Cover artwork I generate from the game data. I do not use publisher artwork.
Game profile
Forza Horizon 5
A vibrant arcade racer set in a huge, open recreation of Mexico with hundreds of vehicles. Approachable handling and constant seasonal events keep the world feeling alive.
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What kind of game this is
At its core this is Racing / Sandbox, set in the present day. Visually it is going for realism, and the overall tone stays light and upbeat. The world is open, so wandering off and ignoring the main path is part of the deal. Sessions of an hour or two sit at the sweet spot here.
Difficulty stays forgiving, so progress rarely depends on your reflexes. There is no story to speak of, the systems carry everything. You can play it with others cooperatively or go head to head. It runs on 3 platforms. It sits in the mid price bracket.
What stands out
- Huge open world
- Approachable handling
- Constant events
This fits you if
- you want to wind down rather than be tested
- exploring for its own sake is the point for you
- you like getting lost and ignoring the main objective for hours
- cutscenes annoy you and you just want to play
- you want zero frustration and no difficulty wall
- you have someone to play with
Look elsewhere if
- you need real difficulty to stay interested
- you play mainly for narrative
- you prefer a stylised look over realism
- you want something with real weight to it
What it costs you in time
About 30 hours in total. At three evenings a week and two hours each, you will be busy for roughly 5 weeks, or 15 sessions.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 94 out of 100, which puts it above 97 percent of the 1206 games here and at rank 23 overall. That is a strong score, comfortably above what most releases manage.
For comparison, Racing averages 81 points across the database, so this one sits 13 points above its own genre. The figure rests on 355 collected ratings.
Released in 2021, so it has 5 years behind it. Usually cheap by now and the rough edges are long fixed.
The facts
- Release year
- 2021
- Genres
- Racing, Sandbox
- Playtime
- approx. 30 hrs.
- Difficulty
- Relaxed, forgiving
- Story weight
- None, pure gameplay
- Play with
- Solo, Co-op, Competitive
- Setting
- Present day
- Visual style
- Realistic
- Price bracket
- Mid price
- Platforms
- PC, Xbox, PlayStation
- Critic rating
- 94 / 100
Direct comparison
| Genres | Release year | Playtime | Critic rating | Price bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 2021 | approx. 30 hrs. | 94 | Mid price |
| BeamNG.drive | 2015 | Endless game | 81 | Budget |
| The Long Drive | 2019 | approx. 15 hrs. | 72 | Budget |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 2018 | approx. 35 hrs. | 92 | Mid price |
If you liked this, try these
- BeamNG.drive Shared: Racing, Sandbox, Present day, longer
- The Long Drive Shared: Racing, Sandbox, shorter
- Forza Horizon 4 Shared: Racing, Present day
- The Crew Motorfest Shared: Racing, Present day
- SnowRunner Shared: Racing, Present day, longer
- Forza Horizon 6 Shared: Racing, Present day