Official Website: http://forzamotorsport.net/en-US/FM5/default.aspx
Official Forums: http://forums.forzamotorsport.net/forum ... Forum.aspx
Just saw the news posted by Brian Ekberg that open wheelers are coming to Forza 5! - http://forzamotorsport.net/en-US/news/O ... el_6_11_13
For the first time, “Forza Motorsport 5” will feature historic grand prix racing cars, including the 1976 McLaren M23 and the 1976 Ferrari 312-2 cars driven by James Hunt and Niki Lauda, respectively, during the 1976 season. These models are the same cars featured in the upcoming Universal Pictures film “Rush", directed by Ron Howard, and will be available in Forza Motorsport 5 at launch. In addition, IndyCar race cars will be making their series debut in Forza Motorsport 5. The game will feature cars representing four of the top teams in the IZOD IndyCar Series: Andretti Autosport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, and Team Penske.
That may have just sold me on an Xbox One and FM5 day one purchase right there. While I just got suckered into Grid 2 by the addition of Indycars and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I have a little more confidence in Turn 10's dedication to realism that these cars will be more representative to their real world counterparts. I also just saw this list of new features, and while some of them may be more marketing fluff, a couple really stand out for me, particularly the laser scanned tracks and the continued expansion of the Top Gear license.
•Laser-Scanned Tracks - Drive the world’s most legendary race circuits and exotic road courses, captured with millimeter accuracy.
---Awesome! I hope they still have Road Atlanta.
•Top Gear Exclusives - The world’s biggest automotive TV show teams up with the most innovative racing game yet. Take on Stig’s Digital Cousin in unique car challenges, turn a Power Lap on the Top Gear Test Track, and hear show hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May share their distinctive automotive insights throughout the game.
---The show Top Gear is probably the main reason why I ended up loving Forza 4 so much. See, I have been a "racing" fan since I was like 5 years old, but I was really never a "car" guy. While I owned Gran Turismo and even paid $100+ bucks for the original Japanese import back in the PSX days, I really never got into it. Even the first three versions of Forza I bought and played, but was ultimately not into them from the standpoint of all the cars and collecting. Then a couple years ago Netflix allowed me to finally watch Top Gear and I got hooked. I think I watched all the seasons available in less than a month and I have since re-watched many of them. I currently subscribe to the new Top Gear season on Xbox. I love that show, and that show turned me into a "car" guy, as well as a racing fan. So by the time Forza 4 came out with the Top Gear licensing, I was actually primed for what T10 has done so well in the realm of the car collecting type racing games. I loved all the Top Gear rival challenges on the Top Gear Test track in Forza 4, even to the extent that I created my own expansion of it. I made a spreadsheet that tracked every Forza 4 car that the Stig had ever done a Power Lap in and started my own quest to run the Top Gear track in every available match to compare my times to The Stig. Only allowing for the base car with no upgrades or assists, to most closely replicate what they were testing on the actual show. I even went to the extent of having links to all the available Stig Power Lap videos on Youtube. So anyway, that is a long winded way of saying that I am really exctied to see that they are expanding the use of the Top Gear license and maybe even automating The Stig type challenges that I was trying to recreate in Forza 4
•Living Busy Worlds - Racing comes alive with fans crowding the walls, helicopters circling overhead and the vibrant hum and spectacle of race day.
---While I have learned to appreciate the sterile environments of Forza 4, it has always been a legitimate criticism of the series and one that they showed they can rectify as they did with Forza Horizon. Sometimes this can be overdone though, ie the Need for Speed Shift series, but it's good that they are addressing it in Forza 5 nonetheless.
•Rivals Everywhere - Every corner a new challenge, every event a new chance to win. Compete against your friends’ top times in rotating challenges for in-game credits and bragging rights.
---I love the Rivals events and challenges in Forza 4 and Forza Horizon and still play both those games today mainly due to the fact that T10 continues to create new ones every month and that there is actually thought put into them. For example, they have been doing ALMS based Rivals events in Forza 4 for the last few months leading up to the real world 24 Hours of Le Mans.
