On the evening of November 4th, Xiaofa's Weibo suddenly had a group of people who spoke Spanish and raced in Mexico.
People who know a little about the game should know what they're celebrating, and a glance at the latest week's game sales charts, the answer is obvious.
That's right, Microsoft's latest racing game masterpiece, Forza Horizon 5, is officially released (hereinafter referred to as Horizon 5), and the standard version is launched on November 9th, and if you buy the top version, you can also enjoy the privilege of playing 4 days in advance.
When it comes to the "Forza Motorsport: Horizon" series (hereinafter referred to as "Horizon"), bad friends who don't play games often may have heard of this game, due to the high reputation of the Horizon series, people who don't know about cars will also try to play.
And the open map of this generation of Horizon was chosen in Mexico, which is why a group of people suddenly ran to Mexico on the night of the 4th.
And many players have commented on Horizon in recent years: there are only two types of racing games, Horizon and other games.
So why have classic racing games like Need for Speed and Dust recently been killed by Horizon?
Need for Speed: Heat Tracking Remake ▼
Because the biggest difference between Horizon and traditional racing games is that it does not stick to competitive competitions, but is set up as a free open world.
People attend a big event like a music festival, where people can drive the party and watch the cars race by.
You, on the other hand, are one of the members of the Horizon Carnival.
And "Horizon" is extremely difficult to get started, and anyone can drive two laps and experience the joy of driving.
In addition, reverse backtracking, custom races, camera modes, garage treasure gameplay, etc., are all reasons why Horizon stands out in the racing game.
But Horizon doesn't give up the authenticity of racing games because of the pursuit of entertainment, you can modify the difficulty of the game at will, turn off the control system, and enjoy the original driving fun.
Whether it's a little white who doesn't know the car at all, or an old driver who is familiar with cars, you can find your own way to play.
While Horizon evolved to the 5th generation, playground Games studios that developed it can be said to be familiar with the road, not only maintaining all the advantages of the previous game, but still launching new gameplay on this basis.
Among them, Xiaofa believes that the best thing that Horizon has done has also been perfectly inherited in the 5th generation, that is, it is comparable to the scene of Hollywood blockbusters.
At the beginning of the game, people flock to Mexico for the latest Horizon Carnival, and the vehicles appear not on the road, but by the planes...
The strong visual impact, rich and detailed sound effects, top-notch graphics and excellent operation, these advantages are all thrown at my face and immediately make my attention focus.
The next parachute was the latest Chevrolet Corvette sports car, but before it could run on the road for a while, a violent sandstorm followed...
Well, it's very Mexican.
But instead of escaping, I slammed the throttle through the sandstorm, a visual impact I'd never seen in any previous racing game.
You don't have to worry about horizon 5's top screen at all, and xiaofa sometimes can't even vaguely tell whether it's game screen or the real world.
And in this short opening play process, in fact, I have already told you the gameplay of "Horizon 5": what you want to open, how to open how to open.
Horizon 5 still has a huge map and a variety of different races to choose from, such as racing, cross country, sprints, etc., which is not much to say, which one you like to play which.
There are also various quizzes in the game, such as speed photography, drift points, jump challenges, etc., which are basically the same as the previous generation.
But the most attractive thing is the exhibition game in each generation of works, each exhibition game is like personally participating in a blockbuster, fun and exciting.
For example, a showdown with a motorcyclist.
Run to the top of the mountain to die when the volcano is about to erupt.
or... Drive a parade float into the street.
Every exhibition match and special event is fully booked, for fear that players will not feel stimulated and will not be able to arouse everyone's adrenaline.
Some poor friends see this and think, "Horizon" is not a "fun to death" racing game?
If you are a player who likes to modify and train cars, you can also play in Horizon.
As long as you come to the upgrade section, the modification flavor will come up at once.
Strictly speaking, Horizon 5 is divided into two sections: upgrade and tuning, and upgrade is the more common replacement of accessories and appearance, such as engine, control, aerodynamic kit and tires.
And point into one of the categories, such as the engine plate, which can also choose the intake, ignition, piston, flywheel and camshaft and so on add up to more than a dozen subdivision options...
