Forza Horizon 5: Opening gameplay and controller revealed

Forza Horizon 5: Opening gameplay and controller revealed

Forza Horizon 5

Developer Playground Games has presented the first minutes of Forza Horizon 5 in a new gameplay trailer. As with the predecessors of the series, the makers have prepared a spectacular opening for all racing drivers. Among other things, players will take control of the vehicles that can be seen on the cover of Forza Horizon 5 this time: the 2021 Ford Bronco Badlands and the Mercedes-AMG ONE.

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Forza Horizon 5: The first eight minutes of gameplay in the video loadVideoPlayer ('84263', '& sAdSetCsategory = artikel_featured', 16, '16: 9 ', false, 1378365, false, 277569, 260, false, 0,' ',' ', false); It all starts with a ride in the 2021 Ford Bronco Badlands, which you can steer through Mexico after jumping out of a plane. After the short jaunt, the next vehicle is already getting ready. The 2020 Corvette Stingray parachutes onto the tarmac - and you're heading straight for a sandstorm. In the rainforest, you can familiarize yourself with an 80s version of the Porsche 911. At the end of the opening, you will drive the Mercedes-AMG ONE through the desert to the Horizon Festival. Forza Horizon 5 will be available on November 9, 2021 for PC, Xbox Series X / S and Xbox One. The Premium Edition gives you early access so that you can use the racing game on November 5th. If you are an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, you can play the title right at launch.

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Forza Horizon 5: The Xbox Wireless Controller Limited Edition in the video loadVideoPlayer ('84264', '& sAdSetCsategory = artikel_featured', 16, '16: 9 ', false, 1378365, false, 277569, 260, false, 0, '', '', false);

New Xbox Wireless Controller in the FH5 Limited Edition

Together with the Gameplay, Microsoft has unveiled a new Xbox Wireless Controller, which is a Forza Horizon 5 Limited Edition. The description says: "The housing of the controller is kept in a transparent yellow tone, which is complemented by bright cyan and magenta elements. The special triggers, bumpers and grips are also unique and inspired by the steering wheel feel of a dazzling sports car . " The controller will also be available in stores from November 9, 2021.

Source: Microsoft





Forza Horizon 5 is basically a Fast & Furious video game

For years, Forza has been a bit of a punch line for gamers. Travel back to any Microsoft E3 presentation and you’ll find gamers rolling their eyes at the inevitable Forza segment. Racing games have long been a niche in video games and have struggled to win over the so-called “hardcore” fan base.


Forza Horizon 5 looks like it’s finally going to break through the cynicism barrier. Microsoft’s upcoming game isn’t your traditional racing game driven by the kind of auto jargon that only a die-hard would love. Like its predecessors, it’s more of an open-world adventure game that takes the genre off-road. It provides a more creative set of ideas and objectives for those who just don’t find driving around in a circle that exciting.


I caught a new glimpse of the game ahead of Tuesday’s Gamescom Opening Night Live stream and found myself entirely bought in on what Forza Horizon 5 had to offer. At first, I wasn’t sure why it had me so excited. Then it hit me: It’s essentially a Fast and Furious video game.

F stands for Forza … and family

The short clip I saw showed four different cars exploring Forza Horizon 5’s Mexican landscapes. The video doesn’t begin on a racetrack or a backroad. Instead, we’re on an airplane high up in the sky. The backdoor opens and a Ford Bronco carefully rolls out, plummeting through the air. A parachute opens, it touches down on a dirt road, and then takes off. A second car quickly crosses its path, initiating a sort of unofficial “street” race.


The Bronco keeps racing forward until it reaches a metal guardrail. It blasts through it, hurtling through the air and landing perfectly in the middle of a race that’s already in progress. It’s the kind of action movie sequence that you won’t see in something like the F1 series.

A car races underneath a plane in Forza Horizon 5.

My brain immediately raced to the Fast and Furious film franchise, which has taken on many forms during its 20-year run. While the series started as a mid-budget drama about street racing, it’s upped the ante with every film since. Fast Five is a full-on heist film where cars steal a vault and drag it through city streets on a run from the cops. This year’s Fast 9 features some out-of-this-world stunts — literally — that destroy its own rules.


That’s the same vibe I get when watching Forza’s cars plummet out of airplanes or make 20-foot leaps and come out unscathed. By the end of the clip, I’d seen a Corvette Stingray barrel through a massive dust storm and a Porsche Desert Flyer zip through a jungle. The latter is quite literally the set piece that opens Fast 9, as Dominic Toretto and his family of drivers evade cars while weaving through trees.

Diesel power

Forza Horizon 5 isn’t quite as unhinged as the Fast saga — at least not yet. It’s still mostly grounded in reality, bearing more similarities to the first three films in the Fast and Furious series than the past six. The focus is firmly on spotlighting cool cars (like the Mercedes AMG One), scenic locations, and various races. However, the Forza Horizon series has shown that it’s willing to get a little silly. Forza Horizon 4 famously featured a full Lego expansion that added blocky cars to the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a Halo Warthog join the race within a year.

Multiple cars race down a hill in Forza Horizon 5.

Watching the new footage, I’m already thinking three Forza Horizon games ahead. I can see a world where Microsoft tries to up the ante with the series, delivering more spectacle with each game and setting it apart from the more straitlaced Forza Motorsport series. When I see a car parachute out of an airplane, I’m imagining one making an impossible leap between skyscrapers like in Furious 7.


In my mind, that’ll be how Microsoft will ultimately overcome a decade of disinterest from cynics. Forza Horizon 5 can combine the tight mechanics of a niche genre with the broad appeal of a silly blockbuster to convert the unimpressed. All it needs is Vin Diesel.


Forza Horizon 5 launches on November 9 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It’ll be available on Xbox Game Pass at launch.

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