The second expansion for Forza Horizon 5 was released yesterday on March 29th. You can now explore the new area on the northwest coast of the normal map called “Sierra Nueva”. I played for around one and a half hours before writing this short review.
If you want a cinematic experience of what this expansion is all about check out the official trailer here:
Some impressions
Starting out with new races
During the Horizon Badlands Expedition you are thrown into three races to introduce you to the 3 types of rally races. There are dirt, road and night rally races. You can also choose between the classic rally mode where you race alone and compare your stage time to other drivers or race mode where you drive at the same time as others like in the base game.
After playing through the first 3 races you get to choose one of 3 teams – one for each race type. Choosing a certain team will set the captain of that team as your co-driver. They will tell you the pace notes – basically which direction you need to steer and how much. This unlocks a whole new chapter for FH5 as this was never possible before.
With a team you also unlock a new leveling system. Level ups can be achieved by getting start on activities like speed traps or by successfully completing races. This profession system rewards you with new apparel gear like helmets and racing suits but also with wheel spins. In the long term I expect this to be quite grindy. There are also some boards that need to be destroyed similar to fast travel boards in the base game.
The map is quite big and really diverse. You can find desert sand dunes, palm forests, Mexican mountain roads and even a epic quarry to drive through. Check out the official map here:
The expansion also added 13 new accolades and 27 new steam achievements to achieve.
Worth buying?
I would say if you enjoy rally driving this could be worth a look. If you want it now and already have the base game I highly recommend buying the Premium-Add-ons bundle while its on sale and if you haven’t yet made the mistake of buying the base game for 40€ on sale definitely purchase the premium version of the game as this will safe you around 25€ on sale.
The experience is really different from the “normal Forza” and way more fun than the last expansion – the Hot Wheels DLC – at least for me. And this was absolutely playable on a steering wheel without drifting off the road.
If you like racing games check out some of our reviews about them and be prepared for a full review about this new expansion soon. Our Forza Horizon 5 review can be found here.
