Forza Horizon 5 opens up with a 2021 Ford Bronco Badlands driving down a snow capped volcano into the hot and arid Baja desert. This is undoubtedly one of the coolest openings to a Forza Horizon game ever. Yet, I still couldn’t help but wonder if the developers at Playground Games had done enough.
During a virtual preview event prior to Gamescom 2021, Playground Games and Microsoft gave journalists an early viewing of the game’s opening. While Microsoft was unable to give press hands-on, the opening impressed with vibrant visuals, embracing the beauty of Mexican terrain, it did feel like a retread of the standard Forza Horizon formula.
It’s hard making a follow-up to any game. Developers must bring enough that’s familiar, while also introducing players to new concepts to keep things feeling fresh. If that’s difficult to accomplish on the second or third iteration, it’s likely much more difficult with the fifth.
Of course, this demand for variety isn’t lobbed at certain genres. Specifically, simulation and sports games get a pass, where iterative improvements are what drive the core philosophy of those titles. For example, with the Forza Motorsport series or the upcoming Gran Turismo 7, fans generally do not want a massive departure. Those titles have a singular purpose in recreating racing to be as realistic as possible. For sim-racers, fans want to drive the same cars on the same tracks, just with better visuals and physics.
But Horizon is different. Given that it is an open-world arcade racer, there’s an expectation for bigger and more unique set pieces. Horizon overlaps the same player base that might simultaneously be playing Fortnite or Pokémon. Those audiences aren’t hyper-focused on racing games, and need variety. It does seem the dev team has taken this into consideration as Horizon 5 won’t force players to engage in racing events if they don’t want to. Since it’s open world, players can play other events and still reach the end of the game.
While I’m sure driving through outskirt Mexican roads in the new mid-engine 2021 Corvette Stingray will be fun, I do wonder if the hype around Horizon 5 stems more from it being the first Microsoft racer on next-gen hardware.
Even then, racing fans should have fun driving through the the Mexican jungle in a Porsche 911 964 Desert Flyer, a car designed for the 2017 NORRA Mexican 1000.
In a Q&A with Horizon 5’s creative director Mike Brown, the team has gone out to Mexico multiple times to ensure the locales feel authentic. The team is still in contact with local photographers and tour guides to get additional resources while travel is more limited during the Covid-19 pandemic. Playground Games also hired Mexican voice actors to ensure people in the game sound like they’re from Mexico. And Playground have been working with a Mexican script writer and consultant to ensure the game is “full of love” for Mexico.
Forza Horizon 4 came out in 2018. Usually the series is on a two-year production cycle. But with 5, the team got an additional year to work on the game. According to Brown, this allowed the team to rework the suspension and braking physics to make the game feel more realistic. Even though Horizon is an arcadey racing series, Brown felt that by having more realistic suspension and braking, it will make driving additionally predictable for players.
Overall, Playground Games has found a solid formula with the Horizon series. Even if Horizon 5 doesn’t look as revolutionary as the original or Horizon 2, it’s likely still to be a blast.
Forza Horizon 5 will release on November 5, 2021 for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One and PC. It will be available as a separate purchase or as part of Xbox Game Pass.
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