Forza Horizon 5

Forza Horizon 5 moved the traveling car festival to Mexico and, right from launch, became the most striking showcase for the Xbox Series X|S consoles. The map is built on contrasts: a single drive can take you through a tropical jungle with temple ruins, up a snow-capped volcano slope, across a dusty desert, and finish in the narrow streets of a colonial town. The structure stayed true to the series — the player earns points across different branches of activity, unlocks new festival hubs, races on circuits and off-road, completes speed zones and stunt jumps, and along the way tackles Horizon Stories, short themed episodes. A major addition is the EventLab editor, which lets you build custom tracks and game modes and share them with others, so the game's content grew far beyond what the developers themselves put into it.

Technically it's a showpiece title for the new generation. On Series X you can choose between a higher-resolution mode and a smoother-performance mode, SSD loading cut waiting times to a minimum, and fast travel is practically instant. Seasons change on a weekly cycle for all players at once, so the world regularly transforms — rain floods riverbeds, the desert scorches in summer, and stormy skies over the coast look straight out of a documentary. Engine sound is recorded with obsessive care, and the radio stations cover everything from electronica to classical music, a traditional hallmark of the series.

Critics received the game exceptionally warmly, praising both the depiction of the Mexican landscape and the unprecedented attention to accessibility, including sign-language interpretation in story sequences. Forza Horizon 5 also became a symbol of the Game Pass strategy: a huge, technically polished blockbuster available on subscription from day one. Even years later it feels like the most comfortable arcade ride on the market — it doesn't matter whether you spend ten minutes with it or ten hours.