generation that undoubtedly feels like a new generation. Some rough edges at the level and interface and progression slow it down from true perfection, but its virtues overshadow those flaws and of course, make it one of the best games of this 2021.

Forza Horizon 5, the latest masterpiece of the Playground team, manages to be a flawless production in almost every sense.

Although the lack of meaningful additions is obvious, Forza Horizon takes another step forward in the racing genre, offering a fun adventure in a beautiful world with plenty of things to do.

Forza Horizon 5 is an incredible step forward for the series: with a plethora of brand new missions and challenges, and brilliant ideas to represent a colourful nation through eleven diverse biomes, Playground Games reaches new heights and shows the real face of the new generation of consoles.

That’s the thing about Forza Horizon 5 - it’s like a Forza Horizon greatest hits album. The handling and fundamental mechanics remain unrivalled; the cars are still absolutely stunning; and as for Mexico as an environment… well, it’s honestly a bit mind-blowing – especially on new-gen consoles (although it works perfectly on the lower-end Xbox One S console, too). Ultimately, it’s hard to fault Forza Horizon 5 at all. Sure, it may not be brimming with exciting innovations, but it’s packed to the rafters with the entire franchise's most memorable, compelling content, informed by everything that Playground Games has learned over the last nine years. Forza Horizon is most definitely a jewel in Xbox's crown, and Forza Horizon 5 is quite possibly the shiniest of them all.

At its core, Forza Horizon 5 is about having fun behind the wheel. It’s technically excellent and plays brilliantly, but it never takes itself too seriously. I mean, I jumped a pinata float off a mountain at one point. That balance makes the Horizon series the most grin-inducing racing games out there, and arguably one of the largest feathers in Xbox Game Studios’ cap.

Forza Horizon 5 is one of the best games of the year and starts the discussion on whether a racing title like this one could be GOTY. It stands out from the rest of similar games, both in terms of technical and gameplay aspects.

This one's for the fast and the curious. Whiplash or no, brace yourself. [Issue#366, p.100]

After four previous tours, there’s certainly a feeling of familiarity that can lessen its impact at times, and hopefully the online issues will stabilize soon. Forza Horizon 5 is less of a leap forward than its predecessor, for sure, but that doesn’t stop it from delivering an impeccably crafted world with a staggering number of fantastic things to do and jaw-dropping places to see. As much as it’s a racing game, it’s also a driving adventure. It balances chaos and precision, exploration and speed, and it gets our wholehearted recommendation for anyone who wants to get behind the wheel.

Forza Horizon 5 offers more of everything we loved with part four. The competitions are crazier and the exploration more dynamic than ever before. Some elements do seem to go on repeat, but still manage to feel fresh thanks to the environmental change. An adrenaline-filled experience no one should miss, quite simply.

Despite a few minor quibbles, Forza Horizon 5 is a triumph for its series, taking everything the last several titles set up so well and making a bigger and better game than its predecessors. Any fan of racing games needs to check it out now, and even if you’re not usually into the genre, you may surprise yourself with how well it pulls you in. Forza Horizon 5 is a taste of gaming nirvana that is not to be missed.

After 5 games with build-up, we are left with a staggeringly good game that delivers both quality and entertainment beyond all expectations. It is both big, beautiful, varied and very, very fun.

Quotation forthcoming.

Overall, I’m extremely happy with how Forza Horizon 5 has turned out. The variety in activities as well as care and attention put into its mechanics and world makes Mexico such a delight to explore. It’s most certainly the best game in the series, and could well be the best game on Xbox right now.

There’s a sense of unfettered joy in everything here. It’s a game that just wants to be fun. For everyone. It aims for every moment you spend with it — be it five minutes or five hours — to be a frustration-free, jaw-dropping, reward-filled delight. And in this endeavour it succeeds marvellously. If there was ever a racing game that needs to be in every Xbox owner’s library, Forza Horizon 5 is it.

You absolutely can't go wrong with what is easily one of the most impressive open-worlds in gaming. Whether you plan on staying for a week, or hanging on for dear life for years to come, Forza Horizon 5 has more than enough to keep you busy and smiling across jungles, deserts and active volcanos.

