Forza Horizon 5: The Open-World Racing Game Everyone Keeps Coming Back To
10.01.2026 - 12:49:30
You boot up yet another racing game, pick a shiny car, and within 20 minutes everything feels the same: sterile tracks, cardboard AI, and a progression system that feels like a to-do list. It's fast, sure — but it's not fun in the way you secretly want it to be. There's no sense of place. No story. No reason to care about the next race beyond another unlock.
If you've ever bounced off racing games because they felt more like technical demos than living worlds, you're not alone. The genre has a habit of catering to hardcore sim fans or hyper-arcade chaos — leaving everyone else stuck in the middle, looking for something that feels deep and welcoming.
That's where the latest entry in Xbox's flagship racing series comes in.
Forza Horizon 5 is Microsoft's open-world racing blockbuster, and from the first few minutes behind the wheel, it's clear this isn't just another driving game — it's a playable car fantasy set in a vibrant, reimagined Mexico.
The Solution: Forza Horizon 5 as Your Drive-Anything Escape
Forza Horizon 5 drops you into a sprawling, dynamic open world where driving is the language and you're free to speak it however you want. Want to fine-tune your line through a technical road course? You can. Prefer to send a classic rally car flying off a volcano rim into a thunderstorm? Also an option. Want to ignore races altogether and just cruise with photo mode on standby? Absolutely valid.
Playground Games — under the Microsoft Corp. umbrella (ISIN: US5949181045) — built Horizon 5 around one central idea: reward players for driving, not for grinding. Almost everything you do moves you forward: speed traps, drift zones, impromptu street races, PR stunts, exploration. The map isn't just big; it's dense with things to discover, from hidden barns with legendary cars to seasonal collectibles.
Why this specific model?
In a market crowded with big racing names like Gran Turismo 7, Need for Speed Unbound, The Crew Motorfest, and F1 24, why do so many players — on Xbox, PC, and Game Pass — keep circling back to Forza Horizon 5?
The answer is a combination of accessibility, variety, and sheer spectacle.
- Accessible handling without dumbing it down: Horizon 5 uses the Forza franchise's respected physics engine, but layers on assists, rewind, and tuning presets. New players can leave most assists on and feel competent; veterans can strip everything back and dive into tire pressure, camber, and gear ratios.
- A Mexico that feels like a playable travel documentary: The fictionalized Mexico map is stunning: jungles, deserts, lush farmland, beaches, ancient ruins, canyons, and a towering volcano. Dynamic weather and a full day-night cycle make a sunrise canyon run feel completely different from a midnight highway sprint in a thunderstorm.
- More than 500 cars (and still growing): From off-road buggies and JDM legends to hypercars and classics, there's an almost absurd amount of choice. You can stick to your favorites or build a garage that matches every mood and event type.
- Seasonal, evolving world: Every real-world week, the in-game season changes — spring, summer, autumn, winter — reshaping the map and event list. A dry riverbed in one season might become a treacherous crossing in the next.
- Play your way structure: Horizon Stories, expeditions, showcases, drift events, off-road championships, street races, custom-made races from other players — the game gently nudges you, but rarely forces you into one style of play.
On Reddit, in Steam reviews, and across Xbox forums, a pattern emerges: players who don't usually like racing games stick around with Forza Horizon 5 for hundreds of hours because it feels less like training for a race and more like hanging out in a shared car world.
At a Glance: The Facts
| Feature | User Benefit |
|---|---|
| Open-world Mexico map with diverse biomes | Endless variety in driving conditions — from city streets to jungles and deserts — so the game never feels repetitive. |
| 500+ officially licensed cars (across multiple classes and eras) | Build a dream garage that matches your style, whether you love off-road trucks, JDM icons, supercars, or classics. |
| Dynamic seasons and weather system | Weekly season changes keep the world fresh, altering terrain, handling, and challenges to keep you engaged long-term. |
| Shared online world with Horizon Life, convoys, and events | Seamlessly meet other players, join casual cruises, co-op events, or competitive races without dealing with clunky lobbies. |
| Cross-platform play (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC) | Play with friends regardless of which supported platform they own, expanding your social circle and player pool. |
| Game Pass availability (at the time of writing) | Low barrier to entry for subscribers — try the full experience without a full-price purchase commitment. |
| EventLab and user-created content tools | Access endless custom races, challenges, and game modes built by the community to push the game beyond standard races. |
What Users Are Saying
Dive into Reddit threads like r/forza or Steam and Xbox Store reviews, and you'll see a strong consensus: Forza Horizon 5 is one of the most polished, generous, and welcoming racing experiences you can buy right now. But it's not without criticisms.
