Forza Motorsport 5 - A Hands-On Preview

Well - I managed it!! After spotting a tweet from the official Forza Motorsport account yesterday announcing that the Xbox One Tour Test Drive was at The Arndale Centre in Manchester there was only one thing I was doing today. With the day off work, the kids dropped off at school and the missus packed off to work I hit the road. Thankfully it's only a short (ish) drive and tram ride away so I made it there by mid-morning.

The truck was set up in the middle of Manchester's busiest shopping centre (shopping mall for the Yanks   ) and I was slightly worried I'd be waiting forever. However there were 4 screens running FM5 and 2 running FIFA 14    - thankfully most of the kids wanted to play/watch FIFA!!


So - Xbox One/Forza 5, what are they like?!?

I think this guy sums if up perfectly:-

I'll start with the controller - it's a huge leap forward from the 360 pad. Although it's slightly larger & bulkier than the 360 controller it feels instantly comfortable and familiar. It sits well in your hand with everything where it should be but with a more 'quality' feel to the buttons/sticks.


The vibration/feedback effects are excellent which definitely increase the immersion in to the action. Every little break of traction can be felt, every rumble strip vibrating through your finger tips. Whilst you're taking in all of these new feelings you're also blown away by the graphics............WOW, the graphics!! The lighting effects are amazing and everything is so clear and crisp. I've not been sold by Dan Greenawalt's favourite 'orange peel' paint effect that he keeps bleating on about - and now I've seen it up close and personal I can confirm it's been completely over done. I've worked in a bodyshop and if anyone calling themselves a professional painter produced a finish like that they'd be fired    All in all though your senses are in for a treat, the only thing I couldn't accurately report on is the sound........shoppers are far too noisy these days  

So then, the bit you've all been waiting for..........how do the cars drive?!? Well, it's fair to say we'll have some re-training to do because this is no Forza 4.5!! The handling of the cars is far different than what we're used to - in fact in my first race I struggled to keep the Ford Focus ST on the track    I had made a bit of a mistake by choosing manual w/clutch as I haven't used LB as the clutch for years - as such my first lap was a messy mix of crunched gear changes, locked brakes and visits to Laguna's gravel traps!! I had turned off everything bar the braking line and even though the Focus is a lower powered car it was still a handful. Thankfully, for my 2nd race I remembered to just select the standard manual box and I actually looked like I knew what I was doing...........which was a relief as I had attracted a bit of a crowd, well - a smattering of 13 year old kids  

With the assists off and a manageable gearbox the car felt much better but the brakes still needed a gentle touch. It was obvious it was a standard, un-tuned car but it was enjoyable nonetheless. After leaving the AI for dust I decided to move things up a notch and try out the Ferrari F12    What a fantastic car, quite well planted but easily capable of biting your ass if you take liberties - I only had 1 race with this car as a poor young lad had been waiting patiently to have his go. The car wasn't scary with all assists off but it would be quite easy to end up facing a wall - something a few other players were managing frequently.

Although I loved getting my hands on the game I'm now sat here weeping as 22nd November seems so far away  

P.S. - If anyone wants to know FIFA looked pretty enough but it's still only the 2nd best console football game  

wow cheers Jono cant wait

No probs Duncan - just thrown FM4 on to practice for TCC tonight, it doesn't feel the same now  

I saw them tweets too. I think they were in Newcastle yesterday. Don't think they're coming to Leeds If they did I bet I'd have work as well

Kilroy8 wrote:If they did I bet I'd have work as well

This is exactly what sick days are for   

I saw the Xbox Tour map, and seems like they are avoiding anywhere in the east like the plague. Nearest location is 70+ miles away!

I think they're worried their kit will get nicked

But Liverpool isn't in the East

Should of worn your Xbox-Green-Mankini Jono, would of guaranteed you as much game time as you wanted.  

the controller looks the shizzle ...... ohh and nice sausage thumb

As ive posted on CQR forum already, my view after it came to liverpool :

Graphics are brilliant, got told loading times will be better on final console its set to full to try show it off in its highest detail.

Gameplay - Really unsure, Now I dont know if this is because of the new feel but pad felt smaller to me over current gen. Was one lap around Laguna so waited 2-3minutes for it to load for a 1 minute lap. Tried all different assist options and was not impressed with the handling, felt like there was no weight in the car so back end just spins no matter how slight the turn input. The left hander after the corkscrew for example off power in 4th barely any input and the Mclaren spins out. TCS, ABS and Normal steering seemed best way to get any sort of lap time out of it but even with ABS you dab the brakes and are straight on, couldnt seem to link up a smooth line so looked like the usual casual E3 gamer vids lol.

Triggers tried three different screens and each felt different to each other. Again I dont know if this is purely a setup issue or if it is just not continued the same per console, Some you could feel others barely there. I did notice on the dashboard when I cheekly closed the game there was a option for controller update so could have old firmwere on each one.

Not gonna cancel my pre-order but not as happy with the feel of it as the hype has built up.

Kilroy, they were in leeds on the 26th. Lol

Ah well I was actually working until 10pm on that day as well