Freebie Feelers... Forza Motorsport 5

Freebie Feelers is a series where we download the free monthly console-specific or newly released free-to-play games to test their worth.This series will contain some useful information as well as plenty of personal opinion. While these articles may not be reviews, we hope that you will be able to use them to help decide whether that free download is worth it.

What is it?

Forza Motorsport 5 is a simulation racing game from Turn 10, which was a launch title for the Xbox One when it released in 2013. As the then latest entry in the franchise on a new platform, Forza Motorsport 5 brought with it visual upgrades, but not a whole lot else - instead, it served as a look at what the new platform was capable of achieving.

What do you think?

I’ve already obtained all of the achievements from Forza 5 so it’s safe to say that I enjoyed the game, possibly backed up with the racing genre being one of my favourite types of game to play. That said, when Forza Motorsport 6 turned up two years later, the now aging Motorosport 5 started to show more as a technical demonstration title for the Xbox One, than a full entry into the series. This was compounded by the fact that notable tracks like Bathurst and Nurburgring were surprisingly absent from the title at launch, but has since been added to the game via free patches.

Worth downloading?

If you’ve been on the fence about whether to try the Forza Motorsport series, then for the low, low price of free, there’s never been a better time to find out. It has a decent enough physics model and you can take your skills onto the latter entries in the Motorsport franchise, as the controls and handling haven’t changed a huge deal through Motorsport 6. With 7 around the corner though, this is a good time to decide if you like the franchise enough to get into it. You can pick it up for free until the end of September, at which point it will return to its usual price. In the words of them judges from those talent TV shows - it’s a yes from me.