During the madness of E3 I finally had a chance to get my hands on Forza 5. If you watched the Microsoft press conference you know that this title is set to launch along with the Xbox One this November. Forza has been my go-to driving game for quite sometime. I have played every one since its initial release on the original Xbox up to and including Forza Horizon. So to say that I was somewhat excited to get a chance to play, and learn, more about Turn 10’s next-gen racers was an understatement.
There has been a lot of talk about Forza 5’s use of next-gen features, including the graphic horsepower, the cloud, and even the controller. In a few days I will share the details of what I learned behind a closed door session with Turn 10, so for now I will touch on my experience with the actual game itself.
First off are the visuals. The track I got to play was based in Prague, Czechoslovakia. You’ll notice such things as the grass flowing in the wind, the textures of different parts of the road (e.g. cobble bridges, pavement, concrete sections, etc.), and various trackside detail. In regards to the latter, I saw some great looking European buildings, and I don’t just mean a few, there were a lot, and they all looked different. There are other little touches like birds flying in the air or a group of race fans standing on bridges or having a BBQ while the race is going on. The level of detail is stunning. Of course this game is running on next-gen hardware, and the 60 FPS framerate is very evident in how quick things can move and how smooth everything was running. This is truly a next-gen looking racer.
As for the gameplay, I have to say that I was pretty impressed indeed. The usual assists can be toggled on and off (ABS, TCS, etc.), the driving line has a few options, and you can even have the game brake for you. This next-gen Forza is again deep while still being accessible to rookies of the genre.
Forza 5 handles incredibly well. I used two cars, first the McLaren P1 and then the Lamborghini Aventador. Both cars are high-end supercars and they handled as such. The McLaren handled amazingly as did the Lamborghini, but the differences between the two were startlingly noticeable. The ‘Lambo’ seemed heavier and took a bit more time to turn. Sure, I have never driven a Lamborghini Aventador or a McLaren P1 (there are only two made to date), but man, the differences between the two in the game was amazing. If supercars have that much difference between them in real life, sign me up please. Bottomline, there are some real physics happening here and it seems to take the most minute things into consideration making each car handle so differently.
Something I was not prepared for was the use of the individual rumble motors in each trigger. Feeling such precise rumbling right from the start caught me by surprise. Each bump in the track, hitting a rumble strip, to when your car starts to loose traction on a specific side of your car and your TCS or ABS kicks in as you compensate; these are all translated to each trigger depending on the action. You have to feel it to believe it, but trust me I am a believer as the rumble in each triggers adds that bit more to the game. I found the game was very comfortable using the new Xbox One controller.
Of course there has been a lot of talk about the new cloud based Drivatar feature, but of course I didn’t get to experience it per se. What I can say is that the AI I battled didn’t seem at all scripted, and they did not just hug a line for the sake of driving a line. Their behaviour seemed a little more natural and they made mistakes, took some chances, and did a good job of adding to the brief experience I had.
Sure, I only raced one track for a total of four laps, but what a great time I had doing it. Taking in the whole experience from the next-gen graphics to the improved controller was a great experience, and Forza 5 seems to be on the right track. I can’t wait until November to get my hands with the full game, as it should prove to be “one hell of a ride”.
