Forza Horizon 5 Review (modifiedgenes)
Even though I do not have many hours on this game as it stands, I should first preface this review by saying I have played Forza motorsport since it first made an appearance on the original xbox. Prior to that I played Project Gotham Racing 2. I also played later editions of Forza (and Test Drive Unlimited 2) on the 360 and several of the PC titles that came along before FH5 arrived.
Forza Horizon 5 -in common with the other Horizon games- brings the precise engine/simulation aspect of Forza motorsport to the open-world/convoy racer theme that Test Drive Unlimited 2 made us love. Obviously the graphics (if you have the right rig) are first-rate and the sound and gameplay experience is just excellent. I haven't played multiplayer extensively yet but there is a great deal of things to do for even a player playing solo and parts of the map to explore and a wide variety of environments. In some ways it is somewhat bewildering to the new player even if it does seem to offer near endless game longevity.
In common with Forza motorsport, the car simulation, upgrading/modding and tuning aspect are a feature along with the detailed car painting/vinyl system to customise your collection. Speaking of the collection, it feels like we have a greater range of makes and models than I would have expected based on the earlier games.
The main downside I have noticed so far is that Turn10 have elected, once again, to lock certain car models away by only making these available to the player if they 'win' them by taking part in various challenges which are themselves only available to play for a limited period of time. This detracts from the 'car collector' aspect of the game which so many of us enjoy and serves no useful purpose whatsoever other than making some possibly very popular models extremely rare to ever appear on the auction house and so near impossible for anyone else to obtain. I would point out that not everyone has the time to play the game daily looking for random challenges to pop up so they have the chance to win the models they really want to try to get.
Another aspect I have noticed has returned, yet again, is that in races against the AI, you start every race right at the back of the pack of 12 AI morons whose purpose in life is to slow you down and so ensure that the first 2-4 AI drivers can make a clean getaway and so elude you on the higher difficulties. There is no option to qualify or do anything to affect your place on the grid- you're starting in 12th place every time. This just increases the level of grind for me.
I'm hoping the online community and casual convoy driving will make up for this and really bring back the memories of TDU2 for me. Those who know will recall near endless hours of fun driving around the map with no particular aim in particular just chatting and driving rapidly around the traffic. All the ingredients for this are there in Forza Horizon 5, I guess the real factor in this is in the people you choose to play with.
The other question remains however: is this game worth of the full asking price for the super-deluxe-premium version with every DLC available until the Sun goes supernova? In all honesty I would say probably not unless you really are a die-hard fan of the series. For the regular/casual gamer just get the standard edition when it's on sale and just buy the DLC packs you like the look of.