PC Gamer - UK (2022-01)

L

ikemillionsofother
GamePassmembers
eager for something
pretty to play, I’ve
beensinking myteeth
intoForza Horizon 5. It’sonlymy
secondForza gamesince I played
Horizon 4 earlier thisyear, and I’ve
already had a blast onthe new map.
It’sbright, cosy, and extremely fast.

While Horizon 5 overall feels
extremely familiarto the lastgame, I
figuredthiswould be a great
opportunity to shake thingsup a bit:
Instead of downloading all 100GB of
Horizon 5 to my poor, chronically
packedSSD, I decided to lookto the
cloud. That’s right, I’vedoneall of my
Mexico racingso far using
Microsoft’s Xcloudstreaming on PC,
and I’m a littleamazedat how well it
works. Just click the Cloud Gaming
buttonon the Windows 10 Xboxapp

(you’ll needGamePass Ultimate, by

the by), picka gamefromthe huge

library, and wham-bam-presto: Forza

Horizon 5 comes alive.

But not the PC version of Horizon,

itseems. It looks likeall Xcloud

games are actuallystreaming you the

XboxSeriesX version of whatever

gameyou’re playing. It’s a littleweird

tosee the Xboxversion’s limited

video options on the mainmenu, but

I guess it makes sense for how simple

the process of cloud gamingis

supposedto be. Plus, running a

virtual Xboxmeans thatyou’vealso

got accessto tonsof backwards

compatibleXbox360 and original

Xboxgames as well.

CLOUD CHASING

Anyways: backtoForza. It plays way

betterthanI’d hoped overthe cloud.

The delay is undeniablythere, but

after switching to the Performance

preset inHorizon and clockingup the

framerate to 60fps, I honestly

stopped noticingthe lag. I’veeven

beenableto beatmy friendIan in a

few races, who loves driving games

somuchhe plays on a racingwheel

withpedalsand a shifter. There’s

something funny about winning

Getting lostinthe XcloudinFORZA HORIZON 5

“I’vedoneallofmyracingsofarusing

Microsoft’s Xcloudstreaming onPC”

THE EXCEPTIONAL

FRAMERATE SMOOTHS OUT

THE STREAM’SROUGH EDGES

ABOVE: When the

light’sjustright,Forza

5 ’s gorgeous

landscapes come

through well.

CONTINUED ADVENTURESINGAMING

EXTRA LIFE

MORGAN PARK

THIS MONTH

Drove some very fast cars

among the clouds.

ALSO PLAYED

Hunt: Showdown