Forza Horizon 5 Xbox One Gameplay

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 . He Forza Horizon series has always been about great cars, great visuals, and great open world settings.

Since the original launched on the Xbox 360, Horizon's turned into Microsoft's flagship racing franchise. Where Sony's Gran Turismo focuses on simulation-level accuracy, Forza Horizon doubles down on the fun. With the arrival of the ninth-gen Xbox Series X and Series S, Playground Games had the opportunity to dial things up a few notches in terms of visuals, scope, and scale. Forza Horizon 5 is a cross-gen game, meaning it has to scale down to the base Xbox One S. However, take a look at footage on the top-end Xbox Series X version and you wouldn't be able to tell.

This is a jaw dropping, photorealistic ninth-gen showcase, with incredibly detailed vehicles and some of the best foliage rendering we've seen. Let's take a deep dive to understand how Playground Games managed to deliver a scalable ninth-gen experience and the visual features that help make Forza Horizon 5 such a graphics powerhouse. 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. A new Forza Horizon game always comes with at least a handful of new features and improvements over its predecessor, but Forza Horizon 5 delivers even greater amounts of content to players.

The extra year of development Forza Horizon 5 got over previous entries in the series clearly helped things along because there is a lot about which to talk. Not only has Playground Games baked in significantly more content into Forza Horizon 5's base game, but it's also given the community a way to add essentially infinite new events and races to Forza Horizon 5 over time. FH5's online features have seen significant improvements to more completely connect players all around the world. It's already been 3 years since the release of Forza Horizon 4; a game that I couldn't put down as I was constantly impressed by its awesome scenery, changing seasons, variety of events, and massive world. Forza Horizon 5 has now been launched for us racing fans to dive into and it definitely doesn't disappoint. For starters, the map is 50% larger than the one in Forza Horizon 4 with an increased assortment of locations to race in such as a desert, jungle, swamp, town, beach, and ruins.

Each of these areas is quite distinct in not just their visuals but also weather effects, their affinity to certain types of vehicles, and unique landmarks to enjoy. It's all presented beautifully with great detail such as groups of people hanging out in the city as the sun sets or that you must dodge lightning strikes as you work your way through a tropical storm. 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. Forza Horizon 5 is akin to a "car-lovers sandbox," and lets you play however you want.

While there is a story and full-blown campaign with the Horizon Adventure, Expeditions, and smaller Horizon Stories, it's still up to players how they progress and what path they take. All in all, the focus of Forza Horizon 5 is the vast arsenal of cars, the wide variety of races and events, the sheer level of creative freedom available, and the deeply integrated online multiplayer gameplay. Game Informer appreciated the social intreractions in the game, especially the score comparisons, "More times than I could count, I noticed my friend hit a higher top speed, causing me to turn around and try the challenge again". Create your own expressions of fun with the new EventLab gameplay toolset including custom races, challenges, stunts and new game modes.

On Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, the framerate is capped at 30fps at the highest graphical fidelity, but whether you choose graphics or performance mode the experience is equally spectacular. Whether you're driving, photographing, or customizing them, they look pure perfection from every angle. Each vehicle reacts differently and realistically to the environment, and they also provide a contrasting driving experience dependent on the weather. The controller rumbles dynamically to match the different styles of track, immersing you in the experience of being on the road. Microsoft makes a big deal of accessibility, including in its flagship events, and its Xbox games are continuing in that spirit. If there's one thing that brings Forza Horizon players together like nothing else, it's the sheer level of creative freedom afforded by the games.

Forza Horizon 5 is the most customizable and inclusive Forza Horizon yet, with nearly infinite replayability thanks to new player tools and features. Players have control over their cars, in-game characters, races, and even full-blown unique events you can't find anywhere else. Xbox gavean extended gameplay of "Forza Horizon 5" during E3 2021, showing off some of the locales, different modes, and social aspects.

