Forza Horizon 5 Hot Wheels Review
All right racing fans, this is not our first rodeo when it comes to Hot Wheels expansion hitting Forza Horizon, oh no, but it was missed, and luckily we were not going to wait for too long for its return. July 19th was the release of the Hot Wheels expansion for Forza Horizon 5 the latest in the series which was released in the fall of 2021. This time the developers wanted to take us on a history lesson on the origins of Hot Wheels which had its 50th Anniversary in 2018. It’s time to race and be amazed by the crazy tracks that were made for us to enjoy.
Hot Wheels comes back to Forza Horizon 5
Playground Games the developers of Forza Horizon have always brought a nice mix of both arcade and simulation racing. Giving gamers an opportunity to race anyway they see if either being a novice or an expert. Even going as far as giving players the ability to get creative in making outstanding livery of cars that players across the world can download and rate. To make tracks and express their ability in fun racing. Forza Horizon has had its own personality with open-world racing and giving you the chance to create your own legend and interact in this world as a superstar. This time around Forza Horizon 5 takes place in beautiful Mexico with your choice of exotic, muscle, tuner, classic, and many different vehicles to add to your garage. Forza Horizon has always taken the task to evolve into something greater for players to enjoy and even gift each other rides for new and veteran racers. Now it is time to level up the playground even further once again.
The Hot Wheels Expansion is a fan favorite even before the expansion came about there were already some hot wheels cars in the collection list. So, of course, this led fans to ask are we getting it back? The previous title had both hot wheels and lego’s expansion. Do not get it twisted, Forza Horizon 5 has an abundance of replay value and many areas to unlock as well as collectibles to discover. Personally, I am only 70% through the main game.
It’s a big toy box:
The best thing about taking your open-world racing game and throwing something unique into the mix. Honestly, Forza is great on its own with the different terrains to race on. The almost feel like real-life action and commentary. By picking your unique game and avatar, the game speaks to the player as if they are already there. The Hot Wheels expansion just takes your average cars and makes them into stunt cars.
There will be the usual challenges throughout the hot wheels map with speed traps, drift challenges, and jumps. Then there are the class tiers to unlock as you progress where you will unlock more hot wheels cars. As you drive in each story mission you will get a history of Hot Wheels, from its creators to the special editions with the red lines over the tires. On why Hot Wheels have been the popular toy collector line for over 50 years.
This is where things get a bit technical since there was an issue in downloading the game. Using the Game Pass Cloud service from Xbox which utilizes the internet through streaming. The bonus of this is that it syncs with my data already and all the purchases made for Forza Horizon 5. Playing through the game I was amazed by not only it play smooth, but the ray tracing that I didn’t notice before. As long as you have an Xbox controller hooked up to your PC or if you have the option to play on your Xbox One or Series systems. Cloud gaming works well and not have to worry about taking up your hard drive space.
How the sun hits the car causing glare and even how you can see the track and other vehicles in your reflection. Even down to the magnatracks and spiraling into the lava pits. All the environments in the Jungle area and snow tundra give off a great atmosphere of racing. Even the addition of the toy dragon over some areas is a nice touch.
If you don’t find it creative enough there is always the option to make your own tracks. Before it was limited to Mexico, but now you can give players a proper race in your own design. Sadly, I sucked at it because I thought the creative mode would give you new space to work on but all it does is let you create in an existing area. That makes things a bit cluttered and there were some collision issues that I saw while building a new track. It’s not a deal breaker since you have plenty of players that made creative tracks themselves but take your shot at it.
As you level up your license to use faster cars you will gain more challenges than normal. There is not much else to talk about the expansion just that you get to use high-resolution cars based on famed Hot Wheels cars. Technically speaking all the cars can be hot wheels cars since they come in fantasy form to the realistic. That’s the fun in it and in the first person, you have some real fun if your stomach can handle it.
Final Thoughts:
The new expansion is a huge welcomed return. With the twist, turns, and loops to explore with any car either do the mission or just test out the tracks in rides. The Hot Wheels expansion is welcomed anytime and real talk it has some freaky tracks, especially those without rails that lead off the edge. It’s all about having fun and enjoying some of the water and ice tracks that make it extra challenging.
Forza Horizon 5 Hot Wheels gets 4.5 out of 5 beastly paws. Check it out for yourself as Forza Horizon 5 is free with Game Pass and is available through the cloud gaming system. – Beast Out –
