The Forza Horizon 5 Rally Adventure expansion is almost upon us, but that doesn't mean developer Playground Games can't still toy with our emotions. The new addition is supposed to launch on March 29, and while most of the features have been revealed, the digital 'car whisperers' from the studio didn't share much about the new map at first. But now, the graphical tapestry has been fleshed out before our very eyes, and it simply looks stunning.
As a short recap, Rally Adventure will send players to Sierra Nueva where they will be able to join rally teams and engage in some of the most impressive routes ever seen in a Forza Horizon game.
You will get to drive 10 new cars on fresh dusty trails, deformable sand roads, wide-spanning craters, an abandoned quarry, a quaint town, something called 'Devil's Pass' (which always sounds fun), and to top it all off, you'll even get to smash everything in your path in a palm forest.
Pueblo Artza is a small town sitting smack in the middle of Sierra Nueva, and while you'll be racing through it at blazing speeds, hopefully at above 60 frames per second, you will also be privy to its beautifully rendered surrounding geographies like tall hills covered in vegetation, and awesomely detailed rock formations.
Desert Gorge is no joke, either, living up to its name. While looking exactly like it's been ripped out of a 'Wish you were here' postcard, it's also the perfect place to carefully listen to the game's sound design. All those BANGS! POPS! and BRRMs! coming from your car's turbocharger will echo throughout the canyon when you're changing gears and accelerating like a madman.
Photo: Xbox
From the looks of it, I'm willing to bet that every new player will get distracted the first time they'll be going through Desert Gorge by the vistas, murals, wooden bridges, massive rock formations, and overall art design of the area.
Say what you will about Forza Horizon 5, but the graphics are among the best in the industry, and screenshot 'junkies' won't get bored here anytime soon. You can take this one to the Photo Mode bank.
The lush photorealistic Green Hills location marks another beautiful open space teaming with plant life sustained by the 'Instagramable' stream of water running through it. It features imposing rock terrain, a towering dam complete with a reservoir, but also a nearby stretch of road suited for the more asphalt-inclined racers.
Photo: Xbox
My personal favorite is up next, the Palm Forest. Aside from looking like an oasis that Lawrence of Arabia would have fantasized about, every tree you see is completely smashable. So while you're going through its dirt trails and eye-candy waterfall, remember that you can ram your custom pickup into everything standing between you and the finish line.
The Abandoned Quarry looks like the perfect setting for a horror game (plot twist, there already is one), but thankfully, this is not the case here. It's a great spot for daredevils that like performing stunts while blazing past heavy excavation machinery, sloped terrain, or dirt mounds.
Getting your car dirty is part of the fun, and the Rugged Dunes look like they were designed with that unique 'feature' in mind. Its Egypt-like dunes make for the perfect sand garden, only instead of a rake, you'll be leaving trails using your favorite off-road vehicle.
Photo: Xbox
Other surprises will await players here, like deformable sand roads that intertwine with pre-deformed tire tracks... whatever that means. There's also a nearby town called Crateres Secos that, wouldn't you know it, is right in the middle of a crater.
A helicopter would be the best vehicle to see this setting in all of its splendor, but I guess experiencing everything from behind the wheel at breakneck speeds in hairpin turns will have to do for now.
This pretty much covers everything the Rally Adventure map has to offer. But if seeing all of this only makes you want to play it even more while waiting for it to come out, maybe you could settle for a compromise. The latest update hit FH5 on March 2, it's called Horizon Wilds Takeover, and it's meant to offer players a small (sandy) taste until the arrival of the expansion.
Photo: Xbox
The update features Ken Block tributes that can be redeemed by simply accessing the 'Gifts' menu. You'll find the 1965 Ford ‘Hoonicorn’ Mustang, a Ken Block race suit, and helmet. You can also add the 2016 Hoonigan Ford Focus RS RX to your garage.
The $20 Rally Adventure is coming out on March 29 on Xbox One, Series X|S, and PC as separate content from the base game, which means you can't play it as a standalone title. Panic not, though, for the $10 or $15 a month Xbox Game Pass subscription contains FH5 for 'free' (so to speak), and you don't need to fork over $60-$70 to own the game.
Oh, and before I forget, the DLC is part of the Forza Horizon 5 Premium Edition, Expansions Bundle, and Premium Add-Ons Bundle, so if the 'BUY' button says something like 'I don't like you,' it could be because you probably already are a proud owner.
Codrin just loves American classics, from the 1940s and ‘50s, all the way to the muscle cars of the '60s and '70s. In his perfect world, we'll still see Hudsons and Road Runners roaming the streets for years to come (even in EV form, if that's what it takes to keep the aesthetic alive). Full profile
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