One of the biggest changes to the gameplay is the Horizon Arcade, which allows players to queue up to play wacky mini-games and challenges. The infamous battle royale racing mode from "Forza Horizon 4" returns, meaning that fans can still participate in the chaos of The Eliminator. In this chaotic mode, cars fall from the sky to engage in races, with the loser of the race being eliminated from the competition. Part of the appeal of the Horizon series is the live service element, which constantly brings in new content for players to chase, especially with the season system. One thing that Forza Horizon 5 really stresses is player creativity through the Event Labs feature, essentially letting players build their own custom game modes and races to share with others.

With over 10 million players having jumped into the game since it launched, there's been plenty of creative and surprising clips that have surfaced. 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.

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. A healthy array of event types, side-mission-esque tasks, and passive driving challenges make sure there's always something to do and that you're always leveling up.

These include Horizon mainstays such as garden-variety sanctioned road races, off-road dirt racing, very off-road cross-country scrimmages, nighttime and less-sanctioned street races, and drag racing. Showcases, a small handful of undoubtedly Top Gear-inspired events in which you race a provided vehicle of note against a non-car method of transportation, also make a return and remain dopamine-releasing cool. Fans of racing games will get everything they want and more from Forza Horizon 5's stunningly realistic open world. Players are treated to unlimited gameplay opportunities thanks to the intricately detailed user customization and accessibility options. Despite this, Forza Horizon 5 has pushed the capabilities of the new Xbox consoles to its limits, offering the most stunning and varied racing experience yet. Playing Forza Horizon 5 on a phone might not be ideal if you're a more competitive racer.

If I did that while playing on my phone, I don't think I'd keep up. That brings us to the campaign (playable solo or co-op, as before), where most Forza Horizon 5 players will spend their time naturally. The biggest introduction is the new story-driven Expeditions mode — it's a bit of a guided adventure as someone will either be driving beside you, flying above you, or sitting next to you in your vehicle. Expeditions usually involves driving to a place, like say an active volcano or Aztec ruins.

Once you're there, you can unlock a bunch of optional accolades by finding objects of interest, if you're willing to spend the time in the area. Then you reunite with the non-player character partner who takes you on a wild journey, be it sprinting through a tropical storm or running down the side of an active volcano. It's meant to be the highlight of a region — and unlocks a new festival site in turn. Even when FH5 players have gotten through the majority of content in the base game, Forza Horizon 5's multiplayer is grander and more accessible than ever before, with a nearly endless amount of content to explore. When it comes to gameplay, Forza Horizon 5 feels less groundbreaking.

As the superstar of the Horizon event, you'll go around and participate in various races, challenges, and substories to earn accolade points that unlock new events and eventually get you in the Hall of Fame. The race types and vehicles play mostly the same as the map is the real differentiator. Since their launch several months ago, both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S have been consoles in search of games. The prevalence of cross-gen AAA titles fundamentally restricts what developers can achieve on these machines. But Playground's intelligent use of its highly scalable engine means that the top end Xbox Series X/S and PC versions look, at the very least, like something that wouldn't be out of place in a ninth-gen exclusive.

Despite being cross-gen, this is a great visual showcase for the Series X. We're very interested to see how it'll stack up to future ninth-gen exclusive Forza titles. This is a series that has always aimed for 30fps, but this is probably the best that it's ever felt, thanks in part to the excellent and natural feeling motion blur. The dense foliage on trees, for example, always looks like it's being rendered at high quality. As you play the game, you'll earn experience points through skillful driving.

Level up to unlock cars and outfits at home bases you acquire as you uncover the map. In these first few hours, I tested cars like the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Coupe, Ford Bronco, and Toyota GR Supra. The driving itself still sits at a nice sweet spot between mainline Forza's stodgy driving simulation and a more accessible, forgiving arcade racing game like Need for Speed—especially if you activate the assists. This vehicle is fit for a golden godTour racing is one way to enjoy the online mode as you're presented with a race track that does a great job of taking you through the interesting scenery of a certain area.

I was taken aback by some of the tracks and how they painted a picturesque landscape with staggering variety as I raced through while destroying every small tree and bush in sight. Although there's still no local multiplayer, the online mode is quite seamless and can be toggled via the main menu. When playing online, you'll see other players driving around the map just as in the previous title. When joining an event with online players, the experience remains mostly seamless and avoids bogging you down in menus as it instead has you drive from one location to the next which helps maintain the feeling of realism.

