Why Forza Horizon 5's Mexico promises to be the most exciting place yet

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• Why Forza Horizon 5's Mexico promises to be the most exciting place yet

Forza Horizon 5 was certainly one of the highlights of Microsoft's Xbox Bethesda showcase at E3 2021 in June. And while the fifth entry in Playground Games' critically acclaimed open world racing series was always to turn heads, it was the jaw-dropping, almost photorealistic recreation of Mexico that really left a lasting impression on fans. The setting chosen by Forza Horizon 5 promises to provide players with more diverse environments than ever before. From silky sand dunes and open highways to dangerous rocky terrain and dense jungles, each biome offers a new gameplay experience for racing enthusiasts. In an exclusive interview, TechRadar spoke with developer Playground Games about Forza Horizon 5's ambitious new region, the challenges of delivering the biggest map yet, and what it was like developing the game on Xbox. Series X. The first question seems obvious: How does the team choose a new location for each Forza Horizon game? While everyone probably has a dream location in mind (Japan, please), Playground Games Creative Director Mike Brown said the decision for the next Horizon Festival often depends on many factors. “It's always a decision we work on the most,” says Brown. “We have done everything possible to make sure that we are making the right decision with this. And we still have a number of criteria that we want to achieve. They tend to be different from game to game, to be honest, and that's probably part of the reason why we end up in different places each time.

Create the best Forza Horizon game ever

One criteria that was clear from the start for Forza Horizon 5 was that the team wanted to make it the biggest game in the series to date, which has certainly helped an extra year of development. "This time, we knew from the beginning that we wanted to make the best Horizon game ever," says Brown. “We knew we were going to take another year off, we were going to give ourselves more time, and we wanted to make huge investments in technological tools and many different areas of the game. And one of those areas, of course, was the world,” and we knew we wanted it to be huge. So that was the starting point.” But choosing a huge world comes with its own set of challenges. There's no point in having a gigantic playing space if there's not a lot going on, something Brown said the team is well aware of. “There's no point in being massive if all that extra space is filled with the same thing,” he explains. "Having the largest map in a Horizon game also required a lot of new technical considerations, especially when it comes to the volcano in the game." Having the largest map in a Horizon game also required a lot of new technical considerations, especially when it comes to the volcano in the game. “It was challenging, not just because of the bigger map, but because you can climb so high and you get these amazing views from the top of the volcano. You can see pretty much the entire map, so it was a challenge to make sure these biomes blended naturally into one another,” says Forza Horizon 5 Art Director Don Arceta. But that's not just what you can see in the distance. Arceta notes that the team had to pay close attention to how things look up close and spent countless hours capturing data over a span of several months to make sure Mexico looks exactly like what you would expect in real life. “You know our team is super talented. And we have all of our Forza Horizon learns from one, all the way up to four. And we really pay attention to how things look in the distance as well as how things look the same up close and how detailed things are with all of our scans and photogrammetry.

Ah make decisions

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios / Playground Games) While Mexico may seem like an obvious choice after seeing the jaw-dropping trailer for Forza Horizon 5, Brown admits it wasn't an immediate obvious choice. However, once the team began the process of researching Mexico, they quickly discovered that it was the perfect fit. “I have to admit that when we started this process, I didn't expect Mexico to act the way it did,” Brown said candidly. “I think probably because of the way Mexico is portrayed in pop culture and how you might think of it as a travel destination. vacation, I haven't really thought about the scope of diversity and the different types of biomes it has. But once we started researching and putting things together, it became an amazing option." But it wasn't just Mexico's many biomes those who took Playground Games' decision into account. The country's culture played a central role in consolidating the studio's choice, which is painstakingly portrayed in the game. “In addition to the diversity of the world, Mexico is a great place culturally with the people, the music and the works of art. All of these things come together to give us an absolutely perfect location for an open world driving game like Horizon,” says Brown.

From United Kingdom to Mexico

(Image credit: Microsoft Studios) Mexico's unique landscapes are also poised to create entirely new gameplay possibilities that would not have been possible at Forza Horizon 4's chosen location in the UK. While smashing the drywall and streets of Edinburgh was hugely satisfying, Mexico will be revved up by its wide open spaces, which should appeal to those who like to rock out to metal. “One of the interesting differences is the extra space, especially the desert biomes. They give us space to have really long, wide roads that really make the cars go to incredible speeds,” Brown tells us. “You can do it on the Kingdom map. Linked on the motorway, but the rest of the roads were traditionally British, which meant there were a lot of old roads with lots of twists and potholes and stuff... which Mexico has that too, but Mexico also benefits from the kind of wide spaces and open where you can have a very long stretch of asphalt that allows you to get your car to almost 300 miles an hour which we do we knew the players wanted that's what our car list has galore we have so many cars that they can. And the Horizon 4 map didn't have a lot of places where we could really allow them to stretch their legs. "...you can have a very long stretch of asphalt that allows you to take your car to almost 300 miles per hour, which that we knew the players wanted. As Brown explains, faithfully recreating a location naturally places restrictions on what the team can do. There would be no point in planting a jungle in the middle of the British countryside, nor would the idea of ​​shoehorning other elements. Mexico not only allows these types of additions, but also creates new play opportunities as a result. “Going into the jungle, it's a place that's obviously very dense and crowded, full of different types of plant life. But it's also very humid, very humid. There are a ton of rivers, waterfalls and lakes... and all of that allows for races that are in and out of the water all the time; it gives you some really interesting things to think about when customizing your car when you 'pick your car for these races'.

Blessed Biomes

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios / Playground Games) So it's the various biomes in Mexico that should really get players excited, which art director Don Arceta was keen to express. “Since the biomes are so diverse, they contrast a lot. You're dealing with so many different driving surfaces, you know, different asphalt in each biome is something unique – you know it's more cracked in the volcano area and then you go down to the east coast and that's it. much more well-maintained,” Arceta tells us. “So the variation of areas around the world, due to biomes, also makes it very different. "Speaking of which, there are 11 biomes in total that coexist in Forza Horizon 5: Living Desert, Sandy Desert, Rocky Coast, Farmland, Arid Hills, Volcano, Canyon, Jungle, Tropical Coast, and Urban City of Guanajuato. Each of these biomes offers the most geo-diverse driving experience yet for a Horizon game, along with seasons and localized weather conditions, such as tropical storms unfolding in real time, Arceta has been given the daunting task of providing us with a better idea of ​​what each biome contains, something he has handled with aplomb. The living desert

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios / Playground Games) “The Living Desert has all the giant cacti and Boojum trees, which are really interesting, alien-looking rock formations. It is full of foliage, very green, many wild flowers appear in certain seasons”, Arceta tells us. Sand desert

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios / Playground Games) “Sand dunes have silky, velvety sand,” says Arceta. "You can see the sand floating on top of the dunes and it's a very different experience because of its topology." Rocky shore

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios / Playground Games) “This brings us to our rocky coastline, which includes the arch of Cabo San Lucas,” says Arceta. "You get beautiful sunsets and sunrises there." Agricultural land

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios / Playground Games) “The Farmland is very interesting because it shows a lot of native Mexican cultures, which gives it a different feel than the landscapes we've seen in previous games,” Arceta notes. Arid hills

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios / Playground Games) "Near the farmland area, we have our Arid Hills biome, which is very rugged and rugged, as the name suggests," says Arceta. "Corn...