Forza Horizon 5 reveals Ford Bronco and Mercedes-AMG One cover cars

The release of Forza Horizon 5 is approaching faster than the safety barrier in a high-speed crash, and it’s made me even more excited to get behind the wheel and try it for myself.

At this year’s virtual Gamescom, the Forza team revealed the full intro sequence to the game that brings the cars together for the festival and highlights its two cover stars, the 2021 Ford Bronco Badlands and the Mercedes AMG 1.

As if these reveals weren’t big enough, they also unveiled a special edition Xbox wireless controller. The design combines race-inspired grips, a dusting of pink and blue powder and a transparent yellow finish.

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First we got a good look at the two cover stars. The 2021 Ford Bronco Badlands stands high on a Mexican mountain, finished in cyber orange with headlights on. It revs before kicking up dust and speeding off. The hybrid Mercedes-AMG Project One, finished in a cherry red, sits on an arrow straight road down in the valley, vents raised before bolting straight down the track.

We follow both cars as the Bronco tears through the undergrowth and the Mercedes drifts round a bend. Their paths merge and a screengrab like snap freezes the frame for the cover shot.

Next, we see the full intro sequence – eight minutes of high-octane racing that brings some of the showcase cars to the Horizon festival. The Ford Bronco kicks things off, parachuted in from a cargo plane and landing on la Gran Caldera volcano. It’s raced down the snowy track, off cliffs and straight into a dirt racetrack.

The cargo plane then drops the 2020 Corvette Stingray into the Tierra Prospera farming area before it races road the road towards a sandstorm. The Porsche 911 Desert Flyer follows as it’s dropped into the La Selva jungle, where it crashes through trees and rivers along the dirt track to reach a temple.

The final drop is the Mercedes-AMG Project One racing to the festival along the rocky coast. It speeds neck and neck with the cargo plane as it arrives into the event.

Forza Horizon 5 will be released on November 9, 2021 for Xbox Series S/X, PC and GamePass.

Some of the other big announcements from Gamescom 2021 included trailers for Flight Simulator, State of Decay 2: homecoming, Age of Empires IV, Stray Blade, Sea of Thieves, Crusader Kings III, PsychoNauts 2 and The Gunk. You can see all the trailers on the video above.