Project Cars
Some say it’s the greatest racing game ever...
ALL WE KNOW is that PC racing games have traditionally fallen into two camps. You could either have sexy visuals but dumbeddown realism courtesy of a typical Grid or Need for Speed instalment. Or, alternatively, the likes of Live for Speed or Sim Bin’s GTR series, which would challenge driving talent, but be less concerned with taxing your graphics card.
The rich realism and jaw-dropping visuals offered by modern Gran Turismo and Forza incarnations haven’t quite been matched by a single PC title, but Project
Cars aims to change that. This is a game that strives for total realism, both dynamically and visually. It doesn’t matter which of the 60-plus cars you choose—take it for a spin at dusk, with sun flares enabled and postprocessing effects on full, and Project Cars looks absolutely sublime.
Stare at the ass-end of one of the game’s classic cars and there’s everything from individually modeled suspension wishbones to separate spark plug leads to drool over. Leaves rustle as you scream past, raindrops glisten on gleaming panels, and grass sways in the breeze. There’s also realistic damage, with deformable body parts, plus the ability to scratch that pristine paintwork and crack windows. It’s stunning stuff, though such a high polygon count and extensive shader use does put your GPU through its paces, especially when you’re in a pack of other cars or driving in the rain, where the frame rate drops considerably.
Thankfully, all this polish hasn’t been lavished on crap. Although the car list is nothing compared to Gran Turismo or Forza, it still features plenty of metal listed on any respectable wishlist. Gawp at track day weapons like the Ariel Atom V8, BAC Mono, and Caterham Superlight R500, through to hypercar exotica such as the McLaren P1, Pagani Huayra, and W Motors Lykan Hypersport. Lykan what? It’s the car of choice for moving between skyscrapers in Abu Dhabi if you’re Vin Diesel and have a thing against elevators.
The classic car scene is well catered for with retro BMW M3 and Mercedes 190E German touring cars, plus their spoiler and skirt-clad Ford Capri and BMW 320 Turbo predecessors, which do more to make the eighties look cool than KITT ever could. If open-wheel racing is your thing, you can try your hand at superkarts, 4-cylinder, and V8 formula cars, or even classic Formula 1 rides like the 1960’s Lotus 49. There are no current F1 machines, however, and you won’t find anything with a Ferrari or Lamborghini badge on it either.
KEEPING TRACK
Track selection is almost uncompromising though. Think of pretty much any bucket list race track and it’ll probably be here. Stateside circuits are well represented with Laguna Seca, Road America, and Willow Springs, while anyone who honed their virtual racing skills with the early Toca games will appreciate the inclusion of UK locations like Brands Hatch, Donington, and Oulton Park. But it’s the truly iconic tracks that steal the show. Bathurst, Le Mans, Spa-Francorchamps, Imola, Monza, and that motoring mecca, the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Tissues please.
What’s more, all the cars and tracks are drivable right from the get-go in Quick Race and Free Practice modes: no unlocking necessary. It’s the same story in the slick online multiplayer mode, and there are community competitions to compete for fastest lap times and the prospect of prizes.
Those familiar with recent Grid titles will be at home in Career mode, where you choose between disciplines, including open wheel or touring cars, and progress through the ranks to reach an ultimate racing series. There are some clichéd frills along the way, like contract signing, corny emails, and faux fan tweets, but thankfully no contrived cutscenes to endure. Plus, even if you think you’re the lovechild of Senna and the Stig, you can always dial down the AI skill and enable driving assists once you have a reality check and wish you’d stuck to Mario Kart.
Yes, Project Cars is tough. It has to be to win over the sim racing crowd. These are car geeks who demand completely authentic handling characteristics, and who consequently look down on the Need for Speed series with more contempt than Ryan Gosling has for a tardy armed robber.
Trouble is, although it does come close,
Project Cars isn’t quite the last word in dynamic authenticity.
HARD TO HANDLE Despite its bewildering array of vehicle setups and force feedback options, the cars simply don’t handle as realistically or consistently as in other simulators, such as
Assetto Corsa, rFactor, or Simraceway. Take a Pagani Zonda R round the Imola circuit in Assetto Corsa, and its prestigious power will snap the tail out almost as quickly as the tyres lock up if you stamp on the brakes. Select the same car/track combo in Project Cars and it gives you the impression that ABS and traction control are enabled, even when they’re not. It’s a similar story with the Project Cars and
Simraceway emulations of the Lotus 72 Formula 1 car, though this time it’s Slightly Mad Studios’ recreation that’s much more of a handful, swapping ends under power with no warning in up to third gear. Few know how the real deal performs, but it’s hard to imagine Emerson Fittipaldi tolerating such unpredictable handling back in the day.
If there’s one constant in the physics department, it’s that you don’t feel quite as connected to the driving experience as you might want. This is partly down to those handling characteristics, but also the lackluster force feedback, which often fails to communicate basics like driving over a kerb, and generally leaves many cars feeling somewhat numb.
But these are relatively minor gripes only worth picking on because Project Cars sticks its balls on the line and professes to be “the most authentic racing game on the planet.” While it falls marginally short, this is still one of the most polished examples of the genre for PC gamers, and strikes a compelling balance between style and substance.