Forza Horizon 5 (Xbox)
By: Microsoft
THE feckless gap-year student offspring of the stuffy old Forza Motorsport, Horizon has been ditching the formalities of racing since 2012 in favour of a festival vibe and go-anywhere, do-anything driving.
Returning the series to North America for the first time since the original, fifth time behind the wheel offers 'Juan for the road' as players rip through Mexico like Speedy Gonzales – and all Forza love of cars.
Once again, Horizon's flimsy premise is a legally dubious festival that comes to town in a real-world locale. Kicking off with players dropped into an active volcano from the back of a cargo plane, you'll hit the ground driving, and though its hip vibe still has a gratingly committee-designed cool, once the shackles are off and you start drinking in Mexico's highways and byways, there's nothing quite like it.
Given the last game had players negotiating a rain and snow-lashed Edinburgh, Mexico's exotic climes offer a far more dramatic backdrop, with snow-topped mountains, searing deserts and jungles on a map that's 50 per cent larger than Horizon 4 and dotted with a near-infinite list of challenges that throw out experience points like candy from a leaky pinata.
While its library of cars and customisation may be lifted straight from the most anal driving simulator, Horizon 5's forgiving driving model is pure arcade. Multiplayer is divided into Racing, Drifting, Playground Games and the Eliminator, while a new level editor allows fans to craft their own races and mini-games.
A silent avatar up until now, the player now talks, with a rich seam of customisation options that include the ability to select prosthetic limbs and choose gender pronouns.
But the real stars, of course, are the cars: and with a garage groaning like an overstuffed burrito, Horizon 5's 500-plus rides represent the biggest Mexican collectathon since my 1986 World Cup sticker album.
Mercedes' AMG Project One is the cover car, allowing players to stuff their virtual buttocks into the bucket seat of what's essentially an F1 engine in a road car months before the real thing hits the asphalt.
And while electric cars get short shrift, with no presence at all from Tesla, the chance to command the 2000bhp Lotus Evija or the 300mph Koenigsegg Jesko represent one last hurrah for the combustion engine.
One of the first games to really flex the Xbox Series X's muscle, it's a stunning visual showcase with 4K visuals that lavish insane amounts of detail on both rides and roads, right down to individual needles on the cacti.
Bar the graphical gloss, new locations and some welcome tweaks to its unlocking system, Horizon 5 doesn't exactly rip up the series rule-book. But if it doesn't reinvent the wheel, it's still a fitting swansong for the franchise on Xbox One, and the Series X's first killer app – boasting enough Mexicans and non-binary pronouns to give Donald Trump nightmares.
Until Gran Turismo 7 launches next March on PS5, Forza Horizon 5 is the undisputed king of the road.
