Forza Horizon 5: Hot Wheels – Spotlight

The first DLC for Forza Horizon 5 has arrived, and it’s easily one of the best expansions the series has ever seen. Even though they did well with the Hot Wheels licence in the third instalment, this new addition is by far the craziest, most entertaining, and content-heavy one thus far. You won’t want to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity thanks to the mind-blowing visuals, dizzying sensation of speed, and superb performance.

The idea behind this one is straightforward. The (apparently) wealthiest individuals in the planet are in charge of the Horizon Festival, and they’ve constructed three massive flying landmasses that are connected with a racing centre. The entire area is a magnificently enormous hot wheels circuit with three different ecosystems. The first track you’ll race on is snow and ice, but hidden underneath this frozen mammoth lies a scorching volcano. The next section takes place in a forest and features numerous stunning waterfalls and challenging water flume-equipped pathways. We end up with a giant dragon that looks like a toy “guarding” the desert. At the heart of this ludicrous, fantastical, and enormous celebration is a straightaway that will carry you to your house in the clouds in record time.

A difficult time awaits anyone who aren’t fans of the Forza Horizon aesthetic. The writing and attitude remain consistent with the original game, but everything is amped up to 11. The progression system is straightforward, and it doesn’t take long to begin unlocking content, much like in the original game. Completing various tasks and trials earns you medals. As you progress through the “history of Hot Wheels” story and earn more medals, you’ll have access to faster vehicles, more races, stunts, etc., and more Hot Wheels branded vehicles to race in. It’s not hard to follow and has lots of series staples. The tunes and overall stunning beauty are what set it apart.

I used both an Ultra setting on the PC and the performance mode on the Series X. On consoles, the Field of View slider can now be adjusted, albeit this feature is exclusive to the Hot Wheels add-on. The visual direction and execution are flawless, and the game itself felt and ran wonderfully. The whole place is covered with that iconic orange and blue Hot Wheels track. In addition, there are metal portions with magnetised flooring and the aforementioned water slides that lead to total mayhem. An interesting, if intrusive, crosshair appears in the middle of the screen and shifts to indicate the direction in which gravity is tugging on your vehicle.

Since the road grades vary greatly from turn to turn, knowing this is crucial for safe driving. Trying to win each race against progressively challenging AI took some time to become used to the new regulations. There are sections where you can go off-road to perform stunts or just explore the environment, just like in the original Hot Wheels downloadable content. However, there are a few bugs that make it such that my car floats in the air and objects vanish when I pan the camera around in third-person view. Some of my PR stunts didn’t go off where I expected them to, and the activation area ended up being much larger than I had originally intended.

Since traditional, straight-line travel doesn’t work well here, it’s great that fast transit is free. It would become old very fast if you had to drive all the way to the other side of the map every time you wanted to try a new race or stunt. Many new achievements have been added for those who care, but otherwise, this is the same great Forza Horizon 5 that I played on release day. Even the latest lab events are fully immersed in the bizarre and arcade-like, with outrageous jumps over impossible landscapes that leave me giggling like a little kid.

Almost no video game has ever made me feel genuine emotion for the past. My childhood collection of Hot Wheels wasn’t extensive because I wasn’t the biggest fan, but I did have some. My wildest dreams have come true: I get to jump 2000 feet through a landscape that may be the best-looking in video game history, and I get to see Bone Shaker and Rip Rod in their full, life-size glory. Everyone who had fun with the original game should give this sequel a try.