Forza Motorsport 5: an incremental upgrade, but a spectacular launch window racer

http://media.edge-online.com/wp-cont...-5-610x343.jpgJust as Project Gotham Racing 3 was the racer used to launch 360, Forza 5 is the one destined to launch Xbox One, bringing with it the baggage Gotham carried in November 2005. It’s a game turned around for the next generation in two years and a spectacular feat – every car modelled inside and out, with every door, bonnet and boot ready to be opened and explored. But it’s a launch-window racer and there are features conspicuous by their absence.Night racing was a fundamental in Playground Games’ Forza Horizon, but plays no part in Forza 5, while rain and snow – last seen in Project Gotham 4 – sit at the top of a list of features the Forza community has been demanding for an entire generation. But in spite of those disappointments, community remains at the heart of Forza 5, perhaps now more than ever.This is still Forza, but with that excellent handling model augmented by all-new tyre physics compiled in collaboration with crash-test analyst and rubber specialist Calspan, plus total car customisation and community-driven trading. But in Forza 5 dedicated multiplayer servers and cloud-based systems power everything from the shop front to driver AI. Forza 5 studies and models the particulars of your own racing style, including all those chicanes you take too wide and those overtakes where you always scrape paint. When you go offline, your laughably named ‘Drivatar’ keeps racing for you, invading other players’ games and racking up wins, which convert to in-game currency when you next log in. Every AI racer in Forza 5 is another player matched to a skill level of your choosing. It’s an instance where Turn 10 overrules its community to great effect; nobody ever asked for Drivatars, but isn’t the game more interesting with them?

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