There are plenty of brilliant Xbox racing games out there, but this only makes picking and choosing which pink slips to pick up all the more confusing. Fortunately, the Xbox store has felt your pain and is currently looking to salve it with big Xbox racing game deals on three top titles spanning the past few years.
Let’s kick off with the most recent racer: The Crew Motorfest. Ubisoft and Ivory Tower’s open-world arcade racing game looks to rival Playground Games and Turn 10’s Forza Horizon 5, and while it takes a suspicious amount of inspiration from one of the best Xbox exclusives, the result is excellent. Melding all of its learnings from previous games in The Crew series with the vibrant island of O’ahu in Hawaii, the devs have managed to produce one of the best racing games of recent times, earning it a solid 8/10 in our The Crew Motorfest review.
In Echo’s musings, they state that “The Crew Motorfest is an enjoyable racer that shows more developers can tackle the open-world arcade racer genre.” Right now, you can grab the standard edition for $29.99, down 50% from $59.99. If you’re in between console generations, then for an extra five bucks you can opt for the cross-gen bundle – better to be safe just in case you can’t make the leap to current-gen hardware just yet.
Back in 2022, Criterion Games returned to the Need For Speed fore for the first time since 2013’s NFS Rivals. With a solid track record of producing titles for the legendary series, including 2012’s reimagining of the Most Wanted IP, the Burnout developer’s latest offering in the form of Need For Speed Unbound had a lot of people – ourselves included – very excited.
In our 7/10 Need For Speed Unbound review, Jamie praises its “technically sound gameplay” and stylized art style, though the voice acting throughout the story mode leaves much to be desired. However, if you’re more interested in the sound of a roaring engine than the sound of a boring voiceover, both the standard and Palace editions can be had for a staggering 85% off, coming in at just $10.49/$11.99 respectively. Bargain.
We’ve already mentioned Forza Horizon 5, and fortunately, we get to mention it again as the winner of the best racing game at The Game Awards 2021 has also received a modest price cut. Playground Games and Turn 10’s magnum opus, Forza Horizon 5 is set in a gorgeous portrayal of Mexico, which continues to hold up as one of the best game-translated locales we’ve seen. If you’re looking to unleash your inner child, then FH5 even has a Hot Wheels expansion, allowing you to design tracks based on the iconic franchise.
“The Horizon formula has been perfected,” Echo proclaims in our 9/10 Forza Horizon 5 review. “Playground Games has retained what fans loved in previous games, but also offers fine-tuned gameplay and a more diverse open world to explore.” If that sounds like a bit of you, then you can save up to $20 across its standard, deluxe, and premium editions. Alternatively, you can get FH5 at no extra cost if you’re an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, but this is an excellent deal for those not on the service.
Needless to say, 2024’s going to be a game-filled year if you love to spend your time either on the track, or out in a beautiful open world behind the wheel of your favorite vehicles. With the Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown release date due to drop this year and a new F1 game surely arriving, there’s plenty of racing goodness to look forward to with new Xbox games on the horizon.