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Forza Motorsport 5 Review

The racing simulation franchise crosses the finish line on Xbox One with mixed results

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With the launch of a new console, there are a few genres you’d expect to make an appearance. The action title to appeal to the thrill seekers, some family friendly or arcade titles to help the console sell through the Holiday Season. And then there’s a speed-based entry, usually a racer. Such is the fate that falls upon Forza Motosport 5, a launch title for the Xbox One. This simulation racing series has been with Microsoft’s consoles since the beginning, and had a chance to be a launch entry in the past. With the fifth iteration, the game provides a solid foundation for the future that showcases the current technical strengths of the Xbox One, but comes up short on content.

To get the most apparent aspect out of the way first – yes, Forza Motorsport continues to be a flagship graphical showcase for Microsoft. Forza 5 looks great at 60fps, with impeccable attention to cars, tracks, and visual effects. The vehicles all offer a staggering amount of detail, a very wide angle view behind the wheel, and a realistic damage model. The tracks have been recreated with great attention to detail and background vistas look as fantastic as ever. It all sounds immersive as well, with distinct engine sounds, the screeching of the tires and loud sounds of car on car violence. The only two setbacks to the presentation are a limited and repetitive soundtrack and crowds that look like cardboard cut-outs of folks not particularly impressed by what they are watching. And once again, there is no dynamic time of day or weather effects, something that has been sorely missing for many iterations now.

Forza Motorsport 5

Forzavista mode, introduced in FM4, returns and is now usable with all cars in the game. You can warp around the car and observe it from any angle, open the doors/hood, get in and rev the engine, or get detailed stats alongside some camera pans. However, it has been significantly scaled back. Kinect is no longer supported (somewhat ironic, given the mode started out as a showcase for the device), and instead of detailed audio about your car make and model, players only get a family or manufacturer general commentary. While on the subject of Kinect, its only use is for head tracking during races, which works inconsistently and is off by default likely for that reason.

Forza continues its partnership with the Top Gear organization. You’ll frequently hear the voices of the hosts, race on the Top Gear track itself, and even get a chance to beat the virtual version of the Stig. This partnership continues to give the franchise a personality that can infuse some life into the experience, and with this iteration that is more important than ever.

That’s because the campaign structure in Forza 5 is somewhat lacklustre. Compared to the progressive, globe-trotting campaign in FM4 that always had something to work towards, the only thing you’re limited by in this title are the cars. All championship series contain about 8-10 races, and are fully unlocked from the start. There is very little sense of progression even as you complete various event sets, recalling negative memories of similarly designed Need for Speed Most Wanted from last year. The events continuously scale in class or type of cars required to participate, so you need to buy new cars fairly frequently, as the game no longer awards any for free.

Forza Motorsport 5

Herein lies a very problematic area of the new Forza. The game’s economy, to put it mildly, is geared toward the hardcore players. Because of no prize cars, you’re constantly spending money on new cars and performance upgrades, just so you can participate in more events. That means money is constantly draining, while your rewards from winning gold in races and completing event series barely keeps you afloat. Bonus cash comes from each time you level up the profile – but it remains the same regardless of what level you’ve reached. Some late-game events require the one X-type car that costs a hefty 6 million credits. That’s a sum that will take a very, very long time to achieve.

You can no longer sell cars, only remove them. The online marketplace for content creators such as tunes and paint jobs has been removed, removing a huge source of income for some players. The game now offers suggested tunes and designs by a few search parameters – but it currently has a bug, producing seemingly blank results after the first two pages. The only way to make money now is by having the game recommend your tune or paint job to others, who actually use it in races. You also can no longer gift cars, tunes, or paint jobs to friends. Seemingly the sole positive aspect of the new customization system is that custom paint can be used on almost any part of the car.

Forza Motorsport 5

Anytime you go to purchase a car, it automatically gets upgraded to a level that is competitive for the event you’re trying to enter. Pushing upgrades onto the player is annoying, as it’s always best to back out to the main menu and go to the store manually, having noted the cars that are eligible for your next target event. By buying a car separately and doing your own upgrades, players will see better performance and better value for money. The game, cheekily, seems to often recommend the more expensive cars – even though cheaper, and sometimes better performing alternatives are available down the list. The affinity system has been reworked to give players a small bonus for winning events rather than discount performance upgrade parts – a move that again works to reduce your overall balance.

All of this brings the microtransaction offerings in the game into the burning spotlight. While the token system has made an appearance in previous Forza titles, never has it been so induced to the players. In FM4 for example, buying tokens with real cash as DLC was a fair alternative to racing. In Forza 5, it’s less an alternative and much more a requirement for players who want to participate in the high-end races without spending days and weeks in career mode, and then still coming up short because everything in the game is so expensive and the payouts are not very high.

Perhaps things are tough because the game can’t afford to give away cars. There are only about 200 vehicles in the game, which is a number almost half compared to Forza 4. Of course there are reasons for this, such as new engine and greater attention to detail that must be the same across all cars that probably required more time and resources from Turn10. But due to this, Forza 5 becomes a game for fans who pick one car or manufacturer and stick with it, rather than a collector’s game. Cars can be rented to play in Free Drive mode, but they earn you no XP or affinity, and there are barely 10 cars available for rent. The rest must be unlocked through the campaign by purchasing them. So if you’re just an enthusiast who wants to stare at automotive brilliance against gorgeous backdrops, Forza 5 might not be the game for you, unless you’re ready to put in many hours of repetitive racing to purchase the supercars.

