To put it simply, this is one of the best sim-arcade open world racers I've played, when it's not plagued by issues that's been haunting the Forza franchise for over 3 years now. I'll get into those points later on in this review. Let's begin on a positive note.



The game is set in Mexico. It's not often you hear that especially if it's a AAA title like this one. Upon viewing the trailer for this game, I was worried about the map mainly focusing on dirt and off-road races. It was only when I played the game for myself that I began to understand the beauty of the map design in the game.

To start with, there's a lot more variety in the map design and environment unlike Horizon 4.

There's the massive straight line Highway to test out your car's top speed, the City of Guanajuato which is the heart of Mexico, the Volcano , the Abandoned Airport , the Canyons and a whole lot more. I could go on and on.

There's even a proper Circuit in this game.

The Race CIrcuits and Sprint races are also designed very well. It also helps that no two places feel similar in this map so all the tracks feel unique.

In short, I feel like this is the single biggest upgrade FH5 has received apart from the Audio which I'll get to. It feels fresh after 3 full years in dark and cloudy Britain.



In this area, I am a bit disappointed as there's not a whole lot of new cars added but we have to keep in mind that this game already has over 520 cars and that number will only rise as new cars get added through updates.

The cars are modeled to exceptional detail and look amazing when out in the streets of Mexico or in the Forzavista with Ray Tracing. I have no complaints regarding the level of detail on the already present cars.

Coming to the Physics, it's still largely the same compared to Horizon 4.

AWD is still just as overpowered as it was in FH4 and that's a bad thing as it reduces variety. RWD does 'sometimes' give you a slightly higher top speed but considering the fact that most races rely more on acceleration than top speed, there's absolutely no reason to use RWD if an AWD swap is available.

I've noticed that the default tune most cars ship with when you buy them or upgrade them are better compared the FH4. They feel less slidey and are very usable. This is very helpful for the new player who doesn't know how to tune their cars just yet or in general, it makes tuning your cars an easier job.

Some community tunes are still overpowered and/or glitched to completely break physics and it almost feels like you're playing a completely new game.

Overall I'd say that the Physics in this game is good and is almost the exact same compared to FH4 which isn't necessarily a bad thing. As this is a sim-arcade (more towards the arcadish side) you cannot expect to have perfect 1:1 representation of tuning and simulation but for what this game aiming to be, the physics is very well done.



This is something that was heavily marketed and showcased prior to the release of the game. The audio was something they had to improve from the previous generation as it was quite lackluster in this department previously.

The sound of the engines, tortured brake discs, screeching tyres all sound phenomenal.

It's no longer a monotonous revving noise you hear when you're redlining your engine at top speed, it's far more realistic and the audio has depth, is spaced out well and very crisp.

Every engine sounds distinct and different. They all sound like they are supposed to unlike FH4.

I've run into a few weird bugs when the engine wouldn't be audible until you switched up to 3rd gear but as it's a newly released game, some bugs are expected.

Overall, it's a massive step up from FH4.



This has to be the one of the best looking racing games I've played, period. Heck, this might just be one of the best looking games I've played. The visuals are striking, that is, when there are no bugs.

There's a glitch on the PC version of the game where the Draw Distance is extremely poor even on Extreme settings and it does take a bit away from the experience but I suppose it'll be ironed out soon.

I've also noticed the aliasing to be a bit poor compared to other games (I'm playing on 1080p with 2x MSAA) but I'm very picky about jagged edges so you might not notice it.

The Performance too is very good considering how good it looks. It runs at a flawless 60 FPS even on a 1050Ti at Medium settings,

In short, the cars look remarkable and even the environment looks spectacular apart from the draw distance bug.



There's a lot of things to do in Mexico in this game. You have Street, Dirt and Off-Road races, Barn Finds, Horizon Story, Horizon Arcade and so much more.

You could also, choose to completely ignore them and just free-roam around the beautiful map. It's all up to you.

There's not a lack of content in this game and it'll keep you interested in it or hours on end.



So far, I've been highly positive about this title, but again, like every other game, this too has issues and bugs, so let's get right into them.

• Connection Issues : This game has a lot of problems concerning multiplayer and online. It randomly leaves convoys or the server itself and it gets really annoying really fast. It also takes ages to load into and out of online races or sometimes it just gets stuck and the only way to get out is to Alt+F4 out of the game. This has been the case since FH4 and it's very sad to see the same thing happening again. I've also completely stopped playing online with other players just because of this reason, it's that bad.

• Crashes : It does happen when you're tuning your car in a garage or at times, you cannot even drive a particular car as the game will instantly crash after you take it out of your garage. The game is quite unstable as of now.

• Horizon Arcade : It makes all other people on the server invisible for you and this game mode is frankly unplayable as of now. It's a known bug and I hope it'll get fixed soon in the next few updates.



It's an amazing game and I recommend this title to anyone interested in racing games.

The issues I've mentioned might get annoying especially if you play online so if it bothers you, consider waiting for a while for patches before picking this title up.

When it works, it's a remarkable game and a near flawless experience. It's easy to pick up and play even if you're inexperienced as it's not a full simulator.

