My review of the Xbox One and Forza 5

Howdy all,

  Today I was able to get out and have a go on the Xbox One and Forza 5. The place I went to was the first stop in the Tampa area at The Shops at Wiregrass in Wesley Chapel, Fl.. This mall is an open air mall so the Chevy Suburban that Microsoft had was set up outside in the sun with the temp being around 88° F. The event was to start at 3PM EST and go on till 9PM. I arrived at around 10 till 3. Luckily the line was not very long. The event didn't actually start till around 3:20PM due to the fact the two young men running the event had to replace one of the consoles due to some unknown issue. The games that everyone was able to play was Forza 5 and Killer Instinct. There were 6 stations available with 3 dedicated to each game.

The hardware:
The console and Kinect both looked really sharp. As expected the console is about the same height as the 360 laying down, a little deeper and about an inch or 2 longer. The Kinect has more sharper lines and not a big as the current one. Now for the controller. I have to admit it really feels nice in your hands. More comfortable than the current one and a bit heavier. The buttons and sticks are very smooth with the only difference being the triggers. I would say they have about 2/10th less throw to them than the current controller. Yes the controller rumbled from every part. The body and triggers vibrated with the game like crazy and each part was independently as I used the brake and gas. Now for my opinion, I would shut it all off! it was very distracting while trying to drive the car. On top of not being able to hear the game it made it quite difficult to play the game.

The game:
As usual Forza 5 looks absolutely amazing. The game had 5 cars I could choose from. I picked the Ford Focus ST. The track was preset and I couldn't choose that, but it was Laguna Seca. Like I said it looked so clear and crisp. Now I know this was a demo of the game, but if it's anything close to what the game is going to be don't expect the game to load any faster than Forza 4 does. In fact it might take a little longer. The drivers options are pretty much the same with driving line, braking, TCS/ Stability and transmission. The only difference is with damage. The only options are cosmetic and simulation. So it's all or nothing. Well when the game starts, you start off in neutral and I didn't realize this, when the race started I was left behind. Now the game physics are no where as good as they are in 4. Even with the car stock, I could not keep it on the track to save my life. It was like driving on ice. Every time I hit a turn the car would just slide right off the track no matter how slow or the way I took the turn. I'm no where near a good driver, but this was crazy.

Conclusion:
I really can't wait till this console and game comes out. If I wasn't so fat, old and broken, I would have tried to grab one and run. I do have one on pre-order along with the FM5 Limited ready to go. I do apologize for not having pictures. There was so many people running around the booth it was hard to get any.
Pros-
-Console and controller looks and feel are spot on
-Amazing graphics

Cons-
-Gameplay driving physics not great (Could be due that it was a demo)
-Controller and trigger vibration
-Trigger throw

Everything about is my opinion and my opinion only. If you don't like what I have posted, then find a demo site and try it for yourself.

Nice write up Interesting about the damage, but I have my reservations considering it was a demo.

it's a bit o a disappointment with the physics with forza having been the ultimate racing game for physics on the current gen,

I dont think loading times will be a issue, From what I herd when you buy the game the first thing thats going to happen is that it will ask you to install it to your hard drive, making loading times faster.

I would assume a stock Focus on stock tires. Go get on in FM4, leave it stock and untuned, then go to Laguna Seca with it in test drive mode.

I have a feeling its the "stock untuned production FWD" part that made the car feel so skatey for you.

New physics model will take some getting used to, As I mentioned when I tried the game at eurogamer it's damn hard to drive with no assists right off the bat.

Here's more from Lazygamer on the handling

http://www.lazygamer.net/general-news/forza-motorsport-5-hands-on-assists-off-a-hardcore-perspective/

Sounds like the physics got way more realistic.

Agreed Bob, from everything I've read it sounds like with all the assists off it's much harder to control the cars, more like iRacing. And with no more 'dirt braking', it should reward driving skill more, which sounds excellent

CQR MAGiC wrote:Agreed Bob, from everything I've read it sounds like with all the assists off it's much harder to control the cars, more like iRacing. And with no more 'dirt braking', it should reward driving skill more, which sounds excellent

 

Sounds like everything I've been missing from Fm2. +1

And I completely agree with Mikey and Newt

Sounds good, now if only someone would give me grand, I could buy the box, the game and have 2 days off to get into it

yihaaa can't wait. next month.

XPR Roadrunner wrote:Sounds like everything I've been missing from Fm2. +1

And I completely agree with Mikey and Newt

Summed up perfectly here Roarrunner, I personally think the physics took a step back in both FM3 & FM4.

Fm2 is still my favourite, BUT, the tcs and grip level on the muscle cars was too out of sync with the rest of the cars, tcs should never be faster than without.
A muscle car capable of out lapping a handling car was a bit off, so looking forward to it.

PLOW tubbi wrote:Fm2 is still my favourite, BUT, the tcs and grip level on the muscle cars was too out of sync with the rest of the cars, tcs should never be faster than without.
A muscle car capable of out lapping a handling car was a bit off, so looking forward to it.

+1

Ok so I managed to play about online a bit last night.

I get invited to an in game party and join a private race. race was fine. then I backed out and tried the online hoppers, but I couldn't until I left the game party chat, went to the dashboard and created a new party (out of game party) and re invited my friend to chat.

We then decided to race together, so yep in game party all over again and, yet again I cant search for games so I have to sit on the home screen waiting for a notification that the host has found a room. If I went off the home screen I wouldn't get invites.

Its not the same with all games, fifa has an in game invite system with no party requirements ect. 10,000,000 sperm and the turn 10 team were the fastest ones...

While im here, is anyone having any issue with the braking setup at all ? people seem to be having difficulty with sensitivity ect. Is this just the evolution of the game to which we need to adjust or is it off ? I personally am good with the set ups but know of a few people experiencing troubles.

Thanks for reading guys.

crud, posted in the wrong bit ^

I noticed.... you can edit it you know

ahhh sorry im in noob mode today.

@ mamu.
I have found you can duplicate fm4 braking by first adjusting your dead zones of your controller, this is available in game in the settings menu for controller.
adjust them to fully open (0 being lowest and 100 being full travel).
then.... fit race brakes to every car with the braking pressure set to 65%, this is pretty much the same feel as fm4, but in fm5 the bumps in the road allow a lock up or even the locking up of one wheel when turning in.
hope this helps everyone.

Huh, that's the first time I've heard of adjusting the dead zones on a controller on Forza. Maybe on any racing game on console for that matter.

Standaman94 wrote:Huh, that's the first time I've heard of adjusting the dead zones on a controller on Forza. Maybe on any racing game on console for that matter.

It was there on Forza 4 as well Stan, keep up son  

I moved all my deadzones to 0/100. Gives more travel in the sticks and triggers allowing clumsy hand.....errrr more precise control for the guy here learning how to play on a controller for the first time.

My brake pressure is at 125 though


EDIT: the 16 player thing is also on Dead Rising. Me thinks it's a MS issue right now.

BG Hainesy wrote:

Standaman94 wrote:Huh, that's the first time I've heard of adjusting the dead zones on a controller on Forza. Maybe on any racing game on console for that matter.

It was there on Forza 4 as well Stan, keep up son  

Wat, no way, I never saw it... Or maybe I did and I didn't need to change it...

so stan, its a hooray for the tubbi tip then.
maybe I should open up my own page...........