So you have yourself a nifty new Xbox One, but you're not much for fighters (KI LINK), and you're dead bored with killing zombies (DR3 LINK). Maybe a racer is more up your alley? The Forza Motorsport series has long been an impressive and exclusive franchise for the Xbox consoles, and early reviews have the fifth game in the franchise as a worthy title to behold for anyone with the brand new Xbox One.
Read for yourself the impressions a few critics had after tearing up the raceway. There were some criticisms, but the postive reviews far outnumber the negative.
EGM, 6.5/10 - "Forza Motorsport 5 feels like the extended demo of an incomplete game. It looks great, it sounds great, the cars all handle wonderfully, and the physics are absolutely phenomenal. But after a couple of hours, I realized there weren't nearly as many cars as previous years and barely a dozen tracks-with classics like Nürburgring and Suzuka notably absent-which got very old very quickly. The new features like Drivatars and an expansion of the relationship with the BBC's Top Gear are both welcome additions, but the game just feels unfinished... when you finally do get on a track, Forza Motorsport 5 maintains the tradition of providing great control along with some stunningly realistic graphics. For all my complaints, this is still Forza, and the actual act of zooming down a virtual raceway is still top notch. The issue is simply this: When you slap down $60 for this game (and possibly another $50 for the DLC Season Pass), you're not getting nearly as much out of it as you did with previous entries. Career mode has been unnecessarily dumbed down, and the lack of tracks gets boring fast, overshadowing the game's positive additions like Drivatars and the still-stellar racing mechanics. If you're in it for the social features, the multiplayer, and just plain driving, then this is still a solid pickup, but if the new grind of Career mode isn't what you're expecting, then you should steer clear.
The Escapist, 7/10 - "Ultimately Forza Motorsport 5 is an experience built up around these cars, often legends in and of themselves. From the gorgeous detailed car models to the Top Gear narrated introductions to the cars themselves, it's honestly a little infectious and I understand more about why these driving sims exist after playing. Driving doesn't just need to be a chore. Bottom line: It's quite possibly the best looking next-gen title. Hardcore fans will enjoy it to its full extent, but it's fairly forgiving to newcomers as well. There's just not a ton of middle ground, you'll either really love it or not be interested at all. Recommendation: If you like realistic race simulations, this is the game for you."
GamesRadar, 8/10 - "On paper, Forza Motorsport 5 is a massive disappointment. Its car roster has been halved, leaving a paltry 200-odd to Forza 4's 500-plus, and its showing of tracks is so limited that you'll likely have raced on a variant of each within the first hour of play. The career mode has been stripped down as well, and the game's few additions are minute. It looks great, but it doesn't come close to defying next-gen expectations. But in practice, even with a drastically diminished amount of content, there's still more to do here than any reasonable person would ever have time to complete. In that sense, Forza Motorsport 5 is only a slight disappointment--no, you won't get as much content as you might expect, but that reduction has actually led to a few gains...Forza Motorsport 5 prizes quality over quantity, eschewing the vehicular excess of previous entries to focus on the gameplay. The result is a leaner, more refined racer."
Joystiq, 8/10 - "One of the major features touted by Xbox One exclusive Forza Motorsport 5, save for its impeccable graphics, is the seamless Drivatar system. The name has been used throughout the series, but the process hasn't quite been as painless as it is now...A dearth of tracks is a bigger problem in Forza 5, which has lost standouts like Nurburgring and Hockenheim from the last installment...Still, there's a lot you can do once you have a handful of cars in the garage, each fit for a generous helping of racing leagues that cover everything from big muscly beasts to super cars that rattle your Xbox One controller as they blast through turns...Forza Motorsport 5 maintains the franchise's perfectly balanced personality, though this is largely thanks to the actual personalities of BBC's Top Gear. Once again, Jeremy Clarkson and co. narrate segments of the game, providing informative, entertaining and cheeky explanations of each racing league before you get started. These guys know how to make cars entertaining for all, and Forza should exhibit no shame in stealing everything it can from them."
Polygon, 9/10 - "Forza Motorsport 5 will make you love cars. It will also make you hate your friends. Console launches need racing games. There's something about new hardware that gets developers in the mood to refine the genre's sense of speed, to make races feel more authentic. And of course, it doesn't hurt that racing games so capably demonstrate the visual power of new platforms. Forza 5 addresses those needs. All of its tracks have been rebuilt, laser-scanned and meticulously crafted to be more authentically asphalt-like. It's got beautifully constructed cars, and a world filled with light so bright you can't even see the track coming out of certain corners. But Forza 5's biggest addition is something you won't necessarily see. Until, that is, it tries to smash you off the road - all with a friend's name hanging over it...Forza 5 is beautiful, sure, with a stunning, light-filled world of engines and tire smoke. But with the introduction of aggressive, convincing AI that makes every offline race feel like a multiplayer competition, Turn 10 has charted a course for the future of the series - and created the Xbox One's first must-own game.
Destructiod, 9/10 - "Where your typical launch racer might be a tasty fast food cheeseburger, a new Forza game would be like a dry-aged cowboy ribeye, broiled medium, and topped with butter and grilled onions. I want more. I want something I can sink my teeth into. I want something that will leave me full and satisfied, fat and happy...Forza Motorsport 5 is the biggest and best series game yet, packed with loads of new features and new eye-busting visuals, but it sticks to its guns on a few key features. First, it's still all about the thrill of driving in the greatest cars to ever hit the road, with Turn 10's superb physics and car modeling. Cars still take damage on tracks, though this time around the damage looks more real than ever. And the oops-I-took-that-corner-too-fast rewind feature also returns. All the things you'd expect from a Forza game are here...with this game, the racing is fantastic, and Turn 10 is really onto something with this Drivatar stuff. It alone gives Forza Motorsport 5 something over every other racer out there, pushing the genre forward. They've remedied the racing genre's biggest problem: scripted AI cars. For this, Turn 10 deserves high praise."
