Best Sports & Racing Games of 2021
Winner: Forza Horizon 5
Guides Editor Chris Jecks: Forza Horizon 5 isn’t just the best racing/ sports game of 2021, it’s one of the best games of the year period. Developer Playground Games has unleashed the Horizon festival in a new location once again, this time in the incredibly varied and vast land of Mexico.
It’s the open-world itself that feels like a real standout here. The towering, active volcano, sprawling stretches of dense jungle, and long, winding stretches of road make for an idyllic racer’s playground and one that’s teeming with different activities to complete as and when you fancy shifting into top gear and smelling the burning rubber of your tires on the asphalt.
Of course, a racing game wouldn’t be any good if it didn’t have strong handling, and Forza Horizon 5 doesn’t slouch here, either. With a roster of over 500 cars, there’s plenty of variety to ensure even the same event provides ample replayability. Each vehicle sounds and handles distinctly different, which when paired with the general arcadey feel of the gameplay, makes for some of the most enjoyable high-octane racing you can get your hands on right now.
With a thriving multiplayer community, and a new ‘season’ every fortnight bringing a fresh batch of challenges and events to complete, Forza Horizon 5 is the gorgeous gift that keeps on giving, and I can’t wait to see what Playground Games has in-store for the upcoming expansions.