The reason that grinding is mentioned is due to another content area that’s short-changed – the track selection. Again, the attention to detail and accuracy is unquestionable, but there are just 14 tracks. Spa is a good addition, but once again compared to previous entry in the series, this is almost half the number. It may sound OK in theory, but things begin to repeat very, very quickly. The redundancy becomes extra apparent as the same tracks appear continuously through the career competition series. So once again, this is a game for players that want to memorize every turn and perfect their skills on a track; those wanting variety and a recurring feeling of discovery won’t find it here. No Suzuka or Autumn Ring hurts, but without Nürburgring it starts to feel like an offense to sim fans.

Forza Motorsport 5

Getting down to the actual racing, Forza is still a solid simulation franchise. The transition to a new console hasn’t affected the handling or physics in any great way, so racing still feels realistic and natural. Cars understeer a bit, and the ABS doesn’t always work as it should, but otherwise it’s a solid simulation. Almost all of the races are two or three laps, so events move briskly. There is a variety of race modes, most returning from FM4, though drag racing is absent. The most significant change, that indicates stronger processing power, is 16 cars on the track. Those other cars are part of a new system called Driveatars, whereas they aren’t just computer AI, but rather personas based on your friends.

The game keeps track of how well you drive, your car selection and tuning, and creates a virtual persona based on that hard telemetry information. This Driveatar then appears as an opponent in all offline career races in your friends’ games. This actually earns you extra credits over time depending on how well it performs, but the payouts are quite low. Similarly, you will be racing against your friends’ cars and driving styles in your own game. It’s a neat feature that adds some personality to your opponents and naturally diversifies the paint designs and cars that you race against.

How accurate the system is, is questionable. The more you race, the higher your Driveatar sync level, and presumably the more accurate it will represent your driving style. Driveatars behave like human players – making errors, creating demolition derbies on the first corner, or aggressively bumping you out of the way. However, because there is an adjustable difficulty level, some CPU-tinkering still takes place to make the opponents more competitive. It would take some research to identify just how impressive and accurate this technology is at learning, but at the very least your offline opponents behave with more realism than before. Some inconsistencies still exists, such as rubber banding and impossible accelerations, but it’s a step into a bold new direction when it comes to racing offline.

Forza Motorsport 5

When you’re ready to join the multiplayer directly, the game suffers from more setbacks. Clubs have been removed, along with all their benefits. The cars you get to choose from are the same limited rentals – the rest must be unlocked through career progression. So simply wanting to jump into a supercar and race with friends is no longer possible. Getting into lobbies works well enough, but there are some connectivity quirks to be worked out. We would often be placed into a lobby where a race is barely a lap old, or get kicked from a race altogether after it’s just loaded. The racing modes are comparable to the career mode, but most of the fun tag/playground options are gone. During the actual race, the developers attempted to ease the chaos by making cars that have spun out transparent. However, some very odd physics and collisions take place when cars come into contact, along with warping. At least your own driving experience is smooth.

The final piece of multiplayer integration is the Rivals mode, whereas your goal is to climb the leaderboards and try to set better lap times than your friends, local area, or the world. Anytime you are racing online or offline, your Rival will be selected as the next time to beat. Should you succeed, bonus credits and XP is awarded and a new Rival is selected. It’s an addictive, well-integrated system that has worked great for the franchise so far and still does so here.

Forza Motorsport 5

Forza Motorsport 5 is a solid simulation racing title, first and foremost. That honor shouldn’t be taken away, even as the game feels lacklustre in content and the punishing economy that favors players who enjoy sticking with the same cars and tracks. You’ve still got a great foundation and challenging racing mechanics, and the cars that are in the game are very well designed. The online multiplayer options are basic, and there are some bugs to work out, but Rivals system is addicting. Overall, this is a solid launch title on the Xbox One, but one can’t help but feel it’s a step back for the franchise.

Our ratings for Forza Motorsport 5 on Xbox One out of 100 (Ratings FAQ)
Presentation
84
Well designed cars and tracks, and immersive sound effects. Background music is a bit repetitive. Still no night or weather.
Gameplay
88
Simulation racing refined. Forza enters the new console generation without missing a beat.
Single Player
62
Lack of cars and tracks means a lot of repitition. Very DLC-focused economy in the game will leave players grinding for a very long time.
Multiplayer
74
Works well enough, and Rivals modes are addictive. A few connectivity problems, and inability to use cars without buying them in career feels needlessly restrictive.
Performance
85
Aside from a few physics and connection issues in multiplayer, the 60fps racing is usually solid.
Overall
78
Forza Motorsport 5 sets the bar high for visual fidelity and simulation racing on the Xbox One. Sadly, design choices and lack of content get in the way of the fun.
Comments
Forza Motorsport 5
Forza Motorsport 5 box art Platform:
Xbox One
Our Review of Forza Motorsport 5
78%
Good
The Verdict:
Game Ranking
Forza Motorsport 5 is ranked #615 out of 1957 total reviewed games. It is ranked #56 out of 158 games reviewed in 2013.
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Screenshots

Forza Motorsport 5
19 images added Dec 13, 2013 10:35
Videos
Forza Motorsport 5 - Reveal Trailer
Posted: May 21, 2013 21:19
Forza Motorsport 5 - E3 Gameplay Tra...
Posted: Jun 15, 2013 18:19
Forza Motorsport 5 - E3 Gameplay Footage
Posted: Jun 24, 2013 14:30
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