Forza Horizon 5

Forza Horizon 5 is undoubtedly a visual showcase and technical benchmark for PC and Xbox Series X owners. If you have the hardware to run this game on PC, this is the choice to make. Horizon 5 is also on Game Pass, so you can test out the settings to see if your PC can handle it. These are the best-looking cars in any racing game to date, and the environments are beautiful.

Racing-game fanatics will love Forza Horizon 5’s gorgeous open world, and the unlimited gameplay opportunities provided by the customization options. However, it’s lacking investment in characters and storytelling, and as a result it does little to entice newcomers to the genre.

The studio's job is now to keep things on track while enforcing some semblance of order on this sprawling celebration of freedom. It's not always glamorous work, despite the shiny cars and picture-postcard destinations, and it shouldn't surprise or even disappoint you that Forza Horizon 5 can't offer the perfection of 3 or the bold new emphasis of 4. It is familiar in the best sense of the word: comforting, personable, tailored to you, welcoming to all. It's a dependable joy.

It would be foolish of me to say that Forza Horizon 5 is the best game in the series given my very limited knowledge of its history. However, I can say with confidence this is the most fun I’ve had with a racing game that doesn’t involve a plumber and a princess. There is just so much to do and so much to see that I can easily lose hours of my day exploring all it has to offer. And with continued support from the developers and community, I’ll have no reason to stop playing anytime soon.

Even when it is familiar, Forza Horizon 5 makes small, but thoughtful changes to its established blueprint that hones in on the people behind the cars in a way that the franchise has previously just glossed over. Its alterations to progression are welcome, too, letting you focus on the events that you love while also giving you even more event types to make effective use of the varied and fun map that has been designed around Mexico's best hits. It's not going to convince you to give it a go if Forza Horizon's brand of racing hasn't done it for you in the past, but Forza Horizon 5 still stands head and shoulders above anything else in the genre.

Forza Horizon 5 is a visual spectacle and a masterpiece, providing plenty to do and tons of fun to be had around ever corner.

Forza Horizon 5 continues the series’ legacy, usurping Forza Horizon 4 as the new pinnacle of open-world racing and as a graphical showcase for the new generation of Xbox console.

Forza Horizon 5 delivers a well-rounded, exciting, and approachable experience, and in doing so, elevates its status to the elite of the racing genre.