•Fast and Fair Multiplayer - With Smart Match matchmaking and Xbox Live dedicated servers, experience epic, fast and competitive multiplayer perfectly suited to your skill and style.
•Unique Careers - Take your favorite cars through unique careers highlighting their greatest strengths, their most notorious rivals and their place in motorsport history.
---Remains to be seen how this will be implemented, but anything would be better than the boring monotony of the Forza 4 career path.
•Never Race Alone - By learning how you and your friends drive, the power of the cloud delivers real human behavior. Drivatar technology creates an ever-evolving network of opponents who are always ready to race. Real tendencies, real mistakes, real victories.
---Sounds like some marketing hype and these kinds of things have not always worked well, however, I would love to be able to drive against a virtual version Terry, Adam, or Paul when I can't sleep at 4:00am in the morning. I just hope they can capture the PK catch phrases correctly.
•Curated Customization - The power of the cloud means the best custom content now finds you. With a system that learns your preferred cars and paint schemes, seamlessly experience the most compelling user-generated content available.
---Meh....
•Your Ever-Growing Garage - Your automotive journey continues long after launch. Download, drive and explore the most anticipated new cars in the world, months before they hit the showrooms, then challenge your friends in continuously updated online race events.
---Cool. T10 really does support their products long after release and while yes you have to pay for the additional DLC in most cases, they have also provided many for free and they almost always add them with additional challenges and/or reasons to use that content. The T10 community involvement and passion for cars and motorsport really shows if you have ever visited the forums, shown up at a T10 Xbox live Developer racing event, or talk to them in person at a car show or race.
•Unprecedented Visual Realism - The definitive next-generation graphics engine delivers stunningly realistic visuals in 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second.
---Well yeah, it better for $500.
•Leading Simulation - Racing’s leading simulation engine, developed for Xbox One in conjunction with Calspan and the world’s top automotive manufacturers, makes driving easy to learn and rewarding to master.
•Dynamic Damage - High-resolution damage modeling shows every bump and scrape. Roads accumulate tire rubber and debris. Racing has consequences; damage can stop you in your tracks.
---If it actually impacts your ability to drive, as opposed to just a visual effect, then that is very cool.
•Astonishing Detail - A new graphics engine created exclusively for Xbox One delivers physically based material rendering that re-creates the real-life characteristics of thousands of unique materials. Surfaces such as metal, glass, leather, rubber and concrete look real enough to touch.
•Forzavista - Truly feel what it’s like to own the world’s most exclusive cars in an experience that brings you closer than ever to the history, craftsmanship and potential of every car in the game.
•Hundreds of Next-Generation Cars - The most diverse lineup of vehicles ever seen in a "Forza Motorsport" game: from classic sports cars to modern tuners, purpose-built racers to extreme exotics and, for the first time in "Forza Motorsport," open-wheel race cars.
---The one thing that I believe T10 has done better with the Forza series than Sony with GT is the selection of cars. In both Forza 4 and Forza Horizon, there is something to appreciate from learning to drive almost every car available and in most cases they don't have 8 versions of Honda Civics where you can really feel no difference from one to the next.
I have seen a couple of hands on E3 FM5 demo impressions that mention how well it works with the new Xbox One controller, but there is no mention yet of what steering wheels will work and if we will have to be purchasing all new hardware. I hope not but it would not surprise me. I would love to find out that I can actually hook up my Logitech G27 wheel and pedals that work with my PC, PS2, and PS3 (if I still had one), but that is probably very wishful thinking.
So anyway, while I have concerns over the Xbox One pricing, the no resale/used gaming, the always on kinect/internet issues, etc. this damn game may force my hand. I waited over a year to purchase the first Xbox (not until live started with MotoGP), and two years for the 360, but I think I may have to go ahead and pre-order. Thanks a lot T10.
