Forza Horizon 5 cars
Forza is equal parts leader and slacker when it comes to the cars it offers. On the one hand, this graphically stunning AAA title is the game to play if you want to drive everything from the latest greatest cars to priceless rarely-seen racers and historics. On the other – something few notice but it needs to be mentioned – we’d put folding money on some of the car models in the game being assets borrowed from 14-year old titles. Quite why this hasn’t burned Forza like it did Gran Turismo in the transition from GT4 to GT5 and GT6 is beyond us.
We can’t think of a single example of a model that’s been updated for a newer entry, be that the warped Vauxhall Monaro from 2007’s Motorsport 2 – yes the second-ever Forza – or the concept Ford GT from 2015’s Motorsport 6. These models are wonky, unrealistic, out of proportion, out of date and sometimes just downright ugly.
The writing is on the wall for future entries too. Aston Martin will likely want to see the Valhalla they actually sell in future titles but if future habits hold, I wouldn’t hold my breath. Something of a rant and honestly, most players won’t care, but for a franchise that sweats the details, it smacks of laziness and lessons that are yet to be learned.
On the plus side, most of the other cars that joined the franchise later on are as beautiful as they ever were, shown off better than ever in this environment and in Forza Vista. Customisability is better than ever, though the livery system feels less intuitive than it once was. Speaking of customization, new for Horizon 5 too is variable car sounds, which change based on induction and exhaust parts being swapped out. A cool feature and just as well, given some of the sounds are still not quite up to snuff. We’re now a few years out from when Forza’s genius sound guy defected to Polyphony and Gran Turismo, taking his top-tier files with him but they’ve still not fully recovered.
Also new is the ability to put your roof down while out driving, though very few cars in the game can actually do it. The McLaren 720S Spider and Ferrari Portofino are worth a look if you fancy that experience and we surely expect to see more added as the game grows.