The best in the series so far, that embraces the open world approach in a way previous entries never quite did – while also being an endlessly enjoyable and highly varied arcade racer.

Forza Horizon 5 is a monument to freedom, adrenaline and arcade fun, in a Mexico whose dimension is rivaled by its breath-taking beauty. With hundreds of cars, dozens of events and an immaculate driving experience, it's by far the best arcade racing game of the year, with a surprising depth that might even surprise the sim racing purists.

Forza Horizon 5 once again demonstrates Playground's mastery with an Xbox and PC exclusive that sets a new technological standard in the genre.

With Forza Horizon 5, Playground doesn't shake up its arcade racing formula, but when it works so well, why change? Especially since Mexico in this episode offers undoubtedly the best map of the series, with an amazing variety of biomes and an attention to detail that borders on respect, especially on such a massive playing surface. FH5 is a title that manages to do everything it does with its hands in its pockets. Its also one of the most beautiful games of the current generation.

The new Forza Horizon is here, but the word "new" must be handled with care. For the most part, the fifth part is the same as the fourth. 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.

Forza Horizon 5 absolutely lives up to the pedigree established by its predecessors. By using almost everything that worked in FH4, the game would've been a strong contender even if all it did was change its locale. The few changes in FH5 work heavily in its favor and contribute positively to the idea that the game is difficult to put down because it's fun and there's so much to do. For those who have played previous entries in the series, jump on this one immediately. For series newcomers, FH5 is a perfect place to start.

Forza Horizon 5 is a solid bet from the beginning and a visual delight for Xbox Series X.

Forza Horizon 5 is flashy and vibrant. It packs in pretty much everything one could want out of a racing game, with a broad selection of cars, tracks, and challenges to complete. Its addition to Xbox Game Pass alone should be reason enough to try it, but it stands as one of the best Xbox exclusives out right now regardless. It might not do much to separate itself from the other entries mechanically, but Forza Horizon 5 is the best the series has felt yet.

Forza Horizon 5 is probably the best arcade racing game of recent times, and one of the most prominent releases from this year. Even if cars is not your thing, there is plenty to love in this new Microsoft exclusive.

Forza Horizon 5 is ultimately a game in the franchise that continues to evolve in a more and more enjoyable direction, even if there is a core to the game that feels very familiar.

Forza Horizon 5 is so stacked it’s hard not to feel a little overwhelmed with options. But there’s never really a sense that you need to do any of it, or progress through a series of checklists before moving on to the next thing. And in the end this might be the genius at the heart of Horizon, you’ll want to keep moving, keep driving, simply because you want to. Because it feels right. And in creating a vast, beautiful open-world in which you can do that very thing, Playground Games lives up to its namesake.

There is a lot in here that will keep you busy for days and weeks on end, in the best way possible. This game builds on everything that already made this series such a success and leaves you inundated, in a good way, with so many activities. It’s fun to play, stunning to watch, and even while writing this all I want to do is jump straight back into it. Whether you’re a fan of racing games or not, Forza Horizon 5 is a must play, as it really is a unique experience.

From its content to the incredible beauty of its representation of Mexico, Forza Horizon 5 offers an experience true to its roots. This 5th installment is already the best racing game you can find.

Forza Horizon 5 is the epitome of the series. It remains firmly rooted on the foundations of Horizon, guarding annoying aspects for some (especially the overplayed tone of all the tracks off), but only raises everything that has already made the salt of the four opuses that have it. preceded. Beautiful to knock down the bumpers, refined to blow a hose, he is a very beautiful baby. It is (very) well on its way to being a system seller in the Xbox ecosystem and I wouldn't be surprised if bundles are coming in very quickly by the end of the year. Anyone who owns a machine capable of running it should have a taste of it.

The Horizon formula has been perfected in Forza Horizon 5. Playground Games has retained what fans loved in previous games, but also offers fine-tuned gameplay and a more diverse open world to explore. This is one of the most fun and polished games of the year, and with continued support and regular content, it has the potential to thrive well into the future.

