Forza Horizon 5 Rally Adventure Expansion Review – Challenging New Twist

Forza Horizon 5 Rally Adventure Expansion Review

Our time in Mexico is almost finished as the final Forza Horizon 5 expansion has finally arrived. Rally Adventure takes the Forza Horizon franchise to the wild world of rally racing, providing an experience that feels new, yet still very much a part of Forza Horizon. Rally Adventure doesn’t provide the awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping experience that the Forza Horizon 5 Hot Wheels Expansion previously provided. However, Rally Adventure still provides a challenging albeit more grounded jaunt through a new area of Mexico. If Forza Horizon 5 has felt a bit stale as of late, this new expansion might be just what you need to feel that rush one more time.

Forza Horizon 5 Rally Adventure brings a whole slew of new content to Forza Horizon 5. For starters, you’ll experience a brand-new area of Mexico called Sierra Nueva – affectionately nicknamed the Badlands. This new area, like the Hot Wheels area before, is detached from the main Forza Horizon 5 hub. You’ll travel to a specific area on the map and be teleported to the new location. The new area is pretty large with some very diverse areas to drive around in. There’s a new town to explore, a deep-pit quarry, lush forests, mountainy areas and more. A straight shot from one side of the new map to the other would probably take you a good 3-4 minutes of straight driving.

New (to Forza Horizon) Style of Racing

The focus of Rally Adventure is the new rally gameplay element. Rally racing is a legitimate racing sport, but isn’t exactly uncharted territory in gaming. The Dirt and WRC gaming franchises have been showcasing rally racing for over 20 years. However, it’s still a nice addition to the Forza Horizon arena. For the uninitiated, rally racing is all about beating your competitors times. You won’t be racing others head-to-head, but rather competing against their times. This can be very challenging as you won’t have that immediate visual cue of whether you’re winning or not. Rather, you’ll have to wait for periodic updates, provided a specific checkpoints, letting you know how your time ranks compared to others.

In addition, the tracks are designed to be far more difficult to navigate too, which is why drivers are provided a spotter that flies above in a helicopter calling out upcoming obstacles. Your spotter will tell you what type of terrain and turns are ahead, but you’ll also get a handy visual cue too. Forza fans are familiar with the driving line assist that provides a guide for you to follow – before your first race, you’re encouraged to turn the driving line assist off, and I highly encourage folks to do just that. It provides a more authentic, and challenging rally experience.

Choose Your Team

The core of this expansion is the new Rally Adventure campaign. To begin, you’ll first be tasked with picking one of three different teams to compete in. Each team offers their own take on rally racing. For example, the Apex Predators focus is on roads, with minimal off-road aspects, while the Grit Reapers feature rally races at night time. Each team offers 10 different ranks to progress through by participating in team specific events and challenges.

Another key distinction between the three teams is the person who will act as your spotter, whether it be Alex, Alejandra or Ramiro – all of which you’ve encountered in the main game. Once you rank high enough on a specific team, you’ll compete in a special event. Completing this special event will allow you to select a different team to join. Ultimately, completing Rally Adventure will require you to earn a max rank for all three teams.

Shiny New Vehicles

In addition to the huge new area, new campaign, and new style of racing, there is even more content for racers to enjoy. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Forza expansion if it didn’t include new vehicles. Rally Adventure is adding 10 off-road vehicles to the mix. This includes a new 1973 Volkswagen Baja Beetle, a 2001 Ford Focus RS, and the all-electric 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum. As an added bonus, a new punk-rock soundtrack will be available for all Forza Horizon 5 players on the Epitaph Radio station.

The Rally Adventure expansion is not a bad way to close the chapter on Forza Horizon 5. It’s definitely not as epic as the Hot Wheels expansion was. However, it brings with it a pretty significant new area, new vehicles, and a new variation on racing that the Forza Horizon 5 hasn’t fully explored before. The price of admission isn’t too pricey, so if you’re still engaged in Forza Horizon 5, or looking for a reason to jump back in, the Rally Adventure expansion isn’t a bad investment.

***Forza Horizon 5 Rally Adventure expansion Xbox Series X code was provided by the publisher. ***