Common praises:
- Visuals and performance: Players repeatedly call it “one of the best-looking games ever” on Xbox Series X and high-end PCs. Even on older Xbox One hardware, many are surprised by how solid it feels.
- Accessible fun: Non-racing fans often highlight how easy it is to get into — assists, rewind, and a forgiving progression system make it feel welcoming instead of punishing.
- Content volume: The combination of hundreds of cars, weekly seasonal playlists, expansions, and EventLab creations leaves most players feeling they're getting huge value.
- Sound design and atmosphere: The engine notes, radio stations, festival energy, and environmental audio all contribute to a sense of being at a massive, ongoing car celebration.
Common complaints:
- Online bugs and connection issues: Especially in the game's earlier life, players reported instability, broken convoys, and matchmaking quirks. Many of these issues have been improved via patches, but some users still flag intermittent problems.
- Repetition for long-time franchise vets: If you've sunk hundreds of hours into Forza Horizon 3 and 4, some of the series' formula — festival structure, XP systems, wheelspins — can feel familiar.
- Live-service fatigue: A slice of the community feels pressured by seasonal playlists and limited-time rewards, like they're logging into a second job if they want every car.
Overall sentiment, though, is overwhelmingly positive. Many posts sum it up along the lines of: “I bought an Xbox/PC for this game — and it was worth it.”
Alternatives vs. Forza Horizon 5
The racing space is busy, and where Forza Horizon 5 fits depends on what you want out of a drive.
- Gran Turismo 7 (PlayStation): Sony's flagship is more of a driving simulator — tighter focus on circuit racing, car collecting, and clean driving discipline. If you want ultra-serious track work and prefer PlayStation, GT7 wins there. But it doesn't offer the same giant open world or festival vibe.
- Need for Speed Unbound: EA's series leans into underground street-racing energy and stylized visuals. It's more narrative-heavy but has a smaller world and less variety in driving environments compared to Horizon 5.
- The Crew Motorfest: Ubisoft's answer to open-world racing spreads itself across multiple vehicle types (including boats and planes in earlier entries). It has scale and spectacle, but many players feel Forza Horizon 5 delivers tighter handling and more refined moment-to-moment driving.
- Sim racers (iRacing, Assetto Corsa, F1 24): These focus on authenticity, competitive racing, and laser-scanned tracks. They're unmatched for realism, but if you want laid-back, pick-up-and-play road trips and car collecting, Forza Horizon 5 is simply more fun for most people.
The bottom line: if you want the most complete open-world racer on Xbox or PC right now, Forza Horizon 5 remains the benchmark — and being part of Microsoft's ecosystem means tight integration with Xbox, PC, and Game Pass.
Final Verdict
Forza Horizon 5 isn't just about going fast. It's about the moment you drop a battered rally car off the side of a volcano at sunset and land perfectly into a storm-drenched jungle road. It's about a convoy of friends carving through a desert highway at 200 mph, radio chatter and engine noise blending into one long, stupid grin.
If you're tired of racing games that feel like training simulators or shallow arcade distractions, Forza Horizon 5 offers something different: a joy-first, pressure-light, endlessly generous car playground that respects your time and obsession in equal measure.
Is it perfect? No. Online hiccups, some familiar franchise beats, and live-service pressure can occasionally break the spell. But taken as a complete package — visuals, handling, content, social play, and its constantly evolving world — it's very hard to beat.
If you own an Xbox or a capable PC, and especially if you have access to Game Pass, Forza Horizon 5 feels less like a recommendation and more like an inevitability. You don't just play it; you live in it for a while — and you may find yourself measuring other racing games against it long after you log off.
