Taking a look at the work he has done with the last three chapters of the Horizon series, it is clear that in creating the DLC for his acclaimed racing video games, Playground Games now follows a well-established modus operandi. The British studio, for almost ten years, has had the habit of publishing two expansions during the life cycle of each new product, and these have always had the same structure, starting with the third Forza Horizon: the first, normally, had a protagonist a new wild and extreme setting, while the second abandoned any hint of realism to embrace adrenaline and acrobatics in a world inspired by the universe of toys. In any case, both were always characterized by the same constant, the desire to propose something very far from the original material capable of offering the public a totally new racing experience.
If the toy-inspired DLC archetype already made its debut in Forza Horizon 5 with the update dedicated to the Hot Wheels brand, with the announcement of Rally Adventure we were a little surprised by the choice of Playground Games, because in its same premises and Defying all tradition, this second additional content didn't seem like it wanted to introduce something so drastically different from what is fundamentally the same DNA as the base game. A few days before the official launch, we arrived at the Sierra Nueva chicanes and covered every kilometer of the DLC, eager to tell you about it in our Forza Horizon 5 Rally Adventure Review. Will the expansion be worth your attention?
A very timid more of the same
With the most colorful and imaginative part of the season pass archived, that is, the one that catapulted us to the splendid flying island of Hot Wheels last July, it was more than reasonable that the new Forza Horizon 5 DLC little by little returned to get back on track , proposing a significantly more realistic theme. Despite this, we were absolutely convinced that we could come across additional content that was still capable of distorting the classic Horizon formula, as indeed blizzard mountain e fortune island They had done so thanks to the introduction of adverse weather events and extreme driving conditions.
In fact, you only have to play a few minutes of Rally Adventure to realize that the new expansion does nothing more than offer a shy more of the same from the original experience, mainly due to the great similarity between the new region presented in the DLC and the map of Mexico. Sierra Nueva, the setting that makes its debut with Rally Adventure, is a wonderful digital fresco of the characteristic canyons of the Mexican interior and is simply stunning in its beauty, but offers largely the same identical views already admired in the past, reiterating nothing new, the same cross section of biomes that we were able to praise in the review of Forza Horizon 5. The new region is crossed by sandy deserts, wide plains, mountainous reliefs and a lush jungle of palm trees, and if this the variety is enough for you The more than thirty races that we will run in the DLC are always different, the feeling of true novelty that we feel while we accelerate through the Hot Wheels tracks of the last expansion is constantly missing.
The bell
Also about the new one. campaign At the core of Rally Adventure, it must be said that it exactly follows the typical structure of the other DLC created in Playground, although we must admit that we had no particular expectations in this regard given that this design has always worked in the past. . Interestingly, the game takes up the same characters encountered during the main story, but here puts them in control of three different rally teams, each geared towards a particular racing category. The Horizon Raptors, led by Alex, focus primarily on mixed surface racing with large dirt sections, while the Apex Predators, led by Alejandra, specialize in very fast road rallies. Finally, Ramiro is the leader of the Grit Reapers, a group that combines the racing disciplines of the other two teams, but competes exclusively at night and in bad weather.
The objective, once again, is to complete the events organized by the three teams by accumulating experience, and increasing the reputation levels that each group has filled. huge prizes, such as customizations for your driver and 10 new vehicles. As we have already mentioned, this progression structure works and provides excellent sensations in general, although it involves facing that long series of activities that here, as in Hot Wheels, follow exactly the same script as the basic experience, remaining stuck to the classic. division between danger signs, speed detectors and skid zones that we already know very well.
Despite the strong impression of monotony, the first hour of the game also passes in a sincerely exalted way, despite a scenario that is already too familiar to us: being behind the wheel of the legendary 4 Ford Focus #2001 Driven by Colin McRae while the co-driver shouts in his ear the following corners, it is an experience that we have never had in a Forza, and although the wonder does not last long, for rally fans an incipit of this caliber could be enough to justify the entrance ticket price. Unfortunately, for everyone else, the expansion struggles to remain immersive enough during the roughly 10 hours it takes to complete it, especially due to some design choices that, as we know, were absolutely unavoidable.
A new racing formula
The peculiarity that separates the rally from other specialties in the motor world is that here, essentially, you have always been alone in the races. On the track, with rare exceptions, there are never other cars present and, as expected from a DLC dedicated to this discipline, Playground Games has tried to reproduce the authentic rally experience as faithfully as possible without paying attention to any compromises. . While it is still possible to play all the races in the classic format, the entire DLC revolves around a new competition formula, which involves running alone and beating your opponents' time, rather than physically overtaking them on the track.
This aspect, combined with the repetitive nature of the campaign design and the great familiarity that Sierra Nueva offers, makes Forza Horizon 5 Rally Adventure a very bland DLC, which by its very nature keeps the player glued to the wheel of the vehicles they encounter. . fundamentally less reactive and faster, longer and endless. laps against the clock against opponents that are not even tangible. We repeat, the study's execution could hardly have produced better results than this (although a campaign with more innovations would have been priceless), while the original sin of Rally Adventure lies at the very heart of the expansion, totally inconceivable for its banality if We look at the history of the works of Playground Games. What's left? A couple of other small innovations, such as the new "launch control" mechanism useful for perfect starts and a new spare part for vehicles equipped with turbochargers, the anti-latency, which allows real flames to be launched from the exhaust pipes. Unfortunately, both of those things are not enough to make the expansion less forgettable.
Conclusions
Tested version Xbox Series X digital delivery Xbox store Price 19,99 €Holygamerz.com
Readers (6)
9.4
your vote
PRO
- The beginning, as always, gives goosebumps.
- Good parking
AGAINST
- The new formula of rally racing, after a few hours of play, becomes really monotonous
- New Sierra is too similar to the original map.
- The campaign offers no real variation on the theme.