Forza Horizon 5 caters to all skill levels and approaches, and with its staggering number of missions to complete, things to collect, and fast-paced gameplay, it's an experience that attempts many things and succeeds in all of them with style.

Forza Horizon 5 continues the series’ legacy, usurping Forza Horizon 4 as the new pinnacle of open-world racing and as a graphical showcase for the new generation of Xbox console.

Forza Horizon 5 is a superb racing game. Despite these slight niggles it still manages to put a beaming smile on my face every time I go hurtling off a danger sign, masterfully overtake the leader of a race to snatch the victory, or perfect a drift. It's easily one of the best-looking games on the Xbox Series X, and its extensive roster of cars and events will ensure it's engine keeps quietly ticking over for months on end.

Forza Horizon 5 is undoubtedly the end of a journey that began a long time ago, culminating in the largest and richest chapter ever. Mexico shines and fascinates us, making the wonderful cars we drive even more beautiful.

There may not be much new in Forza Horizon 5 beyond its location, but that doesn't stop it from being yet another action-packed, adrenaline-fuelled open world racing extravaganza. This is the biggest and best entry in the Forza Horizon series yet; it's just lacking that spark of originality that has made each entry prior a clear step up from the one before it. But for the huge majority of players that really won't be an issue. Forza Horizon 4 raised the bar to an impressive height, and Forza Horizon 5 nudges it that bit higher. It's hard to imagine how Playground Games will raise it substantially in a future Forza Horizon entry, but let's hope it does find some magic, or the formula might become a little bit stale.

Forza Horizon 5 is another meaningful evolution of the series as opposed to a reinvention, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a case of more of the same. Even when it is familiar, Forza Horizon 5 makes small, but thoughtful changes to its established blueprint that hones in on the people behind the cars in a way that the franchise has previously just glossed over. It's not going to convince you to give it a go if Forza Horizon's brand of racing hasn't done it for you in the past, but Forza Horizon 5 still stands head and shoulders above anything else in the genre.

A lot of Forza Horizon 5 feels similar to Forza Horizon 4 in a way previous Horizon games haven’t felt with their prequels, but Adventures bring unique storytelling and slight edutainment to the Horizon formula and if more Horizon’s are in the future, particularly ones not in Europe and America, it’s not a bad foundation to build on. Driving feels as good as it ever has and Playground Games absolutely succeeded in interpreting the beauty of Mexico. The seasonal model returns and it does a better job of incentivizing people to group up, but it’s still not quite enough to entice people to do activities like Forza Arcade.

After five episodes, Playground Games clearly mastered the Forza Horizon formula to the perfection. In both substance and form, the success is total. The game even deploys enough assets to convince beyond car lovers, because the adventure mode offers features that remind us the structure of an action-RPG than of a classic racing game.

Nothing revolutionary in this Forza Horizon 5 but what a pleasure and what generosity. The vistas and ambiance of this Playground Games experience are incredible and provide perfect moments whether for real pilots or less comfortable players, as the game is very accessible…The activities are varied, the landscapes sublime and the sensations at the rendezvous at the wheel of the various vehicles. A delight!

Forza Horizon 5 takes what we’ve loved over the series’ life so far and brings it full circle, with a comprehensive package that includes everything you could possibly want from a racing game. Mexico is an astounding and wonderful location to explore, and production values are on point, from the stunning visuals of its gorgeous open world to the well-executed audio that keeps energy levels high. On top of the diverse range of events we’ve come to expect, Horizon Adventures adds another fun layer of story and player progression that keeps you engaged, and the vehicle handling is, still, second-to-none. With more content than ever before, the Eventlab to make even more experiences and a suite of multiplayer modes to engage with, Forza Horizon 5 is the best racing game available today, bar none.

Playground Games found so many ways to make Mexico come to life, taking great advantage of the region's diversity, while also pushing the Xbox Series X hardware to its limits. If you own the console, you owe it to yourself to check out Forza Horizon 5, whether that means purchasing a copy of the game, or playing it through Xbox Game Pass. It just might be one of the best showpieces for the next-gen era thus far.

