Project CARS Hands-On
Project CARS has been a major talking point of the racing game genre for quite some time. Crowdfunded thanks to a very dedicated racing community, Project Cars is looking to battle head to head against established racing simulations such as Forza and Gran Turismo and even promising indie newcomers such as Assetto Corsa. We were able to go hands on with both the PC version and PS4 version and, so far, the game looks promising.
The PC version we got to play was running on a top of the line gaming PC at a gorgeous 4K resolution. In order to make the experience as immersive as possible, instead of using a controller, a steering wheel and pedals were available. Project CARS looked and ran amazingly well at 4K, even if some settings had to be turned down to allow for the high resolution. The track we got to race on was Silverstone and, needless to say, it looked just like its real-life counterpart and was even more beautiful thanks the sun setting on the horizon, bathing the track in a deep orange glow.
Moving on to the driving mechanics, it’s all pretty straight forward; Project CARS doesn’t break any new ground in driving but perfects the formula. Cars feel just right, sticking to the gravel if you hold your racing line but quickly setting off into over-steer if you accelerate at the wrong time. Especially on the simulator, when my car would start drifting a bit out of control, the movements felt as real as they could be and really sold me on the immersion. Unfortunately, there were a few moments in which the immersion was broken; I found the AI rather passive, mostly sticking to the racing line and barely attempted to overtake each other, and when you would come up close to the opponents’ cars, the models did look kind of flat and not very detailed despite being played at 4K resolution. On top of all this, I never heard the crowd making any noise throughout the race: in games such as Formula 1, you can hear the crowd react to different events on the track, which made Project CARS feel kind of empty when you look around. On the upside, the sound design for the cars is excellent and, at the end of the day, the real music of a racing game is that of engines rather than crowd.
Console players will be glad to hear that the PS4 version of Project CARS is very good. The game seemed to run at 60 FPS, which is an excellent selling point, and made the driving feel very smooth and accurate. Also compared to the PC build we played, the PS4 version seemed more striking. This is probably due to the fact that in order to make the game run properly at 4K, some fancy visual effects had to be toned down on PC, which in turn allowed the PS4 version to look even more impressive in comparison; it’s likely that at FullHD on PC, the game should look at its best.
This higher level of detail allowed me to spot a few more things I missed on PC; when cars collide, debris is left on the track, which will affect the cars that drive over it. The crashes also looked much more impactful and powerful and another nice detail is that, if a car were to hit a guard rail, it would leave a noticeable dent.
Other than that, the two versions played exactly the same. I am sure the visual differences are just down to different settings and, if the PS4 build I played is any good indication, Project CARS will be one of the best - if not the best - looking racing game out there. It would have been nice to race in different weather conditions to see how that affects the game’s performance and the handling of the vehicles, but I guess I’ll have to wait for the final version to do that, scheduled for November 18 on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with a WiiU version slated for 2015. If you are a fan of racing sims, Project CARS seems to be a no brainer; remember to check our Gamescom interview with Pete Morrish.