There’s something surreal about seeing Forza Horizon 5 on a PlayStation. I’ve been with the series since it launched on Xbox, so loading it up on PS5 felt like a strange—but welcome—milestone. The moment those parachuting cars hit the ground, I was right back where I left off: tearing through the desert, engine roaring, with a ridiculous grin on my face.
Built around a detailed version of Mexico, Forza Horizon 5 lands on PS5 with nearly four years of updates and polish baked in. The open-world festival format is just as fun as ever, but this version includes a few platform-specific perks. DualSense support makes drifting and braking feel more responsive, while PS5 Pro users get a sharper visual presentation with faster performance.
If you’ve played it before, this is a strong re-release. If you haven’t, this is the best version to start with.
Driving Forward on Your Own Terms
Forza Horizon 5 doesn’t follow a traditional story, but that doesn’t mean there’s no sense of progression. Instead of cutscenes and major plot beats, your journey unfolds through the way you explore and build out the Horizon Festival. After the opening sequence drops you into a showcase of Mexico’s biomes, you’re left to chart your own path—whether that’s racing, exploring, or collecting cars.
The Accolade system lets you unlock new events based on what you actually enjoy doing. I spent a lot of time just driving from one side of the map to the other, hitting drift zones and speed traps along the way. That still pushed my progress forward. You can focus on off-road racing, city events, or story missions built around local culture and characters. They’re lighthearted but offer some fun setups—like tracking down a barn find or testing a movie stunt.
It’s surprisingly easy to lose hours just jumping between events. There’s no need to grind or stick to one type of race. The game keeps rewarding you for doing what you like, and on PS5, all the content updates and quality-of-life tweaks are already baked in. That means more stories to tackle from the start and a better rhythm to how things open up.
The freedom works in the game’s favour. There’s no pressure to unlock everything right away, and the way the Festival expands gives you a reason to try different things. It all comes together naturally, which makes the experience feel more personal—like the game’s quietly learning how you want to play.
Fast, Flexible, and Always Moving
At its core, Forza Horizon 5 is about choice. That applies to how you progress, but it’s even more apparent in how you drive. The game leans into arcade racing, but it still gives you room to tweak the handling to suit your preferences. You can go full casual with assists and rewind, or strip everything back for a more demanding ride. I’ve always kept braking assists off — I like the feel of pushing the car just to the edge and pulling it back again.
What really makes the gameplay stick is how much variety there is. One minute you’re tearing across a desert in a rally car, and the next you’re drifting through narrow city streets in a souped-up coupe. The event types include sprints, circuits, drift zones, danger signs, and massive showcase races that throw in everything from cargo planes to monster trucks. No two races feel the same, especially with how the seasons and weather can change the road conditions.
How It Drives on PS5
On PS5, everything feels responsive and smooth. I mostly stuck with Performance mode to stay at 60fps, and it held steady the whole time. The DualSense support doesn’t completely change the game, but the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback add a nice touch — especially on uneven terrain. You feel the road a little more, which helps sell the difference between surfaces without needing visual cues.
The car list is enormous, and more importantly, the handling feels distinct across the board. Some cars are meant for dirt, others for pure speed, and the way the game nudges you to keep experimenting helps keep things interesting. I’d unlocked over 80 cars by the time I reached the Hall of Fame, and I was still finding new favourites.
The best part? There’s no wrong way to play. Whether you’re into fine-tuning builds, chasing leaderboard times, or just cruising through scenic routes, the game makes it all feel worthwhile.
Mexico in Motion
Forza Horizon 5 looks great no matter where you play it, but the PS5 version holds its own impressively well. The game runs smoothly in both Quality and Performance modes, though I stuck with Performance for most of my time behind the wheel. The 60fps frame rate makes a big difference in races, especially with tight turns and sudden terrain shifts. Everything feels more immediate, and when you’re drifting along a cliffside or weaving through narrow streets, that smoothness matters.
The visuals still carry the same impact they did back in 2021. Mexico’s diverse biomes create a natural sense of variety — you’ll go from sand dunes and dry valleys to mountain peaks and quiet forests in the span of a single race. Some of those transitions can be stunning. One early drive into a thunderstorm caught me off guard, with the lightning flashing in the distance as the rain rolled in. It’s the kind of moment that stays with you, even after dozens of hours.
Visual and Haptic Details on PS5
There’s no full ray tracing in races, even in Quality mode, but the reflections and lighting are still strong. Sunlight bouncing off a wet road or shadows shifting during a late-day drive help keep the world feeling alive. If you’re playing on PS5 Pro, you’ll get even better results — higher texture detail and performance closer to high-end PC visuals. But even on the base PS5, it’s a sharp, vibrant experience.
What surprised me most was how well the game uses DualSense features. The adaptive triggers give you light resistance under braking, and the haptics do a solid job of simulating surface changes — from paved streets to gravel roads. It’s subtle, not overwhelming, but it’s enough to make each car feel a little more connected to the world.
Menus are quick to load, transitions between events are snappy, and I didn’t hit any technical hiccups. It might be a four-year-old game, but on PS5, it runs like something built for the hardware.
Driving Together, Online and On Your Terms
One of the first things I did after unlocking online play was form a convoy with a few friends. We didn’t race right away—we just drove. We picked a direction, cruised through dirt trails, and laughed whenever one of us missed a turn and flew into a ditch. That’s the kind of multiplayer experience Forza Horizon 5 delivers on PS5. It’s flexible, easy to join, and built around fun.
Everything you can do solo—races, events, challenges—you can also tackle with others. Online events like Horizon Arcade pop up across the map, offering group mini-games that encourage teamwork more than raw skill. Eliminator mode returns too, bringing a chaotic battle royale twist to racing. You start in a basic car and earn better ones by challenging other drivers until one remains. It’s messy in the best way.
Matchmaking was quick during my sessions, and I never had any lag or connection issues. You can turn off real-time traffic if it’s too distracting, or keep it on for a more populated feel. It’s also nice how seamless the experience is—whether you’re grouping with friends or jumping into community events, everything flows without fuss. Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 doesn’t just let you go online. It makes it easy to stay there.
Forza Horizon 5 Finds a New Gear on PS5
Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 doesn’t feel like a port—it feels like a homecoming. Even though I played it years ago on Xbox Series X, something about driving through Mexico with a DualSense in hand felt different. The haptics, the smooth 60fps performance, and the long list of updates baked in from the start gave it new life.
What stands out most, though, is how it still holds up. The game world is full of things to do, but never overwhelming. The cars feel great, whether you’re chasing personal records or just drifting through a jungle at sunset. It’s the kind of game that gives you room to play how you want, without pushing you in one direction.
There are some minor issues—the lack of visual upgrades compared to the Series X, and the occasional pop-in—but none of them stuck with me. What stuck was the freedom, the atmosphere, and the sense that this is still the gold standard for open-world racers.
If you’re on PS5 and have been waiting to see what the Horizon series is all about, this is your chance. Familiar or not, it remains one of the best experiences you can have behind the wheel.
Forza Horizon 5 on PS5
Summary
Forza Horizon 5 brings its expansive open-world racing to PS5 with excellent performance, refined visuals, and years of content updates included from the start. Its driving feels as smooth as ever, and the variety of events, cars, and play styles keeps the experience fresh. While a few visual elements haven’t changed much from the Xbox version, the PS5 version still delivers a complete, satisfying ride with thoughtful DualSense integration and plenty of reasons to return.
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