Forza Horizon 5 Review – Firing On All Cylinders

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Publisher: Xbox Game Studios

Developer: Playground Games

Rating: Everyone

Reviewed on: Xbox Series X/S

Also on: Xbox One, PC

Since the spin-off series’ inception, Forza Horizon’s approachable and exciting racing action has appealed to a broad audience. Forza Horizon 5 continues this tradition of delivering stellar driving mechanics within a gorgeous destination, this time taking players to Mexico for one of the best, most expansive racing games I’ve ever played.

Driving through Mexico in Forza Horizon 5 is an utter delight thanks to superb, dynamic driving mechanics that consider the terrain, weather, and handling of the more than 500 vehicles you drive. Forza Horizon 5 aptly demonstrates this through an incredible opening sequence, where different cars drop from planes and land in disparate biomes with sandstorms, snaking rivers, and wide-open straightaways, all set to music. However, Horizon further hammers home both the differences in the handling and the outstanding mechanics the longer you spend cruising around the world.

Forza Horizon 5’s sense of speed is incredible. Whether you’re tactfully navigating an off-road course in the lush rainforests or screaming down a desert highway, the difference between staying on the road and spinning off into the brush is razor thin. Forza Horizon 5 excels in delivering diverse courses that throw unique challenges your way, ranging from traditional races to courses with objectives. The Drivatar system – which replicates your friends’ tendencies using A.I. racers – is a series mainstay now, but I loved developing rivalries with specific friends, even though I wasn’t racing against them in real-time.

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Playground Games’ lovingly crafted interpretation of Mexico and its 11 distinct biomes deliver some of the most stunning visuals I’ve ever witnessed in a video game. This open world houses a venerable cornucopia of activities available to players, which is astounding – if not a little overwhelming. It’s sometimes challenging to find some of the events I wanted, given the number of activity icons on the map. Thankfully you can apply map filters or ask your car’s A.I. to set your navigation to nearby events of your liking. Still, that didn’t stop me from getting distracted by the many events on offer along my route.

If you grow tired of competing in standard racing activities, you can participate in barn finds, where you search for and rescue classic cars rotting in countryside barns. Meanwhile, stories have you helping characters through driving-based missions. I loved hunting down and completing those mission types, but the open world also offers a ton of quick, fun activities such as seeing how fast you can drive through a speed trap, how far you can launch off a ramp, or how much you can slide through marked drift zones. These are fun ways to gain experience and accolades to level up your driver and vehicles with new perks, but my favorite part of these random world activities is how they instantly compare to your friends. More times than I could count, I noticed my friend hit a higher top speed, causing me to turn around and try the challenge again.

While exploring Mexico, you may also stumble upon online events. These public activities let you seamlessly join with other players to complete a common goal, such as accruing a set amount of distance off a jump or drifting and destroying piñatas in an area. You can even participate in a battle royale-style Eliminator mode where you’re challenging other players in the session, knocking them out of the competition, taking their cars, and trying to be the last player remaining. These are fun diversions, but my favorite online activities involve creating a convoy of players, driving around the world, and entering events with one another.

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All these activities culminate in Expeditions, unique setpiece-driven campaign sequences that provide some of the most memorable events in the game. From driving up a rocky volcano as raucous music blares over the stereo to storming through an off-road course against a pair of monster trucks, the Expeditions and subsequent story missions are the moments that stuck with me the longest.

If Forza’s many developer-created events aren’t enough, players can also create and share activities using EventLab. This tool makes it as easy as driving the route you want to create, placing checkpoints with a press of a button, and drafting a name, description, and ruleset. I loved sharing these creations because they appear alongside developer-created activities in other players’ games, giving them the option to test their skills in your designs.

At every turn, Forza Horizon 5 impresses in ways few games have. From the first mile, I was on the edge of my seat. With so much to do in such a relentlessly gorgeous world, I suspect it won’t be long before I get the itch to jump back into the driver’s seat of my favorite car. Even amidst a competitive racing field, Forza Horizon 5 is a finely tuned supercar.

Score: 9.5

Summary: Forza Horizon 5 delivers a well-rounded, exciting, and approachable experience, and in doing so, elevates its status to the elite of the racing genre.

Concept: Speed your way through Mexico in the fifth installment of Forza’s arcade-leaning spin-off series

Graphics: Racing games are often hardware showcases, but even through that lens, Forza Horizon 5’s visuals are impressive. The vehicles may be the focus, but the jaw-dropping interpretation of Mexico steals the show

Sound: A high-octane soundtrack perfectly complements the screaming engines and skidding tires

Playability: Terrific racing mechanics and a diverse array of events make this one of the more approachable and enjoyable games in the genre

Entertainment: With fine-tuned gameplay, an undeniably gorgeous world brimming with fun activities, and some fun content creation tools, Forza Horizon 5 elevates the series’ already-sterling reputation

Replay: High

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Mario Party Superstars Review – Reliable Party Tricks

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo

Reviewed on: Switch

Parties are great places to expand your horizons, meet new people, and make fun memories, but the best celebrations are often the ones spent reminiscing with old friends. Mario Party Superstars capitalizes on that notion, forgoing new content to deliver a greatest-hits compilation of boards and minigames from previous titles. The result is a celebration of the franchise that anyone can enjoy regardless of their experience level.

