One of the most un-secret secrets in racing videos games is now official: Forza Horizon 5 exists.
Debuting at the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, the opening event on the Sunday of E3 2021, the much anticipated open-world racer is indeed set in Mexico and not Japan – tying in with recent rumours and leaked Hot Wheels diecast models.
In a slick, brief, action-packed trailer, the lead featured car is the Mercedes-AMG One, Forza Edition, alongside the upcoming Ford Bronco and the Baja race truck equivalent.
We also see the latest Land Rover Defender and the electric Porsche Taycan. We’ll break down every car in the trailer in a separate article coming soon.
At first glance, it looks slick, showcasing sandstorms, cacti, lush jungles and even a volcano, with graphical fidelity far surpassing previous Horizon instalments.
The environment is based around the colourful town of Guanajuato, which you may recognise from the WRC or Ken Block’s Gymkhana 10 video.
Mike Brown, Creative Director at Playground Games explains; “this is the largest and most diverse open-world ever in a Forza Horizon game”.
It’s mentioned that there is raytracing in Forza Vista on the latest Xbox consoles, although we’ll have to wait to see if that is in gameplay too. The team has also used advanced 12K HDR capturing techniques to, in theory, deliver the most detailed Forza Horizon environment yet that even includes photo-realistic skies with dynamic lighting.
FH5 also features Forza Link, a new AI assistant to link you with similarly skilled racers online, akin to a ranked online system that also knows what type of events other players enjoy – great if you want to dabble in a spot of piñata smashing mini-game. There’s also Events Lab, where you can create game modes and challenges, which seems to meld Horizon 4’s Super 7 with DIRT 5’s Playgrounds.
It will, of course, be on Xbox One, Series S and X and PC upon release and is playable with an active Game Pass subscription from day one. It releases on the 9th of November 2021.
Let us know your thoughts on the Forza Horizon 5 reveal in the comments below and also watch our video charting the history of the Forza franchise so far.
