Ignore the nonsense, though, and it can still be electrifying. Take an Audi R18 e-tron away from the messy drone of the career and set about beating a Rivals hot lap time around Spa and it's sublime: the diesel engine roars stealthily, the sun streaming through the Ardennes' thick forest.

Sometimes not receiving a game by the publisher, as we have to indicate at the bottom of our reviews nowadays, is a blessing in disguise. Not only can I play through the game at my leisure without having to meet a strict embargo, but I can gauge the reactions of professional critics and user...

Gorgeous 1080p; 60fps graphics; Superb individual car details; Wonderful presentation; Drivatars; Carries over many Forza features

Limited tracks means highly repetitive career mode; Gutted features for the sake of making tokens attractive; Microtransaction-heavy for a game that isn't free-to-play; Lack of wheel compatibility; Forcing everyone in Forza community to grind a lot; Tags

Forza Motorsport 5 is the latest edition of the racing franchise taking advantage of the infinite power of the cloud, setting a new bar for racing games.

Forza 5 certainly shows off the potential for the Xbox One from a visual and technological point of view as the Drivatar's are quite a novel idea and they did provide a competitive race experience in an offline format.

After co-developing last year's Forza Horizon with Playground Games, Turn 10 Studios returns to the series proper with Forza Motorsport 5. Is the franchise's Xbox One debut a continuation of the developer's winning ways? Nik Hardy takes a look.

Great aesthetics; Drivatar brings the fun back; New controller is a blessing; Bathurst

A lot less content than is usual for the series; High-priced DLC

The Forza Motorsport series for some has arguably surpassed the legendary Gran Turismo series; in my personal experience Forza Motorsport 4 was the definitive racing game on the home console, piping even the recent Gran Turismo 6 to the checkered flag.

Drivatar is the future of racing A.I; Plays great; Looks great; Top Gear presenters is a great touch; Vibration feedback in the control pad works great

Lacks number of cars and tracks in comparison to Forza 4

If you are some sort of petrolhead it's very likely that you've established the Forza Motorsport franchise as the number one go-to racing simulator. Over the last eight years development studio, Turn 10 Studios, have all but perfected the genre. It's now time for it to debut on the Xbox One.

Stunning Graphics | Top Gear guys are back!

Not that many cars and tracks | Worst soundtrack ever

On paper, Forza Motorsport 5 is a massive disappointment. Its car roster has been halved, leaving a paltry 200-odd to Forza 4's 500-plus, and its showing of tracks is so limited that you'll likely have raced on a variant of each within the first hour of play.

Still one of the most fun; inviting racing sims; Subtle refinements to all areas of gameplay; Drivatar system could revolutionize solo racing

A paltry number of tracks; Less aggregate content than Forza fans may be used to

Over the last five years, my favorite sim racing series has definitely been Forza Motorsport . While the PC games often model physics and tracks more accurately, they don't have the budgets of the big-name console games for the licensing of hundreds of cars, and there's no distinct control advantage...

All in all, Forza 5 is a beautiful game, with plenty of achievements to unlock, cars to buy and badges to collect. Whilst it may be lacking in cars and tracks, it is an impressive showcase of what the Xbox One can achieve. Ultimately, if you're a fan of Forza, you'll buy this.