Phil Savage,UK editor-in-chief: Once
again, Playground Games has stitched
together a massive patchwork
representation of a place, and filled it full of
theme park delights. There’s the Baja Desert,
where you can smash into cacti to build up a
massive skill combo. There’s La Gran Caldera,
an active volcano with twisting dirt roads and
a mountainside that’s just begging to be used
for offroad stunts. There’s jungle
and farmland and a big airstrip
for drag races.
In short, Forza Horizon 5 ’s
Mexico makes for a varied car
playground. In terms of
construction, it’s much the same
as Australia and the UK before it:
different biomes that prioritise
fun over realism, and that are
filled with enough races, challenges
and collectibles to keep you exploring
for hundreds of hours.
Yes, we could have given (^) Forza Horizon 5 a
‘Best Racing’ award and been done with it, but to
do so would have been to miss the point. The
racing is a part of the Forza Horizon series, sure,
but more than that it’s an enthusiastic
celebration of videogame driving. Cars are
handed out like RPG loot, and they’re used for
more than just its vast series of checkpoint races.
There are ‘PR stunts’ that each celebrate a
different discipline, from drifting to doing
inadvisably massive jumps. There are sidestories
that set you specific goals as you’re transformed
into, for instance, the stunt driver of some
ridiculous action blockbuster. There’s even a
surprisingly decent battle royale mode.
In most games, a giant open
world full of icons would
exhaust me. But in Forza Horizon
5 , each is a guarantee of
something fun to do in a car. If
you love racing games, this series
remains the pinnacle of the form.
Jacob Ridley: Ahead of Forza
Horizon 5 ’s release, I was still
playing Forza Horizon 4. I never really put it
down. So the fact that Forza Horizon 5 feels very
much a shinier version of that same game, well,
that’s all I could’ve asked for.
There’s a ton of beauty in the Mexican map
and a whole lot to do. Though, saying that, I found
I spent my first few hours on a joy ride for no
other reason than the thrill of the drive and the
beauty of the landscape.
UNBEATABLE:
WHITE LABEL
Unbeatableis without question
the coolest game I playedthis
year, and it’snot even doneyet.
Despite being a Kickstarter
demo with a handful of songs,
White Labelis a banging
rhythm game in its own right,
serving up anime-tintedpop
rock beats and VHS visuals,
and haseven dropped afew
extra tracks over theyear.
Mark my words – when
Unbeatablehits for real, I won’t
be talking about anything else.
Natalie Clayton
ASSASSIN’SCREED
VALHALLA: WRATH OF
THE DRUIDS
I haven’t had a lot of time to
play games in 2021,so it’s
unsurprising that my GOTY is
actually someDLC. Wrath of
the Druidstook Eivor off to
Ireland and it was a lovely
departure from fightingaround
England. I enjoyed following
Ciara around andlistening to
her sing between fighting the
creepy andmysterious druids
and exploring parts of Ireland
I’m familiar with.
Lauren Aitken
FORZA HORIZON 5
THIS SERIES
REMAINS THE
PINNACLE OF
THE FORM
BEST OPEN
WORLD
2021