Back in 2012, Playground Games popped the clutch on the first Horizon Festival in Colorado, setting a new benchmark for open‑world racers. Each (very much Xbox only) sequel has since ramped up the spectacle: Horizon 2’s sun-drenched Riviera, Horizon 3’s bonzer Australia, and Horizon 4’s soggy Britain.
Today, just as it did back in 2021, Horizon 5 is headed very much south of the border. Not just into the nine distinct biomes of a gorgeous virtual Mexico, but also onto the unexplored (and possibly hostile) mesas of a rival console platform. To the Xbox and PS faithful alike, this PS5 Pro release feels like a big piece of a Berlin Wall between them coming down. That’s all warm and fuzzy to see. But is Forza Horizon 5, a four-year-old title, still as essential as it once was?
Viva la México
Forza Horizon 5 drops you into Mexico’s vibrant heart, where the Horizon Festival has set up shop amid bustling towns, sprawling farmlands, sand‑blasted deserts and that iconic volcano looming in the distance. There isn’t a deep “plot” per se. Your mission is simple: drive, explore, endure “influencer types”, and flex your car collection in a series of showcase events, Horizon Stories, and creative EventLab challenges.
New to this PS5 release is the Horizon Realms feature. Think of it as a greatest‑hits reel of community‑favourite seasonal events, plus a brand‑spanking new Stadium Track (I’ve yet to consume it as it arrives on April 25 as part of a free update). Apparently, if you complete those Realms accolades you’ll snag four fresh reward cars: the 2024 Lamborghini Revuelto, 2023 Huracán Sterrato, 2022 Hennessey Mammoth 6×6 and the classic 2018 Lotus Exige Cup 430.
If that doesn’t sound like a whole lot of content, don’t worry. Forza Horizon 5, in its standard form, is absolutely heaving with things to do. Like, triple-digit hours of racing, exploring, collecting; even before you factor in multiplayer, auction houses, and user-generated content opportunities. It’s insane value for money. Especially if you choose to rock the 160GB (!!!) Premium version like me, which comes complete with chunky Rally Adventure and Hot Wheels DLCs, plus 42 additional cars.
Steerin’, Slidin’ & Showin’ Off
Controls on PS5 feel buttery smooth, to the point where I think this is the best feeling version of the game (controller-wise, at least). The DualSense’s adaptive triggers give resistance under braking and gently pulse as you drift to give a convincing feeling of using some sort of invisible steering wheel. No jargon here: when you nail that perfect powerslide, you’ll literally feel the rubber wipe under your fingertips.
The familiar assists (steering, traction control, ABS) are all there for the newbies, letting you fine‑tune how much help you want. And sure, it’s almost identical to the Xbox version, but the PS5 Pro’s extra oomph makes acceleration bursts feel that little bit sharper.
If you’re a sandbox fan, the EventLab still shines, turning the world into your personal playground. Want to spawn lava geysers in the desert? You can. Want to set up a banana peel skid zone at the stadium? Please do. When not leaning forward out of my chair as I was battling door to door, I often found myself dropping into a zen state of powersliding my way to and from event markers.
New Paint That Pops, Sound That Roars
Let’s talk visuals. You’ve got two graphical modes: Performance (60 FPS) or Quality (30 FPS). On a standard PS5, Quality gives you gorgeous HDR skies and detailed car models; Performance keeps things silky at 60 frames. But on PS5 Pro, Playground Games has amped it up; Performance mode gets a bump in visual fidelity, while Quality mode unlocks full ray‑traced car reflections everywhere, not just in private garages like on Xbox
Imagine flipping a mirror‑finish McLaren 720S through jungle foliage and seeing every leafy frond bounce off its curves. It’s a petrol‑fiend’s dream. Throw in dynamic weather that blossoms from calm sunshine to torrential downpours (and yes, those puddles gleam!), plus wind‑swept dust storms rolling under the volcanoand this is still cutting edge current‑gen magic. A near flawless port from what I saw.
A near flawless port from what I saw.
Sound design is equally mouth‑watering. Engine roars echo off canyon walls, slider squeals cut through mariachi guitar licks on the soundtrack, and the DualSense haptics thrum when you gun the throttle or skim gravel. It really nails that “you’re here” feeling. And if you crank it through a proper stereo or a Pulse 3D headset, the sense of there-ness within a pack of jostling junkers is quite impressive.
Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 Pro feels like the love letter the series deserves. It’s not drastically different under the hood—this isn’t a full reboot, more like a deluxe re‑release with all the best bits polished to a mirror shine. But those visuals, that haptic feedback, and the endless parade of community‑driven content make it a joyride from start to finish. Sure, some of us returning revheads will mourn our lost save progression and grit your teeth at the hefty install size, but once you’re ripping around the volcano in a ray‑traced supercar, the grins go ear to ear in seconds flat. If you’ve never joined the Horizon Festival, or have been subsisting on The Crew Motorfest, there’s never been a better time to get in gear.
