When I originally reviewed Forza Horizon 5 back in 2021, I called it one of the best racing games ever made. And I still very much stand by that sentiment. Playground Games Racer boasts a gorgeous and incredibly crafted open world, a bevy of extremely enjoyable content, best-in-class driving mechanics, and more. All of it combined into what’s probably the best game of its kind that you can play on Xbox or on PC. Now, it’s also the best game of its kind that you can play on PS5.
Microsoft has been rapidly expanding its multiplatform pipeline and Forza Horizon 5 is the latest in a string of first party Xbox titles that have made their way to Sony’s platform. And though it’s not as if PlayStation audiences had been starved for good open world racers until this moment, there should be little doubt in anyone’s mind that Forza instantly places itself on top of those charts and puts considerable distance between itself and everything else on the platform. It’s a special generational game, and now PS5 audiences get to enjoy it. For those unfamiliar, Forza Horizon 5 throws players into a massive, gorgeous openw world map in Mexico. Like its predecessors, rather than going for accuracy, it instead looks to the real world location for more inspiration than anything else, crafting a huge play space that attempts to capture the characteristics and natural splendor of Mexico’s landscapes without feeling too beholden to recreating everything onetoone the same way something like, say, The Crew would.
You know, I think this will be the perfect spot. I think you’re right, my friend. Having already poured dozens upon dozens of hours into the game on Xbox Series X, I knew exactly what I was in for when driving into Forza Horizon 5 on PS5. But even despite my level of familiarity with the game, I couldn’t help but fall in love with its open world all over again. From the level of environmental diversity it exhibits to the way its design encourages players to keep exploring.
From the stunning vistas and scenery scattered everywhere to the bevy of fun and varied activities on offer, there’s a lot to love about Forza Horizon 5’s world. And at least as far as I’m concerned, none of it has lost any of its charm in spite of how obsessively I’ve played the game elsewhere over the years. Those aforementioned content offerings are particularly impressive, though honestly there’s a lot about this game that could easily fit the particularly impressive description, but more on that in a bit. Showcase events that serve as bombastic set pieces, traditional races and drag events and rallies and what have you. More bite-size activities like bonus boards and speed traps to keep you occupied from moment to moment. Although very little of it is revolutionary or groundbreaking in any fashion, it is all spectacularly designed and excellently executed. Even now, I’m yet to feel a single second of boredom playing this game. You’re not going to believe your eyes when you see this. Keep going.
That becomes that much more of an impressive accomplishment when you consider just how much there is to do in Forza Horizon 5. Its open world Mexico map is colossal and brimming with activities that can keep you occupied for multiple dozens of hours. While the Rally Adventure and Hot Wheels expansions, both of which are excellent in their own rights, the latter in particular, are also included in this package, providing a healthy chunk of top-notch content on top of the base game’s already ample offerings. And once all that’s out of the way, which won’t be a brief experience by any means, to say the very least, you can always just
aimlessly drive around in your favorite vehicles, which just never really seems to get old in the slightest. There aren’t too many games that can legitimately claim to have a world that’s a joy to simply exist and move around in regardless of what sort of authored content it may or may not offer up. But Borsa Horizon 5 surely has a spot on that short list. All of that is of course only possible because the core driving mechanics are, in a word, sublime.
Forza Horizon 5 has a startling number of vehicles for players to collect and drive, and each feels great to control while still feeling sufficiently different from other vehicles. There’s a real palpable sense of speed. The feedback to your inputs feels immediate and tight, and everything handles like an absolute dream. Forza Horizon 5 obviously doesn’t go for the absolute authenticity of a hardcore simulator like Forza Motorsport. instead definitely striking the perfect balance between arcade racing and realistic simulation.
Though it does obviously lean more heavily in the former’s favor by some margin. Arguably, Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 feels even better to play than it has on any other platform up to this point. That of course is because of the Dual Sense. I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to call the Dual Sense one of the best controllers ever made. Thanks not only to its ergonomics, but its unique features, which incidentally is exactly what elevates an already masterful racing game. Forza Horizon 5’s implementation of the Dual Senses haptic
feedback and adaptive triggers may not pull up any trees in terms of how innovative it is, or rather isn’t, but said features do make the moment-to- moment driving feel even more tactile, immediate, and impactful than it has on other platforms. which is really saying something. It also still looks absolutely gorgeous. Of course, Forza Horizon 5 is easily one of the most technically impressive and best looking games I’ve ever played on a console. And that obviously still very much remains true on PS5 as well. Just like on Xbox
Series X, which is where I previously played this game, there are next to no issues or technical blemishes of note to speak of in the open worlds racers PS5 version. Between the two modes available, I went with performance. And in the time that I spent with the game so far, I have come across no drops or hiccups. Suffice to say, Panic Button has done a solid job porting the game over to PS5. Okay, there’s no other way around. You’ve got to go through. In the end, Forza Horizon 5 is an unsurprisingly
excellent game on PS5. The open world racer firmly placed itself in the annals of video game history when it was first released. And in the time since then, its legend has only grown. The opinion that it’s one of the best racing games ever made and a blueprint for all future titles in the genre has become an increasingly common one. So, it’s no surprise that the game makes a similarly strong impression on Sony’s consoles. For anyone who has even a passing interest in racing games, Forza Horizon 5 is well worth checking out.
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