7/17/2023 0 Comments Project cars go car listOur hope is that the team will fix these and any other issues before it turns its attention to the sequel. Needless to say, the developers are on the case, but we still feel that Project Cars isn’t quite as polished as it should be. When you’ve worked hard to put yourself in first position, this kind of stuff isn’t fun. We haven’t had any problems with the PC version, but players across all three platforms are complaining of a range of issues, and just last night we encountered one where the car becomes all-but-undrivable shortly after a mandatory pit-stop, as if the engineers had sucked all the air out of the tyres and left you driving on the rims. Most seriously, while Project Cars has dazzling graphics, beautifully-modelled cars, convincing weather and a great tyre-wear and damage simulation, it still feels slightly rough around the edges. With rival racers, we’ve been happy to leave most settings at the defaults. Only after following online guides have we been able to set-up a PS4 configuration that really works for us. What’s more, while we appreciate the lengths Slightly Mad Studios has gone into making the game so customizable, it’s a shame you have to put the effort in to make it work for you. We like the way that the game focuses on the nuts and bolts of racing, not on tinkering or social rivalries, but a little more interaction that way wouldn’t hurt. We’re still not 100% sold on the career structure, which feels like a grind over longer sessions, and it’s telling that, with the PC version, we’ve mostly stuck to single race events. In short, we’re growing to love Project Cars, but it’s still falling one step short of greatness. It’s even better than last year’s GRID: Autosport and arguably the best all-round racer on the platform. The wheel provides smoother handling and better feedback than a console controller and – matched with the game’s visceral in-car views – makes Project Cars one of the most immersive racers we’ve ever played. We’ve also been tackling the PC version with a steering wheel, and it’s unquestionably the best way to enjoy the game. If you want arcade-style online racing, you’re better off sticking to Forza 6, DriveClub or The Crew. The community seems predisposed towards longer racers with multiple sessions than quickfire sprints with hot cars on fantasy tracks, but in a way that plays to the game’s biggest strengths. Having had more of a chance to experience multiplayer, it’s a little bare bones and lacking in excitement, but you can find a race quickly and the action’s pretty stable. It requires a little more of the thought and discipline you’d find in PC’s sim racers, though with driving aids on it’s more approachable than Assetto Corsa and the like. This isn’t a game you can play like Forza 5 or Gran Turismo 6, screaming around the corners with the brakes on and hoping for the best. Some classes of vehicle – particularly the open wheel racers and karts – can be a nightmare to drive, but that’s what we’d expect. And while we can’t say whether it’s a combination of patches, our own control tweaks or just experience that have done the trick, we’re finding the handling more predictable and consistent these days. Now on its 1.04 patch, the PS4 version is smoother running, has cleaner edges and is less prone to the menace of screen tear, all of which make for a slightly better experience. In many respects, it’s maturing nicely too. Project Cars delivers on all these counts. It turns out that not everyone wants a social racing focus, Top Gear tie-ins, American racing superstars or the world’s best photo mode, but lots of people do seem to want a game with a fairly straight race-by-race, championship by championship career mode, the option to play full race weekends, a realistic approach to tyre wear and damage and AI racers that are neither robotic nor psychotic. The partly crowd-funded racer has tapped an audience that other racers seemed to be ignoring. Project Cars has been one of the year’s surprise success stories, to the extent that Slightly Mad Studios has just announced a sequel while the first game’s barely two months old. Available on Xbox One, PS4 (reviewed), PC We take another look at Project Cars
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