Pure Xbox Forza Horizon 5 Review: An Amazing Game, But One That's A Little Too Familiar

We feel like we've been to Mexico before...

[DaveZero]

It's a racing game of course it's going to be familiar.

[Darkborn]

Same with a far cry game, but it got destroyed.
Hell ratchet and clank rift apart got review bombed by several outlets for being samey. What's different here? Oh I know what's different.

[NeoGamer232]

Reviewers certainly have a right to express how they feel.

But, I prefer reviewers to review the quality of the game. When they are making "it is nothing new" comments, that is not a statement of quality, they are looking for innovation. To me innovation is what gets you to a 10/10 game. FH5 is 91 on metacritic. To me, that is the right score here. It says it is a high quality game, but there is not enough innovation to be 95 on metacritic.

[Darkborn]

They do have a right, the problem is they pick and choose when their metrics matter. It's not just this game, it looks amazing. It really does, but you can't have a different formula for different publishers with reviews.

[4Sh0w]

Not a problem a 8 is a good score and if all he's got on a racing game is that its the same then OK because we know its an all new location, new enviroments, new cars & tuning, new audio, visuals are more stunning than before, new modes, etc so I dont know what else a open world *racing game* can do besides be something else to not feel at least somewhat the same, I mean seriously it all boils down to racing....and its the best racing game available so Ill take it.

[Lightning77]

Rift apart has a 88 metacritic. Not bad for a game being "review bombed." there were complaints about being samey I remember reading them personally. But being review bombed as you claim is pretty dramatic.

[Darkborn]

So a 2/10 review score on metacritic for rift apart is not review bombed for being samey and childesh cartoon graphics? The same outlet said psychonauts 2 graphics were best in class.

[dumahim]

You apparently don't know what review bombs are. A SINGLE negative review out of 126 is not a review bomb.

[Darkborn]

@dumahim Plenty of reviews lowered their scores just like far cry 6 over samey stuff. Look down the list.

[dumahim]

And? Lowering a score isn't review bombing.

[Darkborn]

When it's against a certain publisher it is. Let's be real, if Sony fully published deathloop, especially with a white male protagonist, it would have gotten 6s and 7s. That's the issue. Certain publishers get different grades depending on who reviews it. I even saw some people say that Microsoft perfected deathloop. A game they hardly even touched. Bethesda gets the credit on that game. But if Sony published it, you would have seen some people say it was a clone of dishonored.

[MadLad]

Yeah.

Sony is a highly persecuted company, with all of its goty awards, and always doing very well when it comes to console sales.

I can't stand how much bias there is towards Playstation.

[nommers]

@NeoGamer232

Being too much of the same thing is a valid complaint because it means the value isn't that special at all compared to what came before from the franchise. Why spend money on a game that you pretty much already have? Not saying you can't enjoy games that have minor improvements or even next to no new things, but when talking about reviews/awards and prestige it most definitely should be taken into consideration as a critique against a game.

[-Hermit-]

" Oh I know what's different."

There's those conspiracy theories again. Nobody is out to hurt your favourite piece of plastic.

[Darkborn]

And the funny thing you all stated is games that are too similar should be rated lower. All the reviewers i saw do reviews for this on youtube said its essentially the same as FH4. Almost all the same cars, the same modes, different Vista, but most of the same. By your definition this game should have aower review score on metacritic. And yes, there are biases.

Edit* and this is the last thing I'll say. Coming out of a generation where Xbox made 0 new IP and essentially recycled yes, halo gears and forza the entire time with exception to the critically acclaimed bleeding edge and crackdown 3, they are making the same game, with minor changes and getting perfect 10's. If this were a third person over the shoulder game, from Sony, even with racing cars and customizations and all that it would be called uncharted with cars and get lower scores.

People reviewing kena bridge of spirits literally sited uncharted and ghost of Tsuchima and said kena, an indie dev studio did a bad job on the Sony standard. So they got butchered on not being up to the standard of normal Sony games. It literally happened. Kena got little help from Sony and essentially made the game as a 15 person team, but got compared to the big dogs. You won't see those comparisons on forza or halo.

