I got FM5 on GWG back in 2017 and foolishly never bought any DLC, nor downloaded the free cars, but it’s not really important, since the Forza Rewards will still let me 100% the game.
I know FM5 has plenty of flaws, namely the overly aggressive AI, the loss of past features and the excess of DLC cars, but even the “worst game in the franchise” still has its redeeming features that were partly lost in FM7 and need to be brought back for FM.
What are they?
The presentation is absolutely incredible! Soundtrack, menus, everything is so polished. It’s as if FM5 (and 6) got the kind of love FM7 didn’t, for whatever reason (time? too much like Horizon? you name it). I can’t imagine how it must have been to run the game back in 2013 and do the first race in the McLaren P1. It actually puts FM6 and 7 to shame in this regard.
The career mode makes more sense. There’s natural progression from slow to fast in category events with quasi-homologation, and there’s a full series of class events for those who enjoy it. Compare to FM7, which made it as if you were violating the game’s rules by building a car outside its homologation requirements. It was much more barebones than the 360 era, yes, but it still nailed the fundamentals.
The AI may be overly aggressive, but it gives players a fight and is not invulnerable to crashes. Compare to FM7 where they literally copypasted the cowardly, “on rails” AI from Horizon, which has trouble lapping much slower cars.
No goofy suits, just pure racing (except for Top Gear events, which are ironically better than those in FM7).
The tracks seem a bit more detailed than in later games. When optimizing this game (and FM6), T10 did focus on the right areas.
FM5 had its flaws, but it was T10 at its best when it came to developing and producing a launch title for a console. It’s ultimately inferior to FM7, but it’s definitely closer to what we expect from Forza Motorsport than FM7 when it comes to presentation and polish.
My favorite part about people complaining of DLC that was standard in previous games is knowing that about 85% of DLC in FM5 was standard in FM4/Horizon. I wouldn’t say its launch should be a bar set for other titles when absolute icons were left out to be paid-for additions.
I didn’t purchase any DLC until it went GWG, in which I think I only paid $10 for all of it, but even then it didn’t include Day One or promo cars, but I digress. It’s a great game, probably one of my top 3, but it definitely lacked upon release.
Absolutely. Replace the DLC with actually interesting cars(read: new to series rather than personal interest) and it would’ve been a great launch title.
If I could vote for anything that could be reworked or added in, it would be FM4s sub-career thing where you had like, at least, 100 different race types with different disciplines to choose from. I spent hours working through those, and it gave the game a whole extra life once you were done with regular career mode. Like time trials of the different sections of Nürburgring against an AI was one I remember doing the most. I can’t remember the name for the life of me tho.
Edit: a quick search through the wiki and it was subtly named “Event List”.
The biggest problem with FM5 was that it was the sequel to FM4. There was no chance in hell Turn 10 could top FM4 with FM5 being a launch title.
For me, I really liked the game, especially for all the reasons you mentioned. but the DLC was a slap in the face to the Forza faithful. It was a busy time for the forum moderators whenever a car pack was announced in FM5, lol.
Turn 10 really need to nail FM8. They’ve had more development time, no pressure for being a launch title, and with a full ground-up rework I feel like there are no more excuses this time.
Ride4 reminds me ALOT of FM5, i’d wager you’d like it… even if not into Bikes its just a good racing game.
It also has a tonne of DLC from previous game, overly aggressive AI as introducing their own version of Drivatar.
but looks polished, great models, bike and rider customization, solid career path and really does core features well , … plus they added fuel & tyre strategy, dynamic weather and proper pit stops.
Be warned, it is quite difficult at first (more sim, but similar assist & difficulty scaling to Forza) but very rewarding.
This is quite ironic. I could sleep last night and play FM5 last night. It is an excellent game and an unappreciated love note to automobile history and culture. I dare say the most realistic simulation out of all the forza franchise. As you have stated the presentation is amazing and absolutely stunning. And, the sound, my God! Nothing for in the way of you and pure essence of this driving sim. The gameplay and design has gotten away for that; with the suits and the mod cards. FM7 seems to get in its on way at times. Now, it FM8 is going back to its roots in a progressive way, and decided to bring back the focus to it grassroots car culture and motorsports, bring back the elegance of it presentation which made it/you feel like a global part of the automotive ether. Because, the automotive culture is a global phenomenon. Then, we are taking about something that is really special again. We will have to wait and see.
When it comes to physics I think FM5 leans way too much on the usual sim tropes. At times, it’s really like driving on ice.
While none of the FM games on the Xbox One had good AI, FM5 was this close to being the better one among them if there weren’t “super Drivatars” which drive perfectly and need to be punted off the track to keep quiet.
But it’s interesting to see how the TV integration was severely criticized at the Xbox One’s launch yet FM5 was a nice example of how well it can be done. The only game in the Forza franchise with a comparably good Top Gear implementation is Forza Horizon 4 and even then it’s restricted to a Horizon Story, whereas in FM5 Top Gear is ever present. The only fault is how the Top Gear events should’ve been separated from the main progression due to how unorthodox they are.
And of course, speaking of career mode, FM5 was the only last gen game to have dedicated class racing events. From FM6 onward, it was all divisions, if you want class, you must play online, and that isn’t always very fun.
Getting more enjoyment out of playing FM5 in direct comparison to FM4 is what ultimately caused me to move on from the 360 to the XBOne. Though I’m not sure how much of that was due to presentation. It’s undoubtedly better than FM7 on that front, however - it’s a bit of a mobile-game-like nightmare to navigate.
M4 vs. M7