Forza Horizon 5 Hot stuff is coming through.
If you haven’t heard it before, this is a world where death-defying, die-inspired racing takes place on life-size toy tracks. It’s a freeway-scale maze of orange jumps, loops, and raceways that will see you spout the contents of 12 of the most famous car museums in the world. You’ve probably heard it before.
Playground Games’ Forza Horizon 3: Hot Wheelsexpansion in 2017 was a great example of the same thing. Unfortunately, this has been removed from the Playground Games website for some time. We are all grateful that Playground is expanding Forza Horizon 5’s game. Although driving huge toy cars may not be as exciting or novel as the first time, Forza Horizon 5 and a progression system that encourages you to use every toy in the box make it even more fun.
While Forzahorizon 5: Hot Wheels looks similar to Forza Horizon 3, there are some key differences that quickly become evident. One of the most important differences is that progression is restricted in a new way. We are limited to cars starting at B-class or lower. Once you have completed each phase of the Hot Wheels Academy competition, the higher classes won’t be unlocked. Although this does prevent us from taking out the fastest cars right away,
it is a system that I enjoy because it forces me to think about the cars in the lower performance classes and reengage with them. I also get to dust off old favorites. Horizon 5 Hot Wheels does the opposite. Instead of people gravitating to the fastest cars on the huge vehicle roster, there isn’t as many things to do. Although the expansion brings us the new Hot Wheels-inspired Baja Bone Shaker right away, we are not limited to it. Any B-class car you have will suffice.
These nine additional cars are a great grab bag. However, there are only three more Hot Wheels-themed models: the aggressive Bad to the Blade, the Deora II fan favorite, and a Hot Wheels COPO Camaro. While I love the Brabham BT62, the rest are quite random. There doesn’t seem to be any Hot Wheels connection with them. It feels a little like six cars were just going to be available when the pack arrived, rather than six cars who feel like they are designed to be there.
What We Have to Say About Forza Horizon 5.
Forza Horizon 5 offers a rich and complex car experience for auto geeks and revheads who love to tinker, build, and experiment. The racetrack is also accessible to all, no matter what level of driving ability or mechanical knowledge. It’s a charming tribute to road-tripping in postcard-perfect vacation locales and an occasional, witty but sincere Valentine to Mexico’s culture.
The MMO-inspired, long-distance racer is packed with many activities and events. It feels easy to use and relaxed, but not intimidating. It doesn’t force you to do something you don’t like and rewards you for choosing to play it. It is beautiful and sounds amazing, and it is a joy to play. Forza Horizon 5 can do a lot. It is, however, the product of a racing studio at its best and the best open-world racing title I have ever played. – Luke Reilly, November 4, 2021
Score: 10
Orange you glad?
The mega map is the real star of the show. It is larger than Forza Horizon 3, and more. It is a floating group of islands above Mexico. This creates an amazing blanket of white fluffy clouds. The stunning backdrop combined with the incredible detail in the tracks that weave and arc through the map’s translucent orange tracks makes for a beautiful racing game. You can experience some truly breathtaking moments, including racing through a bubbling lake and into an active volcano.It can certainly deliver some truly stunning moments, including careening into an active volcano for its first time or racing across a bubbling lake filled with lava.
Hot Wheels for Horizon 5 also adds several track types that weren’t present in the Horizon 3 version, including ice tracks, magnet tracks, wild water flumes, and long straights slung out under enormous fans that will help propel your cars to speeds I’ve never hit in a Forza game before. The added track types inject some pleasing variety, and the magnet tracks in particular seem well-positioned to create some incredible, stomach-churning drops without cars losing contact with the road and crashing at the base.
Playground also added a heap of Hot Wheels track pieces to its Event Lab creation tools. This means that we can build new Hot Wheels tracks from any of the unfinished stubs. Although the pieces are easy to connect when they are close enough, it can take some trial and error to find the right pieces. They can also be bent and twisted in subtle ways. Although it’s finicky, I believe there’s great potential in this (especially for talented creators who have previously created very creative stunt tracks in Forza Horizon 5, although it doesn’t offer the same level of control over stretching, shrinking, and warping as Hot Wheels Unleashed.
Verdict
Forza Horizon 5: Hot Wheels returns to the Forza Horizon 3 well. Although it isn’t as successful as the Hot Wheels expansion, Forza Horizon 3: Hot Wheels was. However, it is clear why Hot Wheels was chosen to make a comeback: Forza’s high speed, toy-themed stunt driving is still an exciting experience. Hot Wheels-themed racing games are in a golden age right now. Milestone’s brilliant Hot Wheels Unleashed has created its own orange plastic patch, but Forza Horizon 5 Hot Wheels will be an essential expansion for all Forza fans.
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