Mario Party Superstars features the same structure as nearly every other game in the series: Players take turns rolling dice to progress across dynamic gameboards with the ultimate goal of gaining the most stars. At the end of each turn, you take part in a four-player minigame to earn extra coins. The broad appeal of Mario Party remains intact thanks to simple concepts and controls across the entire package. While I enjoyed 2018’s Super Mario Party, I’m glad Mario Party Superstars allows for Pro Controller support and doesn’t require the use of the cramped single Joy-Con.

Superstars is a tribute to the series’ past, which is reflected in its minigames and gameboards. Additionally, you can adjust the rules on how many turns the game lasts and even select which pool of minigames you want to encounter during your session. I’m glad Superstars gives me the option to turn off the pesky end-of-game bonus stars or choose to only play games based on skill. You also have preset options. For example, you can opt to play only games that appear on Nintendo 64 or GameCube or pick minigames that are easy to enjoy for players of all ages.

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As you play through the primary board game mode, you can choose between five of the most iconic stages from the Nintendo 64 titles, all with modern graphics and music. Revisiting Peach’s Birthday Cake from the first title is awesome, and I love Woody Woods from Mario Party 3. However, I was disappointed by the low number of boards. These levels are iconic, but I would have loved to see more than five, especially considering they’re all remakes of pre-existing stages.

The meat of Mario Party remains its minigames, and thankfully, Superstars makes up for its lack of boards with 100 of the most beloved bite-sized competitions from previous titles. Through the eclectic collection, players compete in a solid mix of skill-based matches and chance-driven minigames. I still adore personal favorites like Face-Lift, Paint Misbehavin’, and Motor Rooter. The inclusion of games from nearly every era of Mario Party, many of which are among the best from their respective game, gives Mario Party Superstars an unrivaled minigame pool

I was excited to see many of my all-time favorite games return in Superstars. However, I’m perplexed by the revival of the infamous Tug o’ War game, which resulted in broken controllers and blistered hands on N64 thanks to its stick-rotation controls. This version has a warning to avoid injury by not using your palm, but even ignoring the renewed potential for blistered hands, bringing this minigame back seems like a dangerous choice given that the Switch’s analog sticks are notorious for drifting after even regular use. Thankfully, only a couple of minigames, in the catalog of 100, rely on quick stick rotations.

While most people associate Mario Party with the board game mode, you can experience the minigames on their own through the surprisingly robust Mt. Minigames. Here, you can participate in free play where you choose from any game in the collection, or run the gauntlet as established teams in 2v2 and 3v1 modes. I love having a dedicated space for the excellent sports and puzzle minigames, with options that let you extend the length of activities like volleyball, hockey, and the color-match puzzle titles.

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In addition, you can take the competition online and play against people across the globe. You can also connect to online-specific modes to see who can string together the most wins in Survival or take part in themed Daily Challenges that give you three minigames in which to compete. Daily Challenges are fun ways to enjoy a three-pack of activities with similar mechanics – I loved playing the Shoot ‘em Up challenge, which let me compete in three aim-based contests.

Mt. Minigames’ quick-hit nature might make it the best fit for online play, but you can also experience the board game mode online. Random matchmaking is available, but playing with friends is more fun. On top of being a great game for close acquaintances, you can save your progress in friend matches, letting you pick up where you left off later. In my experience playing on pre-release servers, latency was minimal, though it was more noticeable on timing-based minigames like Hot Jump Rope. Unfortunately, native voice chat remains absent, but you can choose various reaction stickers to communicate with other players.

The Mario Party franchise, with its interchangeable boards and minigames, is tailor-made for the compilation format. Mario Party Superstars aptly executes the notion of bringing together the best of the franchise while adding improved online features, plus options to let you play the way you want. Despite its lacking selection of game boards, Mario Party Superstars is a blast regardless of how many parties you’ve attended in the past.

Score: 8

Summary: Mario Party Superstars is either a delightful stroll down memory lane or a great way to experience these games for the first time. No matter your history, it's a worthwhile celebration of the Mario Party franchise.

Concept: Relive some of the best and most iconic minigames and boards from the long history of Mario Party

Graphics: Seeing series favorites remade with modern visuals is a delight

Sound: Modernized music brings back memories of time spent exploring these boards on N64, and having the option to toggle to the original tracks is a nice touch

Playability: Allowing for the use Pro Controllers – after the last game required single Joy-Cons – is a beyond-welcomed change

Entertainment: Whether you grew up with these games or this is your first time partying, Mario Party Superstars is a fun way to celebrate the series

Replay: Moderate

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NHL 22 Review – Superstar Letdown

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: EA Vancouver

Rating: Everyone 10+

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5

Also on: PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Every team depends on its star players to be difference-makers. They’re the ones fans look to when the pressure’s on to make the play and get the win. The problem is star players don't always live up to their promise, and when there’s not enough supplemental talent around them, a team can crash quickly to the bottom of the standings. NHL 22 makes the grave error of investing everything in the league’s elite talent to elevate the game in all modes, creating an entire ability system around them to showcase their more dangerous assets on the ice. The problem? These top players don’t make a huge impact on the game, and without any other meaningful additions, fans don’t have much to cheer for. 