At this time, click on one of the parts, and then the realistic selection of accessories will be made.
And every time you select an accessory, the value at the bottom changes in real time, including price, torque, horsepower, drive and detailed values.
This level of modification content has been able to meet the vast majority of players.
But don't forget that there is also a tuning section, here is the world of hardcore players, what tire pressure, transmission ratio, anti-roll rod and spring and other options, has exceeded the scope of Xiaofa's knowledge...
So looking at these dazzling data, you know that Horizon 5 is not a vase game, it still inherits the advantages of the previous generation, and it is an all-round racing game that can be repaired inside and out.
Of course, if you are as lazy as Xiaofa to upgrade, you can also choose to upgrade automatically or copy other people's homework.
Yes, the official allows players to upload their own tuning parameters, you can copy the homework with one click!
This kind of copying homework behavior is also placed on the appearance, you can download the painting works uploaded by others with one click, and the car is not a dream in an instant.
This is also the third way to play outside of entertainment and hardcore, driving a beloved pain car to play in the mountains, taking a photo when encountering a good scenery, and looking for hidden garage treasures by the way, interpreting what is called plain and indifferent is true.
The Horizon series is also known as the "100GB Music Player" because the game has a full 100GB, and there are different radio stations in it, and the carefully selected music is quite good, hence the name.
Open world, exhibition races, racing events, modding, hardcore tuning, photo mode, radio, livery and more, Playground Games has polished everything to the best of its ability.
And in the face of the dense icons on the map, I don't feel the headache like playing the open world of Ubisoft (sorry Ashoka).
When looking at the map of Horizon 5, I don't feel "too much to play", but "so much to play first".
This is because Horizon 5 brings players very dense positive feedback, and collects enough points in the game to unlock new exhibition matches, but the process is not painful, but very easy.
If you do some sabotage on the road, you can increase the number of points; if you accidentally pass two speedometers, the number of points can also be increased; when you come to the area you first explored, the number of points increases.
Xiaofa unconsciously played and played to unlock new activities, but also at every turn to give you a car, you said that such a design of the game, players can not love to play?
Horizon evolved in the 5th generation, and the humanistic scenery of each generation was completely different, from the first generation of the American West to the 2nd generation of southern Europe, from the 3rd generation of Australia to the 4th generation of the United Kingdom.
This time, the 5th generation came to Mexico, and it is not too much to say that the top graphics have turned Horizon into a sightseeing travel simulator.
But that doesn't mean Horizon is poorly optimized, and every generation has been a god optimizer since the 3rd generation landed on PC.
Computers like Xiaofa are equipped with NVIDIA 2070 Super graphics and AMD 5800X processors, and the frame rate can soar to nearly 100 frames at all 1080P ultra-high quality.
After Horizon 5's ratings were officially unlocked, the ratings site Metacritic reached a score of 91, the highest-rated game to date for release in 2021.
The highest-scoring game was won by a racing game with a theme that is not mainstream, which is enough to see the quality of Horizon 5.
At the same time, the price of this game is also called conscience, the standard version is 248 yuan, the deluxe version is 308 yuan, and the top version is 389 yuan.
What is the concept of $389? Some time ago, the spiritual sequel of "The Road to Survival", "Blood Revenge", cost 298 yuan for the standard version, and the deluxe version and the ultimate version cost 428 yuan and 488 yuan respectively.
A top-of-the-line edition is expensive, and there's a bunch of stuff in it that basically takes care of all the content you'll see in the future of Horizon 5, not to mention a trip to Mexico 4 days in advance.
And the content that will be launched in the future is also very worth looking forward to, because one of the contents of Horizon 4's later launch is to link up with Lego, and they have made a map composed entirely of Lego...
Just for this picture, gameplay, quality and cost performance, there is no reason why the Horizon series is not selling well.
The gameplay and characteristics of Horizon mentioned in this article only account for a dime of the game, and you need to experience the game yourself to feel the full charm.
Oh, and you can also buy Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass membership service and spend a few bucks to play such a blockbuster.
Finally, to sum up, it is still that sentence: you can play as much as you want in Horizon, and the game is not to force you to play, but to bring you happiness.