We did a live stream event for the recent Xbox One release, and it went really well. We got to play a few games, but for me, the game that stood out was Forza Motorsport 5. The rest of the release titles were disappointing, to be honest. After finding that Ryse: Son of Rome and Dead Rising 3 were underwhelming, we started playing Forza 5 for the rest of the stream. We didn’t even play two player; we just played single player and passed the controller back and forth.
I have to get something straight before I continue. I want to give this game a 9, but there is one reason why I won’t. I think I’m a little too biased. I’m obsessed with cars and I’m obsessed with Top Gear (UK of course). So before you continue reading, just know that if you are like me and a huge car fanatic, this game is a 9. If you don’t really care for cars or know anything about cars, this is an 8.
Number One Reason to Buy Forza 5
Realism. It really is that simple. Yes, obviously if you were to race the way you do in Forza 5, you would die in real life, but other than that, it’s incredibly realistic. The cars drive and feel exactly as they would in real life. The only thing you are missing is the sensation of G-force and vibrations of the car (a formula one car can produce up to 6 G’s, which would be an incredible feeling). They even get as close as you can for vibration because the new Xbox controller has vibrating triggers. It doesn’t sound like much, but it lets you feel when your car loses traction and the engine’s revs.
Another major factor contributing to the realism is getting faster cars. During the live stream, Stephen decided to buy as many cars as he could, which included many of the game’s fastest cars. We started out with the low-end cars and played with those for a while. The horrible traction and horrible acceleration of these cars really showed. You think you are doing alright, and BAM! You a hit a corner a little tiny bit out of line, sliding off into the grass. We got tired of how bad these cars were to drive and carried out our shopping spree. We ended up with the McLaren – P1 (the car on the box), an Aston Martin Touring Car racer, a Lotus Formula 1, and finally, the Pagani Huayra.
Going from a 1993 Nissan Silvia to a modern-day Lotus F1 car demonstrates the insane detail of realism. The F1 car feels as amazing as you think it would. You touch the steering, it darts into a turn like nothing else. It’s face-ripping acceleration feels that way, or at least as close as a video game can deliver the feeling. Another thing that proves its realism is the fact that you can’t just jump into an F1 car and win every single race. If you hit a corner just a tiny bit wrong, you might not make it out the other end.
Enough with the realism. What’s the next reason you should buy Forza 5?
Top Gear
As I said in the beginning, I’m obsessed with Top Gear UK. If you don’t enjoy the show, then you fall under the category where this game is an 8. Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May actually voice the game. Every time you step into a new racing circuit or buy a new car, the Top Gear hosts take it away and will leave you breathless after the intro.
At least for me, this added so much awesomeness to the game that I had to use an Ubran Dictionary word. It’s like watching an episode of Top Gear where you actually get to drive the car that they are telling you about, not just wish you had more money.
The Jaw Dropping Graphics
I’m going to make this simple. The graphics in Forza 5 are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. The amount of detail put into the cars in-game absolutely blows my mind. The cars look so real they look unreal, if you get what I mean. It’s like reality got an upgrade.
The only things the graphics leaves out are the backgrounds while you are racing. You can tell that they put all of the work and put all of the consoles hardware towards the cars, and that leaves the backgrounds lacking. After thinking about it and being asked on the live stream if it takes away from the game, I came to a conclusion: you can’t tell when you are going 200 miles an hour.
Unfortunately, There’s a Catch
I know I’ve already confused you with my rating of this game, but bear with me. So to break it down again, If you aren’t a huge car/Top Gear fanatic like me, this game is really about an 8. It’s an amazing game to play regardless of your feelings towards cars, but without that passion for cars, the game loses some of its appeal. If you do have a passion for cars, definitely bump that up to a 9.
There is only one thing keeping me from saying bump that up to a 10, and let me put that into perspective for you. I don’t believe in giving games an absolute perfect score. I find that is basically impossible, but much to my surprise this game has gotten as close to that as I think any game can.
The only reason I don’t give this game a 10… It’s microtransaction heavy.
I know… Disappointing isn’t it? The game redeems itself so incredibly well from this with its amazing gameplay and overall atmosphere, but… microtransactions, ugh.
