Updating my review 18 months after release to change this one to a Recommend, though a begrudging "yeah I guess it's fine" recommend rather than a "you need to get this game now" recommend. It doesn't crash to desktop anymore (or at least, hasn't yet) and now gets good and stable fps on 1080p and even 1440p with a mid-level PC. Drivatar AI still sucks but it's racing game AI, it's never going to be good, and it's not really a gamebreaker unless you're trying to do those horrible accolades for Cross-Country racing against Unbeatable Drivatars (good luck!).

Original review follows-

FH5 is a beautiful disaster - I've had a lot of fun with it personally, the new map is great, there's a good selection of cars that look and sound pretty good, and it's also just a really gorgeous game overall. Most or all of the things that annoyed me in Horizon 4 are fixed. I should be fawning over this game, trying to get all my friends in on it, but I can't recommend it in its current state. There are so many problems, it's honestly laughable.

The game crashes to desktop reliably, often without giving you the courtesy of an error code, and shows generally poor performance despite comfortably exceeding the developers' recommended specs. Online open-world play is basically impossible due to constant network problems, with players disappearing and reappearing around you. Offline open-world play is also undesirable because of brainless AI drivers that get in the way. Glitches and exploits abound and every leaderboard is dominated by blatant cheaters. Even basic features like daily challenges straight up don't work half the time.

But the most annoying thing that ruins the game for me is that AI racers cheat by having impossible levels of grip, rather than being any good at actually racing. This is especially prevalent in cross country events where even on middling difficulty settings, an AI driver with a significant lead is uncatchable, because they can take the world's best line and always get perfect traction out of corners and jumps. There is also a powerful rubber-band effect, so you can never quite leave a field behind you. The AI really only reacts to the presence of the player, so they stay in their stupid little racing line, not overtaking, not defending, nothing, for the entire event if you aren't near them. If you play on a high difficulty, they put you in their rear view mirror and you never see them again; if you play on a low difficulty, they're shockingly bad and pose no challenge whatsoever. I understand that programming AI is difficult and processor-intensive, but this just feels bad to play against. The only way to get a decent race is against human players, but every lobby is full of rammers and ragers, so your only option is time attacking, racing other players' ghosts. For such a huge game, it's extremely disappointing.

If these problems are addressed, I might change my recommendation later, but at present, if you really have to have an open world racing game, get FH4 instead.

Updating my review 18 months after release to change this one to a Recommend, though a begrudging "yeah I guess it's fine" recommend rather than a "you need to get this game now" recommend. It doesn't crash to desktop anymore (or at least, hasn't yet) and now gets good and stable fps on 1080p and even 1440p with a mid-level PC. Drivatar AI still sucks but it's racing game AI, it's never going to be good, and it's not really a gamebreaker unless you're trying to do those horrible accolades for Cross-Country racing against Unbeatable Drivatars (good luck!). Original review follows- FH5 is a beautiful disaster - I've had a lot of fun with it personally, the new map is great, there's a good selection of cars that look and sound pretty good, and it's also just a really gorgeous game overall. Most or all of the things that annoyed me in Horizon 4 are fixed. I should be fawning over this game, trying to get all my friends in on it, but I can't recommend it in its current state. There are so many problems, it's honestly laughable. The game crashes to desktop reliably, often without giving you the courtesy of an error code, and shows generally poor performance despite comfortably exceeding the developers' recommended specs. Online open-world play is basically impossible due to constant network problems, with players disappearing and reappearing around you. Offline open-world play is also undesirable because of brainless AI drivers that get in the way. Glitches and exploits abound and every leaderboard is dominated by blatant cheaters. Even basic features like daily challenges straight up don't work half the time. But the most annoying thing that ruins the game for me is that AI racers cheat by having impossible levels of grip, rather than being any good at actually racing. This is especially prevalent in cross country events where even on middling difficulty settings, an AI driver with a significant lead is uncatchable, because they can take the world's best line and always get perfect traction out of corners and jumps. There is also a powerful rubber-band effect, so you can never quite leave a field behind you. The AI really only reacts to the presence of the player, so they stay in their stupid little racing line, not overtaking, not defending, nothing, for the entire event if you aren't near them. If you play on a high difficulty, they put you in their rear view mirror and you never see them again; if you play on a low difficulty, they're shockingly bad and pose no challenge whatsoever. I understand that programming AI is difficult and processor-intensive, but this just feels bad to play against. The only way to get a decent race is against human players, but every lobby is full of rammers and ragers, so your only option is time attacking, racing other players' ghosts. For such a huge game, it's extremely disappointing. If these problems are addressed, I might change my recommendation later, but at present, if you really have to have an open world racing game, get FH4 instead.