Forza Horizon is now available on PlayStation. That’s a sentence I never thought I’d write. To repeat, Forza Horizon 5, which first released on Xbox Series X and PC in 2021, is now playable on PS5.
When Microsoft confirmed it would bring an initial quartet of Xbox exclusive games to PS5 back in February 2024, there were plenty of rumors that more would follow. And while I thought that was likely, in my head, Xbox’s gold trio (Halo, Gears and Forza) were always off the table.
But we live in interesting times, and earlier this year, Xbox confirmed it was bringing the open-world driving playground of Forza Horizon 5 to Sony’s console. Having been given the chance to zoom around FH5’s diverse take on Mexico on PS5 Pro a little early, I’ve a single conclusion: Forza Horizon 5 is now the best racing game you can play on PS5. Period.
Gran Turismo 7 has ruled the roost mostly unchallenged for years, but the arrival of Forza Horizon 5 represents a new dawn for PlayStation racers. Not only is Forza Horizon 5 an incredible racing experience in its own right (as we said in our Forza Horizon 5 review), but it’s also one of the most visually stunning games I’ve experienced on PS5 Pro to date. Oh, and it arrives on PS5 with so much content that it borders on comical.
If you’re a PlayStation gamer and have never ventured into the world of Forza before, here’s what you’ve got to look forward to now that it’s heading to the starting grid.
Forza Horizon 5 is a gold-standard racer
Forza Horizon 5 has been a known quantity for more than three years at this point, and if you were unaware of its qualities, its cabinet full of GOTY awards is tangible proof that Microsoft-owned Playground Games cooked up something of seriously high quality with the fifth Horizon title.
Gran Turismo 7 and Forza Horizon 5 are different games in what they offer. Sony's sim racer focuses on realistic physics and packs it into a caRPG with a fun grind. Forza Horizon celebrates car culture with a massive, vividly colorful open world and arcade-y handling.
It pains me to say it, as someone who races for hours a week, but for pure playability, Forza Horizon 5 is clearly the best PS5 racing game you can buy now — Jason England, Managing Editor (Computing)
For PlayStation fans coming in cold to the Forza franchise, the spin-off Horizon series is the open-world sibling of the track-focused Forza Motorsports franchise. In FH5, you’re dropped into a large, highly condensed take on Mexico, and given the freedom to seek whatever petrol-fueled adventures best suit your preferred playstyle.
One of Forza Horizon 5’s biggest strengths is that it caters to basically all types of racing. If you want intense road races with tight turns and tricky slaloms, you’ll find them. Fancy epic cross-country contests that test your endurance? No problem. Want to forgo racing and instead focus on racking up stunt points? You can do that as well. In the world of Horizon, the open world is a playground, and how you approach it is up to you.
Forza Horizon 5 also constantly rewards you. And I do mean constantly. From the drop, you’ll unlock new cars, customization options, event types and more. In fact, you’re given so much new stuff so often that it occasionally borders on overwhelming. But you are, of course, free to ignore all the menu notifications and just go for an aimless drive instead.
Fortunately, the driving fundamentals are also some of the best in the business. While Forza Horizon has always opted for a more arcade approach compared to its authentic racing-simulation sibling, its driving gameplay still feels extremely tightly crafted. And you are given the option of further tuning your vehicle to find a sweet spot that works best for you.
Perhaps the biggest compliment I can give Forza Horizon 5 is that it’s an archetypal “one more” experience. You might plan to hop on for a brief session to complete a race or two, and before you know it, you’re more than a dozen events deep, it’s 3 a.m., and you need to be up for work in less than six hours. Totally not speaking from personal experience there…
Forza is the perfect PS5 Pro showcase
I’ve been playing Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 Pro, and I cannot overstate how absolutely glorious it is. It’s rapidly become my go-to showcase for Sony’s $699 console.
Even after several lengthy sessions, each time I boot into the lush world, I pause for a few seconds just to admire how stunning this game looks. In the right conditions, it’s almost photo realistic.
On PS5 Pro, there are two available modes, Performance and Quality. I’ve opted for the former because I prioritize framerate above all, and the 30 fps of Quality mode is just too big a sacrifice for me. But even on Performance, the visuals are never less than remarkable.
The game utilizes the power of the PS5 Pro to offer ray-traced reflections on Quality mode, and overall higher fidelity at 60 fps in Performance mode. I have flipped between the two settings to get a sense of which looks best, but frankly, the game looks stunning whichever you pick.
Of course, it helps that Forza Horizon 5’s open-world map is a real looker in its own right. The game’s remixed take on Mexico offers remarkable diversity between expansive highways, perfect for drag racing, to dense jungle you can only navigate with a robust 4x4. Just cruising around, taking in the sights (and incredible sounds) of Mexico, is half the fun.
This game is almost too big
When Forza Horizon 5 first launched, it was already a huge video game. Many reviews noted that it offered a staggering amount of content from day one. Then, Playground Games spent the next few years regularly updating it with even more content alongside releasing two sizeable expansions: Hot Wheels and Rally Adventure.
Forza Horizon 5 arrives on PS5 with all that included (though you’ll need to spring for the pricey $99 Premium Edition to get the two expansions).
Is there such a thing as too much content? Forza Horizon 5 certainly comes closer to making that case than any video game I’ve played in recent memory. My map is already so overburdened with event icons and points of interest that reading the topography is practically impossible.
To coincide with the release of Forza Horizon 5 on PS5, the game is getting one of its biggest updates yet across all platforms. This update brings the new Horizon Realms mode, which allows you to re-experience some fan-favorite environments from the Evolving World mode in previous Forza Horizon games. While I’ve only scratched the surface of this new offering, it adds yet more content to explore, and is perfect for returning fans.
So much content might sound overwhelming, but Forza Horizon 5 gracefully swerves this potential pitfall thanks to its relaxing tone. The world of Horizon is about the joy of driving and exploring exotic locations; the game doesn’t expect or demand that you systematically clear every event. The expectation is that you’ll pick and choose what appeals to you most. And if you want no-pressure fun, you can just drive and see what you find.
Forza Horizon 5 is an essential PS5 game
The bottom line is simple: Forza Horizon 5 was already a truly phenomenal racing game, and that hasn’t changed on PS5.
In fact, with the addition of the Forza Realms mode (which is also heading to Xbox and PC), and the enhancements made possible by the PS5 Pro, not to mention the game’s solid use of the DualSense controller, I’d argue the very best version of Forza Horizon 5 has arrived on PS5. The game has never looked or played better than this.
The true testament to how highly I rate Forza Horizon 5 is that I already know it will be staying on my PS5 hard drive for a very long time, likely permanently. I want to dive into its stunning world whenever I’m looking for an intense racing session or just want to relax with a scenic drive along the sun-soaked coast.
Plus, with so much content, I’ll probably still have events to complete and cars to unlock (there are so many cars to unlock!) by the time the PS6 arrives.
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