I went way off track here...Unlocking events is done a little differently here than in the previous instalment as you slowly unlock tokens to expand on the collection of events. The map is split into areas that have their own little festivals going on such as one focused on stunt driving or another on dirt racing. When you finally get another token to unlock a new festival, a ton of new events appear on the map including at least one focused on a nearby landmark.

When you visit a landmark, you can choose to complete challenges, take photos, or find items and this serves as a good excuse to explore and enjoy the hard work put into creating them. Forza Horizon 5 is one of the most successful games of the year, with millions of players joining the race across Xbox consoles and PC. If you're looking for ways to use the auction house in Forza Horizon 5, how to gift cars, or a full breakdown of which cars are the very best for each race, we have all of that and more right here.

A toolset that allows players to create their very own races, game modes, and game play experiences – allowing to customize everything – right down to the fundamental rules of the game. "Forza Horizon 5" brings back the seasons mechanic from the previous game, which changes the weather and the environment on a weekly basis, shifting between the four seasons. Crucially, there are advantages to playing Forza Horizon 5 on Series consoles that aren't just about graphics or frame-rate. Hosting the game on SSD makes for a more streamlined experience on Series consoles - and it's noticeable right from the beginning of the experience.

The intro drive is a Playground staple, a spectacular preview of the action to come. It's a glorious, seamless, load-free experience on Xbox Series machines, but Xbox One consoles simply can't deliver the data for each new stage in time, leading to second pauses from one segment to the next. It looks the part, but the loading delays interrupt the flow and don't leave the best impression. While these transitions are indeed instant on the new consoles, there is still loading in the main game but it's much faster than last-gen console equivalents - around 3x to the better in my tests.

A key aspect of Forza Horizon 5's visual appeal is its sheer density and its massive vistas, something Xbox One cannot hope to deliver to the same level of fidelity as its Series counterparts. Far-off detail is still rendered to an impressive degree, and as it's a persistent aspect of the scene's visual make-up, it has to be - it sells the scale of the open world. Closer to the player, that's where the cuts are more evident.

The ground has far fewer layers to it compared to the other consoles, looking rather flat at slow speeds (it's far less noticeable in the thick of gameplay, however). It's not so much of an issue in closed-circuit racing but it's in the open world that the limitations of the console start to bite. The community will pop in there, create custom game modes, tracks and more and share them online. It's already fun to browse the custom selections and is sure to be just another thing that keeps the game's player base healthy for a long, long time. Derek's love of games came at an early age when his parents first brought home the Nintendo Entertainment System.

From then on, countless nights were spent hunting ducks, stomping turtles, exploring far off planets, and combing through dungeons with a trusty sword and shield. Originally growing up exclusively with Nintendo products, Derek's perspective grew to include other platforms ranging from Sony, to Microsoft, the PC, and more. As his views and opinions grew, so did the desire to connect with other players and video game fans. In 2011, his blogging and writing adventure began at his personal site Gamercrash.com. While he continues to write there, he eventually joined up with the Game Rant crew in 2015, writing everything from features and guides, to the latest breaking video game news. You can find Derek here, at his personal website Gamercrash.com, or @GamerCrash on Twitter.

Of course, if you do run out of events, you can always create your own. Forza Horizon 5 includes a new EventLab feature for user-generated content. With it, you can create all manners of races, stunts, and challenges.

EventLab in Forza Horizon 5 allows you to insert objects, fashion a route, set car class and more. You can even define all sorts of rules, be it handing points for hit objectives, changing car torque or gravity to mess with racers, or upending race parameters for an added dose of fun. Once you're done with your blueprint, you can use it to give your event a name, take it for a test spin, and then publish it for the community to enjoy. Forza Horizon 5 is the first Forza Horizon game to embrace ray tracing, which enables accurate and true-to-life tracking for lights, shadows, reflections, and much more.