Forza Horizon remains the king of arcade racing games, thanks to a lot of driving fun, but also a lot of well-known things.

Forza Horizon 5 improves over its predecessor in almost every way, except that some of its main events aren't as entertaining or spectacular. This is not only a love letter to its Mexican fans, but also a great contender to Game of the Year, because anyone, no matter where they are from, will be able to enjoy this great driving experience.

Forza Horizon 5 is once again beautiful, layered, versatile and unique.

It would be foolish of me to say that Forza Horizon 5 is the best game in the series given my very limited knowledge of its history. However, I can say with confidence this is the most fun I’ve had with a racing game that doesn’t involve a plumber and a princess. There is just so much to do and so much to see that I can easily lose hours of my day exploring all it has to offer. And with continued support from the developers and community, I’ll have no reason to stop playing anytime soon.

Forza Horizon 5 offers plenty to do and see in Mexico, though much of it is becoming rather familiar. The latest entry doesn't have as much impact or innovation as each of its predecessors did, but it remains the most enjoyable and customizable arcade racer around.

Forza Horizon 5 still offers great open world racing fun, looks great and establishes a dimension of freedom in progress that is unique for the genre. But at its core, the game delivers the same mechanics, the same kind of events, just a little bit differently. These wear marks don't make Forza Horizon 5 a bad game, but they make it less appealing.

It’s safe to say that Playground Games have delivered something special with Forza Horizon 5 – and as far as I’m concerned, this is currently the best driving game out there.

Forza takes its racing and cars very seriously --with painstaking attention to torque, road conditions and more tuning options than you can shake a gearstick at-- but its raison d’etre is unbridled, uncomplicated driving joy. There is a bewildering amount of stuff that populates the map: traditional races, cross-country sprints, off-road adventures, speed traps, jumps, multiplayer challenges, weekly events. You can barely drive a few yards without something to take part in or smash through. It is bewildering at first and can feel unstructured and scattergun, particularly when the game is throwing XP and rewards at you with so much abandon it's hard to keep track of it all.

An incredible open-world racer that has all the high-octane action you’d possibly want, but a reliance on previous successes makes the game feels somewhat derivative. Whether you should play this or Forza Horizon 4 is literally as much of a coin-flip on which map you’d prefer, and for me, Mexico didn’t hold the charm of flying through the Glenfinnan Viaduct.

Forza Horizon 5 doubles down on the series' winning formula to give players another hit racing game superpowered by next-gen tech.

It may well be more of the same, but Mexico beckons, ravishing the eye and devouring up the miles.

You could spend months in Forza Horizon 5 on a coast-to-coast trip, or dip in for a few days to see the sights and admire the sunsets. The vast array of fun on offer means that whatever you do, wherever you end up, you’ll have a very good time.

Forza Horizon 5 is an amazing game, don’t get us wrong – if you’re a newcomer to the series you’ll likely have a blast, assuming you like car games. Returning fans though can expect a similar experience to past entries. For some, that’s where driver fatigue may very well set in. After five games, at this point, you could argue the series is no longer doing enough to protect its crown as the top open-world racer. It’s the same process of going to a festival, unlocking cars, racing a lot, levelling up and repeating the whole cycle. And the new additions - such as the EventLab - are more reliant on community efforts. It is mostly a flawless experience, but the lack of evolution is how other franchises like Need for Speed fell behind in the first place. If the Forza Horizon series is to continue, it really needs to push the formula to new horizons. It would be great to see Playground really let loose with a future entry, as it's now getting a little too comfortable with the tried and tested template.

Horizon 5 is one of the most technically sound games I have played this year, but it definitely feels lacking in the evolution department.

Forza Horizon 5 delivers everything that made the last game enjoyable on a map that’s more fun to drive with a lot more visual diversity. While the changes and additions are largely incremental—especially when it comes to the core game experience—what’s here is good enough to warrant a recommendation for fans of the series or racing enthusiasts who’ve been meaning to try it out.

I can't tell a lug nut from a spark plug. But Forza Horizon 5's world is so beautiful that I'm more willing to play and learn just so I can continue existing in its dazzling vistas.