Project Cars 2 Review

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• Developer:slightly mad studios
• Publisher: bandai namco
• Genre: simulation racing
• Release Date:22 september 2017
• Platforms:xbox one, playstation 4 and pc
• Reviewed on: xbox one original
• Game Supplied by: xbox

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About:

Project CARS 2 is the next evolution in the award-winning racing series, featuring the most iconic cars under the most thrilling of conditions to deliver the “Ultimate Driver Journey” experience and adrenaline rush. Created by gamers, tested by world-class racing drivers, and the definitive choice of Esports pros, Project CARS 2 brings together the essence of real racing in the most beautiful, authentically-crafted, and technically-advanced racing game on the planet.

Review:

Ok first impressions, it is stunning, the game is beautiful. When I first booted up project cars and started a race I had to take some time to admire just how gorgeous and clean the graphics of this game are.

Project Cars 2 is up there with the best of them in terms of graphics, you can really see that they have spent an immense amount of time and effort on each and every one of their 180 cars and 60 tracks, which they now boast as the largest track roster on console with the addition of 20 fully scanned tracks.

Again the game is stunning they have really raised the bar with project cars 2 everything is beautifully detailed, the interior has been fully functional in every car i drove, you can feel that the developers have spent time on every single pixel.

Handling is awesome, they have fine tuned the handling of every car, it is the best handling I have personally ever experienced in any driving game, every car feels unique.

From when I started driving a small shifter kart that takes one hell of a learning curve, it took me easily 45 minutes to an hour just to be able to make it round the first track whilst keeping up with the other cars, to driving my favourite Honda civic type r with its screaming v-tec engine, they all feel different and all have pros and cons, and you can feel that when using them it really makes you think and take longer to decide what car fits your driving style better, and if you don’t take the time to choose the right car you will likely find that you are struggling to get any higher than 5th place, project cars 2 is unforgiving, one mistake could easily mean last place, you need to be quick to recover if you are to have any chance at all for a podium finish.

To compliment this we have the sound, again it is on point, I drive a civic every day of my life and being able to recognise that sound from a game was a surreal experience. You can hear every single engine when you’re racing, you can hear that beefy RS creeping up behind you, you can hear the tyres screeching round the corner, the immersion I felt while playing this game was awesome, I could almost smell the burning rubber and petrol fumes.

It doesn’t stop there, project cars has always tried to make an authentic experience and project cars 2 doesn’t disappoint. From your sign up sheet to the social media posts that almost seem like real posts.ow there are some differences, in the last game your car livery was decided by which contract you accepted, now the team you sign with is decided by which livery you chose.

It seems like a small change but it really makes a difference, I remember choosing a team contract just because it was the first one that popped up just to find out that the livery was a yellow car with some block zig zags, now I can choose my favourite livery and that will be the team I sign with.

Multiplayer is pretty self explanatory, it’s racing online with other players from around the world, it is just as fun as the main story except having to deal with the occasional troll that just wants to crash into you but as It has been very clear, the developer is hoping for a e-sports community with project cars 2, so I would get practicing.

They have also implemented a new feature called Competitive racing licence, now they say that this will track a drivers reputation for clean driving and a driver’s skill level which are then used as a filter for online racing, seems like a good idea if it works.

They then track your experience in the game, which is basically how long you spend playing and what you spend time doing.

this is then displayed on your driver profile showing your rise through the ranks.

Now what do you do in project cars, for those who have not played the original, the easiest way to explain this is, it is your dream race career, you start the game by filling out your name and nickname then you chose your starting point.

Now in project cars 1 you could choose one of two karting disciplines, project cars 2 gives you a little more choice, now you can jump straight into formula rookie which if you are not used to simulation racers I do not recommend.

This is your initial choices of career starting points, you can start start in category 6 with your shifter karts and formula rookie or chose to jump straight into a GT discipline.

There are 5 disciplines in project cars 2, open-wheel, GT, Prototypes, Rallycross and touring cars.

They all handle differently shifter karts are stuck to the floor like glue and one spin can mean the end of the race for you, then jumping into a focus RS which gives you a bit more leeway, you don’t have to slow down as much round corners and it doesn’t spin as easily, but you can feel that the back end is a drift giving you that front wheel drive feel all the weight and power at the front, if your back end gets knocked the car will spin. Then comparing all that to a lamborghini veneno, it’s like a different game it feels like the lamborghini fixes all the handling issues of the cart and has a perfect balance of weight, so you plow into your first race in your head thinking this is easy, just to go a bit too fast hit the brakes and skid head first into a barrier! While the lamborghini does not suffer from a light back end or difficult handling it takes longer to get it down to speed for corners.

I will say this is all subjective these are my experiences with my driving style and the standard set of assists on i might add, when you play you may take to the karts really well and not like the lamborghinis handling its all personal.

Now after you have mastered which ever discipline you decide to start with you will be looking to progress your career, the game works in seasons each season you chose the discipline you would like to participate in based on the offers you have received from teams, then you chose the car you would like to use and you are then presented with the teams that have open seats for that vehicle in that discipline.

Once you are happy with the team, car, and contract you can then decide if you’d like to run a full series or a short calendar.

That is the basics of how you will operate through your project cars career, the better you perform the more offers you will receive from teams which will branch out the available disciplines.

With that said I am going to advise this game is not for casual players, this is a hard-core simulation racer and it is hard but this is the point of project cars 2, to give you the most authentic racing experience available.

Verdict:

Project cars 2 is hard and not aimed at casual players by any standard and it does have the odd texture pop and screen drag here and there, but over all this is one amazing game and it has so much to offer, it’s hard to ignore it, Project Cars is a fine tuned machine of its own, it’s a Lamborghini engine tuned to perfection with every nut and bolt polished.