P.S. Nominated for Steam Awards

[h1] Introduction [/h1] To put it simply, this is one of the best sim-arcade open world racers I've played, when it's not plagued by issues that's been haunting the Forza franchise for over 3 years now. I'll get into those points later on in this review. Let's begin on a positive note. [h1] The World [/h1] The game is set in Mexico. It's not often you hear that especially if it's a AAA title like this one. Upon viewing the trailer for this game, I was worried about the map mainly focusing on dirt and off-road races. It was only when I played the game for myself that I began to understand the beauty of the map design in the game. To start with, there's a lot more variety in the map design and environment unlike Horizon 4. There's the massive straight line [b] Highway [/b] to test out your car's top speed, the [b] City of Guanajuato [/b] which is the heart of Mexico, the [b] Volcano [/b], the [b] Abandoned Airport [/b], the [b] Canyons [/b] and a whole lot more. I could go on and on. There's even a proper Circuit in this game. The Race CIrcuits and Sprint races are also designed very well. It also helps that no two places feel similar in this map so all the tracks feel unique. In short, I feel like this is the single biggest upgrade FH5 has received apart from the Audio which I'll get to. It feels fresh after 3 full years in dark and cloudy Britain. [h1] The Cars and Physics [/h1] In this area, I am a bit disappointed as there's not a whole lot of new cars added but we have to keep in mind that this game already has over 520 cars and that number will only rise as new cars get added through updates. The cars are modeled to exceptional detail and look amazing when out in the streets of Mexico or in the Forzavista with Ray Tracing. I have no complaints regarding the level of detail on the already present cars. Coming to the Physics, it's still largely the same compared to Horizon 4. AWD is still just as overpowered as it was in FH4 and that's a bad thing as it reduces variety. RWD does 'sometimes' give you a slightly higher top speed but considering the fact that most races rely more on acceleration than top speed, there's absolutely no reason to use RWD if an AWD swap is available. I've noticed that the default tune most cars ship with when you buy them or upgrade them are better compared the FH4. They feel less slidey and are very usable. This is very helpful for the new player who doesn't know how to tune their cars just yet or in general, it makes tuning your cars an easier job. Some community tunes are still overpowered and/or glitched to completely break physics and it almost feels like you're playing a completely new game. Overall I'd say that the Physics in this game is good and is almost the exact same compared to FH4 which isn't necessarily a bad thing. As this is a sim-arcade (more towards the arcadish side) you cannot expect to have perfect 1:1 representation of tuning and simulation but for what this game aiming to be, the physics is very well done. [h1] Audio [/h1] This is something that was heavily marketed and showcased prior to the release of the game. The audio was something they had to improve from the previous generation as it was quite lackluster in this department previously. The sound of the engines, tortured brake discs, screeching tyres all sound phenomenal. It's no longer a monotonous revving noise you hear when you're redlining your engine at top speed, it's far more realistic and the audio has depth, is spaced out well and very crisp. Every engine sounds distinct and different. They all sound like they are supposed to unlike FH4. I've run into a few weird bugs when the engine wouldn't be audible until you switched up to 3rd gear but as it's a newly released game, some bugs are expected. Overall, it's a massive step up from FH4. [h1] Graphics [/h1] This has to be the one of the best looking racing games I've played, period. Heck, this might just be one of the best looking games I've played. The visuals are striking, that is, when there are no bugs. There's a glitch on the PC version of the game where the Draw Distance is extremely poor even on Extreme settings and it does take a bit away from the experience but I suppose it'll be ironed out soon. I've also noticed the aliasing to be a bit poor compared to other games (I'm playing on 1080p with 2x MSAA) but I'm very picky about jagged edges so you might not notice it. The Performance too is very good considering how good it looks. It runs at a flawless 60 FPS even on a 1050Ti at Medium settings, In short, the cars look remarkable and even the environment looks spectacular apart from the draw distance bug. [h1] Content [/h1] There's a lot of things to do in Mexico in this game. You have Street, Dirt and Off-Road races, Barn Finds, Horizon Story, Horizon Arcade and so much more. You could also, choose to completely ignore them and just free-roam around the beautiful map. It's all up to you. There's not a lack of content in this game and it'll keep you interested in it or hours on end. [h1] Some Negatives [/h1] So far, I've been highly positive about this title, but again, like every other game, this too has issues and bugs, so let's get right into them. •[b] Connection Issues [/b] : This game has a lot of problems concerning multiplayer and online. It randomly leaves convoys or the server itself and it gets really annoying really fast. It also takes ages to load into and out of online races or sometimes it just gets stuck and the only way to get out is to Alt+F4 out of the game. This has been the case since FH4 and it's very sad to see the same thing happening again. I've also completely stopped playing online with other players just because of this reason, it's that bad. •[b] Crashes [/b] : It does happen when you're tuning your car in a garage or at times, you cannot even drive a particular car as the game will instantly crash after you take it out of your garage. The game is quite unstable as of now. •[b] Horizon Arcade [/b] : It makes all other people on the server invisible for you and this game mode is frankly unplayable as of now. It's a known bug and I hope it'll get fixed soon in the next few updates. [h1] Conclusion [/h1] It's an amazing game and I recommend this title to anyone interested in racing games. The issues I've mentioned might get annoying especially if you play online so if it bothers you, consider waiting for a while for patches before picking this title up. When it works, it's a remarkable game and a near flawless experience. It's easy to pick up and play even if you're inexperienced as it's not a full simulator. P.S. Nominated for Steam Awards