Alongside Halo Infinite and Starfield, Playground Games’ Forza Horizon 5 was another big-name game announced at the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase at E3 2021.
The latest installment in the Forza Horizon series will take place in Mexico, a locale which Playground Games’ creative director Mike Brown described as “the most diverse open-world yet in a Horizon game” and one which will showcase such natural environmental features as “living deserts, lush jungles, historic cities, hidden ruins, pristine beaches, vast canyons, and a towering snow-capped volcano – the highest point ever in a Horizon game.”
The scenery won’t be the only beautifully realistic elements present in the game, of course; Forza Horizon 5‘s weather, which will vary depending on which region in which you’re driving in the game will also be present will also include two new, intriguing weather effects: dust storms and tropical storms.
Playground Games
“Weather is regional in Forza Horizon 5,” the Forza Horizon 5 developmental team revealed in the Forza Horizon 5: Let’s ¡Go! video, “so if you’re in the living desert you could get just a sprinkling of rain and then if you go down to the jungle, it could be a torrential downpour. So we have all these different weather behaviors in the different biomes which really reflects and enhances the experiences you have.
“We have two new weather effects which are seasonal, which is our towering dust storms and our tropical storms,” art director Don Arceta added. “The one thing that’s new about that as well is that it doesn’t just happen around you, you actually can see it from a distance an approach it, which is something we’ve never done in a Horizon game.”
Arceta also explained that while seasonal weather from Forza Horizon 4 will also be present in Forza Horizon 5‘s weather system, the seasonal weather will integrate with the regional variations to allow players more freedom in what sort of conditions they want to drive in regardless of the season.
“In our winter season, which in Mexico is our dry season, if you want to get a snow experience you could drive up to the volcano and drive around the snow. If you don’t want that snowy winter experience you could drive to the coast and have a very vacation-y type experience.
Playground Games
“So it is very different per region as well as seasonal, so we also change those weather patterns and weather behaviors based on the different seasons.”
Are you looking forward to the addition of tropical storms, dust storms and regional variations with regads to Forza Horizon 5‘s weather? Let us know in the comments.
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