"Forza Horizon 5" begins with a 2021 Ford Bronco Badlands driving down a snow-covered volcano into the hot, dry Baja desert. This is, without a doubt, one of the coolest openings in "Forza Horizon" game history. Still, I couldn't help but wonder if the developers at Playground Games had done enough.

At a virtual preview event held before Gamescom 2021, Playground Games and Microsoft gave journalists an early look at the game's opening. While Microsoft was unable to provide a hands-on experience for the press, the opening was impressive with its vibrant visuals incorporating the beautiful Mexican terrain. However, it also felt like a rehash of the standard "Forza Horizon" formula.

Making a sequel to any game is difficult. The developers have to keep enough of the familiar elements while introducing new concepts to the player and keeping it fresh; if it's hard to accomplish that the second or third time around, it gets even harder the fifth time around.

Of course, this demand for diversity does not exist in all genres. In particular, simulation and sports games are a pass, as iterative improvement is at the core of these titles. For example, in the "Forza Motorsport" series and the upcoming "Gran Turismo 7," fans generally do not want a major departure from past titles. Those titles have only one goal: to recreate the most realistic racing possible. For Simracer, fans want to drive the same cars on the same tracks, only with better visuals and physics. [But "Horizon" is different. For an open-world arcade racer, one would expect larger, more unique set pieces, and Horizon is targeting a player base that also plays "Fortnite" and "Pokémon." Forza's development team has taken this into consideration and will not force players to participate in racing events in Horizon 5 if they do not want to. Since the game is open-world, players can instead play other events and still reach the end of the game.

While it will be fun to drive the remote Mexican roads in the new mid-engine 2021 Corvette Stingray, the enthusiasm for "Horizon 5" probably stems from the fact that it is the first Microsoft racer on next-generation hardware.

Still, race fans should have fun driving through the Mexican jungle in a Porsche 911 964 Desert Flyer designed for the 2017 NORRA Mexican 1000.

In a Q&A with Horizon 5's Creative Director Mike Brown, we learned that the team has made numerous trips to Mexico to ensure that they are capturing the local atmosphere, and since travel is restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the team is still in photographers and tour guides and are in contact with them to procure additional resources. In addition, Playground Games has hired Mexican voice actors to make the people in the game sound as if they are from Mexico. In addition, Playground is working with a Mexican screenwriter and consultant to ensure that the game is "full of love" for Mexico.

Forza Horizon 4 was released in 2018. Typically, the series runs on a two-year production cycle. For "5," however, the team was able to spend an additional year producing the game. According to Brown, this allowed the team to rework the suspension and braking physics to make the game more realistic. while "Horizon" is an arcade-like racing series, Brown said that by making the suspension and braking more realistic Brown felt that the driving experience would be more consistent for the player.

Overall, Playground Games has found a solid formula with the "Horizon" series, and even if "Horizon 5" is not as innovative as the original or "Horizon 2," it will still be fun.

"Forza Horizon 5" will be released on November 5, 2021 for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, and PC. It can be purchased on its own or as part of the Xbox Game Pass.