Article

Forza Horizon 5 makes Mexico feel like one giant racing playground

27 July 2026

A kid friendly AxelGamer look at Forza Horizon 5, with open world racing, Mexico, wild weather, heaps of cars, festival events, and why cruising can be just as fun as winning.

Forza Horizon 5 is one of those games where I do not even need to win every race to have fun. Sometimes I just want to pick a cool car, blast along a road, accidentally miss a corner, smash through a cactus, and pretend that was totally part of my plan. It is an open world racing game set in Mexico, and it feels more like a massive car holiday than a normal racing game.

The best thing about it is how big and colourful the map feels. One minute you can be driving through a busy town with bright buildings, then you can head out to the desert, then up near a volcano, then through jungle roads that look slippery and fast. It is not just flat racing tracks either. There are hills, beaches, tunnels, ruins, dirt paths, and roads where I swear the game is trying to make me look silly by putting a tree exactly where I want to drift.

I like racing games when they let you play your own way. Forza Horizon 5 does that really well. If you want proper races, there are road races, street races, dirt races, cross country events, drag races, and huge showcase events that feel like the game has gone a bit bonkers. If you do not feel like racing, you can just drive around and find bonus boards, speed traps, danger signs, drift zones, and random little challenges. It is great because even mucking around still feels like progress.

The car list is also pretty wild. There are supercars that look like they belong in a movie, tiny cars that feel hilarious next to everything else, old cars, rally cars, utes, trucks, and heaps more. I always end up spending ages changing colours and upgrades, even though I do not fully understand every tuning setting yet. Sometimes I just make a car bright green or blue because it looks funny flying off a jump. That is probably not expert racing strategy, but it is definitely AxelGamer strategy.

Another cool part is the weather. The game has big storms, dust, rain, sunshine, and different seasons that change how the world feels. Driving through a dust storm is scary in a fun way because you can barely see what is ahead, and then suddenly there is a corner and your car is off into the bushes. Rain makes roads feel different too, especially when you are trying to stay neat through a turn. It makes the world feel alive instead of just being a pretty background.

Forza Horizon 5 originally came out on Xbox and PC, and it later came to PlayStation 5 as well. That is pretty cool because more players can jump in now. The PlayStation Store page in Australia lists it as a driving and racing game, and the official game pages talk about exploring the open world landscapes of Mexico with hundreds of cars. I like that it is about driving fun more than crashing into people. You can still mess up, obviously, because I do that constantly, but the vibe is more festival adventure than mean racing.

I reckon it is a good family friendly game if you like cars, exploring, or trying again after a silly fail. It is not a tiny simple game though. There are heaps of menus, icons, upgrades, online bits, and events, so younger kids might need help at first. Once you understand the map and how to pick events, it gets easier. I think it is the kind of game where Dad or Mum could help choose a race, then everyone laughs when the car flies way too far off a jump.

My favourite moments are not always the biggest races. Sometimes it is when I am cruising and the sun looks amazing, or when I find a road that twists through the hills, or when I line up a danger sign and somehow land without flipping ten times. I also like that the game rewards exploring. If you see something interesting, you can usually just drive there, and there is probably something to do nearby.

Compared to cart racers like Mario Kart, Forza Horizon 5 feels more realistic, but it still has heaps of silly fun. There are no banana peels or blue shells, which is probably good because I would lose my mind if a blue shell hit my best car. Instead, the fun comes from speed, control, stunts, and choosing where to go next. It feels like a game that says, here is a giant map, here are heaps of cars, now go make your own racing adventure.

I still love games with power ups and goofy chaos, but Forza Horizon 5 shows that normal cars can be exciting too. The map is beautiful, the races are fast, the cars are awesome, and even the mistakes can be funny. If you like racing games that let you explore instead of only driving around the same track again and again, Mexico in Forza Horizon 5 is a pretty epic playground.