I eventually came around on Forza Motorsport 5 after it came out. It took a little time for some tracks to release, it took a couple car packs to fill out the roster. But once everything was in order it was a pretty decent racer. Then Forza Horizon 2 came out and I never saw myself going back to 5.
I’m kind of feeling that way with Forza Motorsport 6, kind of. The feel and soundtrack of the Horizon series is hard to replicate in a more serious simulation-type game. But there’s a lot of positives with 6, they start to add up into a really compelling game in a way that I haven’t felt with the mainline Motorsport games since 3. The track list is expansive, the car list is damn-near perfect and the menu and interfaces have been refined significantly.
There’s still stuff to nitpick, though, easily. The finer points of replicating Motorsport is still missing, meaningful pit stops, longer races (would it be that hard to let me select a lap multiplier so every race can be 2-3 times more laps?) fuel management, etc. A full day-night transition would be nice but doesn’t seem to be feasible in the current engine for the game, but it would go a long time to making the endurance races more realistic.
The stuff they did add hits all the right notes. The rain racing isn’t as visually spectacular as compared to the other racers out there (the rain in the 30fps racer Driveclub comes to mind) but in game play it is superb. Modifying your race line to avoid standing water while navigating traffic is a challenging but rewarding experience. If they made a more compelling single player experience I could see myself playing this game for an entire year easily. The online rivals and league modes will keep me playing but some variety in the single player challenges (something other than podium every race would be nice for goals) would be welcome.
All in all, unless you have Project CARS and a nice wheel and rig setup, there isn’t a better all-purpose simulation racer out there right now.
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