[Army_of_Darkness]

It always annoys me when reviewers dock points on a sequel for not being innovative enough... Like why? How come they can't just review it for what it is(probably, currently the best in its genre)? An improved version over all the previous literation! Why fix what ain't broken? It's funny cause these are the same people that will give a new cod or Mario kart a 10/10?! Psssh.. I'm a PlayStation only gamer but even I can admit that this game looks phenomenal!

[Petebloodyonion]

Well not to be picky but care to explain what's the difference between the old ratchet and Clank on Ps2 and the newest one aside from having a sub stage to warp in?

Now funny that Forza has introduced since the 1st version: driving anywhere instead of fix track, story mode, different event types, build your own event, design your car, rewind, etc.

But please tell us what's missing or what could be done to inovate the arcade racer genre.

[thesoftware730]

Dark, don't you ever get tired.

Once in a while its ok to "give it a rest".. My gosh, you are like a broken record, with your constant downplaying of everything Xbox.

We get it, Sony is the best, PS5 is better than SX, MS dont have as many good exclusives as Sony.
Sony sells more, MS sells less. MS was even worst last gen and Sony dominated. MS makes the same 3 games over and over again, and Crackdown 3 was a joke, they hyped it for no reason.

Ok, please go rest yourself. Staying on N4G 24/7 spewing, gushing and worshipping your favorite box, cant be great for your mental state and you personal life. Sony will be fine if you take a day off.

[kayoss]

I mean the reviewer did give it a 8/10 score. Which is really good. I dont think he is bias, but maybe a little nick picking.

[PrinceAli]

yes but that doesn't mean the game cant be judged for it.

[darkrider]

It's the problem with racers. It's difficult to not have that feeling

[kayoss]

I mean it the same with every damn Call of Duty game.

[darkrider]

Not really. There is a story and new modes. The patrol is really cool and hard. The biggest thing with this game is the 60 frames on consoles and better graphics. But it's just another racer. This type of game is really hard to make something new and fresh.

[littletad]

Too much racing in this racing game. Lack of innovation.

[Bruh]

Next time hopefully Playground puts in some action RPG elements for these reviewers

[Gunstar75]

Breaking News! ForzaHorizon6 will be a third person action adventure set in Birmingham. This is to appease critics who said the fifth in the series, which was a driving game, featuring cars and driving, was too similar to the previous games which also featured cars being driven.

[Smok91]

I hope it’s a RPG 🤣

[lonewolf10]

I'd buy it

[VenomUK]

Does it have to be Birmingham?

[Gunstar75]

Cardiff? Lol

[UltimateRacer]

It’s hard to reinvent a game like this, it’s the 5th in the series so it’s going to be familiar and perhaps a bit boring or stale in that sense but it is what it is.

[Magog]

Another chapter in the saga of Forza, Halo, Gears.

[gamer7804]

That’s set to change but you aren’t wrong, I’m glad Xbox will be broadening it’s scope soon and I’m glad Sony atleast through third party exclusive babylonfall getting some coop action. Great time to be a gamer.

[jukins]

Co oo action like ghosts of tsushima? Or sackboy? Or all the lbp?

[gamer7804]

@jukins no not like those but coop as main campaign gameplay built from the ground up.

[porkChop]

A good game is a good game. And last I checked MS has plenty of new games and new IP on the way.

[King_Noctis]

And Age of Empire 4, Psychonaunts 2, and Flight Simulator (console). Those games also released this year mind you. Why did you conveniently forget those?

[FlavorLav01]

Because ones a top down(nothing AAA fun about it), one is a sim of flying around(not really a game), and Psychonauts2 is actually on the competition’s platform. So outside of those you mention, we’re back to Halo and Forza for big hitters. Same old Xbox new day.

[King_Noctis]

@FlvorLav

AOE IV got 82% on Metacritic. So how is it not fun? Have you played it? Psychonaunts 2 is on PS4 only, not on PS5. And a great game is a great game, so why does it matter what platform it is on?

At this point if you hate MS this much, why bother commenting on their article every time?

[MadLad]

@flavor

They have Playground working on Fable. Rare working on Everwild. The coalition working on Perfect Dark.
I could go on, and that's before their massive acquisition push, so please go spread your complete BS elsewhere.

Tired of people playing pretend like MS is still in the Xbox One release days. They've made great changes over the last few years.

[jznrpg]

I’m not sold Everwild will turn into something good . Their reveal for it didn’t tell us much

[FlavorLav01]

Actually excited to see what Playground can do with Fable, but we’ve seen nothing more than a cg cutscene and have no idea how far out that is.