Inspired by EA’s Madden, this year EA Vancouver introduced Superstar X-Factors, which provide special skills to the best of the best. For instance, Alexander Ovechkin has the “One Tee” ability, which not only gives him exceptional power and accuracy to one-time the puck, but also increases his ability to one-time less than ideal passes. X-Factors are a welcome effort to shake up the metagame, which hasn’t changed in some time, and I like the thought process behind them: raise players’ awareness when these elite talents step on the ice and make them feel different. However, I never felt the tension defensively or power offensively that X-Factors should provide. All the players – star or fourth-liner – still feel pretty similar on the ice, and that’s a big problem. X-Factors, like star players, should be difference-makers, but instead, they’re just kind of there, and I rarely felt like they were contributing to some impressive play destined for the highlight reel. Where’s the fun in that?

Unfortunately, EA Vancouver went all-in with X-Factors, adding them to most major modes as the big, new change and not much else to go with them. Again, they’re not a major shakeup to the experience, so that left me feeling like I was playing more of the same. Sure, in franchise mode, you want to target players with X-Factors in the draft, but the mode still has the boring trade deadline minigame, the baffling player demands, and no way to really communicate a direction for the team to the coach. 

Be A Pro, where you create your own rookie and get drafted to an NHL team, received a fresh coat of paint last year, and it felt like a promising start. Imagine my disappointment when the bland dialogue, half-baked salary perks, and lackluster events returned. You can earn X-Factor abilities by playing games and completing certain milestones, but even after unlocking a few, I didn’t feel like they made a huge difference in my game. I was also frustrated to see the conversation system still makes you choose between being a “star” or “team” player, and your responses to be a star are something any real coach would bench a player for saying. Additionally, the mode still lacks meaningful events to keep the NHL season exciting for the long haul. 

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The only place I felt X-Factors enhanced the game was in World of CHEL’s EASHL, as they allowed me to build a player more to my style. I play power forward, and I have the “Unstoppable Force” X-Factor, which makes it hard to knock me off the puck, even when I’m off-balance. I also like that when you pick a position, you can redistribute some of your stat points. I hate how slow the power forward is, so I was happy to sacrifice some of my slap shot accuracy for some extra speed. EA has balanced this, so some valuable skills, like speed, cost more points than others, but I like that it encourages you to experiment with a build that works best for you. The only possible negative is it feels much easier to score this year in EASHL. Most games I played ended up high-scoring, and my stats felt padded compared to previous years. I don’t mind feeling the exhilaration of scoring more, but I saw many questionable goals, like weak wristers, go in.

The overall gameplay does feel a bit different from last year, with a more realistic, slower pace. Body checks seem properly balanced; there were only a few occasions where I felt knocked off the puck too easily. However, the poke check remains overpowered, especially since it’s easy to spam without taking penalties, even in online play. Hockey players certainly poke check, but it’s not used to anywhere near this degree in the real NHL. In addition, the puck can be hard to track, especially in the corners, which has been an issue in the past but is somehow even worse this year.

I also experienced some technical shortcomings, such as my player indicator disappearing, NHL star players appearing on my minor league roster, and glitchy animations. PS5 users are treated to haptic feedback, as well as goal songs, coach commands, and puck noises going through the controller. At first, it’s a neat little feature, but it quickly wears out its welcome. Worse yet, it can’t be turned off unless you go outside of the game and into the PS5 settings, which is a huge oversight. 

Sports teams build around their core players, rarely making sweeping changes until the inevitable rebuild must occur. Sports games are no different; each year offers a chance to improve a mode or feature, but at some point, more meaningful changes need to happen to the foundation before things become stale. The Superstar X-Factors were an attempt at this, but EA Vancouver ultimately fell short of having them impact the game in exciting and worthwhile ways. The lack of a critical eye to various modes also doesn’t help. Truth be told, playing NHL 22 is like watching a predictable team. On the one hand, there’s comfort in knowing what to expect. On the other, it’s not fun seeing the same plays over and over again. 

Score: 7.25

Summary: NHL 22 relies on its superstar talent, and it’s not impressive enough to give the gameplay the new life it so desperately needs.

Concept: Finally move to EA’s Frostbite engine and make the leap to new-gen, while attempting to change up the metagame with Superstar X-Factors

Graphics: The graphics look the best they ever have, with better lighting, uniform improvements, and realistic-looking ice. New animations for faceoffs and blocking are a nice touch, and more real-world player likeness has made its way into the game

Sound: Broadcasters James Cybulski and Ray Ferraro continue to thrive in bringing life to the on-ice action. Expanding the role of rinkside reporter Carrlyn Bathe adds a good variation to the mix

Playability: NHL 22 plays close to its predecessors, meaning those who learn to play a complete game should have the most success

Entertainment: NHL 22 relies on its superstar talent, and it’s not impressive enough to give the gameplay the new life it so desperately needs

Replay: High

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