Forza Horizon 5: Adventure Rally. A new way to ride in the mud

If I had to illustrate a case of success and exponential growth of a video game studio, it quickly comes to mind playground games. Trevor Williams, Ralph Fulton and Gavin Raeburn were the founding fathers of this company who decided to put their solid experience into practice by drawing on a fine portfolio of video games. Williams previously worked for Codemasters, while Fulton and Raeburn were collaborators at Electronic Arts before joining this project.

The first game developed by this company was Forza Horizon, released in 2012 on Xbox 360. Undoubtedly, this work has received excellent reviews from specialized media and the general public. Over the years, we have seen the catalog of this saga expand, the reception of which from the public has remained intact with an extremely positive quality. in 2018 playground games is absorbed by Microsoft, which meant moving into the big leagues. Its most recent tank, being already a first-party Xbox, is Forza Horizon 5, known to the whole world in 2021. The latter has received plaudits and awards at hundreds of awards, in particular thanks to its fabulous technical innovation in the matter. material.

Moving on to the present of this fifth installment, we can confirm that the work of the developer and his dedication to his fans have been impeccable. Almost literally, for almost two years there hasn’t been a week where we haven’t seen a new event, alternative activities or simply updates to improve our hours of play while walking or walking in Mexican biomes. In the second half of 2022 the first DLC was released, which, integrated by the success produced in Forza Horizon 4, they decided to repeat, leading players to an agreement with Hot wheels. This content expansion allows us to experience acrobatic jumps, create tracks and manipulate replicas of the toys in a very faithful way.

In 2023, we welcome you Adventure Rally, the second expansion of Forza Horizon 5, which leaves aside the crazy races of small cars. Now is the perfect time to visit a completely unexplored region full of twisty terrain; and it’s also time for a story that’s interesting enough to be considered a fitting addition to the original story arc. The most interesting novelties are given by its game modes:

• Elimination: Here, players compete in a rally race provided that the last place is eliminated after each lap. Cunning and practice will be crucial to success in this mode.
• Rally route: a classic that never fails. In this selection we will have to complete a series of stages within a certain time. Each stage presents a series of unique obstacles and challenges, such as jumps, hairpin turns, and rough terrain.
• Personalized routes: Players can also create their own 100% custom rally courses using the new course editor. This allows you to change both the terrain and the length of your own course.

Rally Adventure takes us to the beautiful region of Sierra Nueva, on the west coast of Mexico, for a memorable adrenaline experience. This new location is designed specifically for rallying, with rough roads, dirt roads and rocky terrain. The area is quite large and it also varies greatly between the natural ecosystems that you must sight. For example, in the north we find forests and jungles, in the south a desert and on some coasts we are dazzled by spectacular waterfalls.

Players are assigned to one of three teams:Apex Creators”, “Grit Reapers” there “Horizon Raptors”. Upon entering this content for the first time, we are introduced to one of the mode’s teams “Elimination”. In this way, you accumulate points and unlock secondary activities such as radars or skimeters. Each group has its own missions and one can switch between them to complete the progress of the game.

The link between NPCs (non-playable characters) or the pseudo-story being told to players works well, but it’s absolutely forgettable. Our goal will be to crown ourselves as the adventure rally champions and the rest is pure filler.

The quantity and genuine quality of the cars they introduced in this edition is insane. Although the base catalog already had the odd off-road vehicle, now we have the addition of 10 new unitsamong which stand out the Ford Focus RS 2001, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR, 2021 RZR Factory Racing Limited Edition and more recent ones like the Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum 2022.

Customization is fundamental to success in Forza Horizon 5 and Rally Adventure is no exception. When we talk about car customization, we are not only referring to aesthetic changes (which, by the way, are almost endless), but we are also highlighting the virtue of configuring the car with new parts or even making totally crazy transformations. We can for example develop a high-end professional vehicle, towards a tuning totally intended for competitions on rustic roads.

As a regular user of the racing genre, both arcades and simulators, I can say that I was pleased with this addition to Playground Games. In general, the purpose of DLC is to increase the experience known in the main game and here it is perfectly fulfilled. New cars, game modes, more stories and many other excuses are added to enjoy this title, which is still at the top of the current market. Rally Adventure is a fair extension that I highly recommend to any speed enthusiast, and especially those interested in the challenges of rallying.

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