Everwild is the same, and reportedly already getting a rebooted/reworked behind scenes, have no idea when we’ll see the light of that.

The Initiative is the new and unproven “AAAA” studio working on Perfect Dark, not the Coalition, and even they need Crystal Dynamic’s AAA expert “help” in early development to make that happen.

All laughable you’d bring those up being so far out. As far as I’m concerned, they are still in their infancy days. Here we are, a year after a new console launched with no games, with more of the same….Halo and Forza and “Gamepass” the grail of indies, if that’s what your into. And not much else in terms of 1st party AAA. It’s coming though, the games are coming, and this time they are….because this time they bought an entire publisher to keep EXISTING IPs off of other platforms. Don’t have a good portfolio, go and buy one right? But I’m sure that philosophy will work out just fine in the long run for us gamers huh?

[MadLad]

"No games"

Flight simulator. Psyconauts 2. Deathloop. ForzaH 5.

Might not all be Microsoft exclusives, but all highly reviewed titles from studios that will be only PC/Xbox going forward.

[KillBill]

I guess they wanted to see a Battle Royal option? lol

[4Sh0w]

Haha, OK you got me I laughed.

[dumahim]

It does have battle royale.

[UncertainCategory]

It uh.. absolutely does have a battle royal mode.. Theres so much in this game I’m not sure what more folks want.

[badz149]

maybe a better driving physics? I know it's an arcade and all but going full speed in a Lambo going through dirt, bushes, the freakin forest, the beach, crashing into fences etc....does take away the immersion at least for me. I said this based on my experience with FH3, and can't say I like it. I mean, you can definitely feel the difference in handling and speed for the different classes of vehicles on different terrains in Motorstorm, I hope they can at least do that.

[dumahim]

@badz149
I played a few hours before I went to bed last night and it does feel more realistic, but I think as a result the initial turn-in feels a bit slower under normal steering settings. I really wish there was a setting to adjust the level of assist between normal and realistic.

[Destiny1080]

he basically says, he's played the same game before, just with a different number attached to it, and it doesn't do anything new, to justify a higher score

[UltimateRacer]

From what I’ve seen I agree with his statement.

[FanboysKiller]

He should express how he feel and give examples of innovative ideas instead of just being critical.

[Teflon02]

That's not the reviewers job. There's nothing to cry about with a 8 lol.
The devs job is to convince them that the game deserves a higher score. Not the reviewer to give them ideas on how to get higher scores lol. If they played the same game before and it's great, it's still the same game to them. It is what it is. If they said that and it got a 8, just clearly means it's a great game clearly lol

[Inverno]

Y'all way too bent out of shape over an 8 but see nothing wrong with the 10s. I rather a more honest score than a perfect score simply because I'm a fanboy of a game.

[Teflon02]

Ratchet is one of my alltime fav series and I wasn't bothered by 8's lol. This is the second review I see them crying about an 8 with. It's pretty sad, that's what they're complaining about

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

I'm not sure what one can do to a racing game to change it up. Seems like a BS complaint.

[Mulando]

Well it is hard to review such a game. Yes it is a (arcady) racing game, which already worked almost perfect in the last few iterations. What really is new is now the setting-change.
Do formular 1 racing games also get nerved by reviewers because they make the same game every year again?

Still an 8 of 10 is still good. But the complain is crap.

[Good-Smurf]

Imagine getting triggered by a 8/10 review.

[Jericho1337]

If it were a 10/10 they get blasted for being a biased Xbox fan site. Can’t win.

[brewin]

Good review, but it's a bit too familiar. There's all these words and stuff. And you have to read, so it's pretty similar to other reviews.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Wtf did they want....racing in space?

[LoveSpuds]

This was my concern as I felt Forza 4 was quite formulaic and very familiar and whilst I appreciate it can he hard to innovate in respect of this genre, I would still hope there is some new gameplay and mechanical innovations in 5.

There is no need to get defensive to those extremists in the xbox community, I am not saying I think Forza Horizon games are bad, in fact, I love them and cannot wait to race around Mexico.

[BioShockGX]

It's hard to rate a racing game. Do you give it a perfect score because it's better than the previous one or a good/great score because it's just a racing game.