Project Cars 3 In Preview: Action-packed Realignment

2023 Author: Sheila Hailey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 15:18

The simplified driving physics allow daring maneuvers without punishment. Because the control (unlike in Project Cars 2) is tailored to the controller and not to the steering wheel. With just a little practice, you can catch opponents by surprise, pull past or squeeze through. The car can slip, but at the same time you quickly catch it again. At least that is the impression we take from the officially shown video material.

Typical of a decent racing game are the faithful vehicles from well-known manufacturers as well as the lineup of racing courses such as Indianapolis, Spa, Interlagos or Nürburgring. Urban routes through cities like Shanghai provide variety. And if all of this seems familiar to you: it's not really new. Because racing games like Grid or Need for Speed Shift had exactly the same concept.

Well-known racing career

In career mode, ten successive racing classes offer a choice of sports cars, hypercars, and GT3 and GT1 competitions. You also compete in one-make cups and compete with identical opponent vehicles. In all races, you also collect experience points by driving through corner markers correctly and by driving cleanly - similar to the Forza series. You don't necessarily have to be first in your career to get ahead.

The damage model does not appear to be mature in the beta version shown. Even fatal frontal crashes only result in dented bodywork and splintered glass. Conversely, shallow contact with the enemy is enough for the rear wing to fall off. Unnecessary: Just like in Grid, there are radio messages that incite you to drive faster, but do not offer any real information content.

Moderate technique

In addition to the arcade realignment, the look has also been spiced up. But instead of more details, the creators are building on a more colorful backdrop with exaggerated motion blur and blooming effects, which make the graphics blurred and might also hide frame rate problems. Nice, however, that there are dynamic weather conditions and times of day as in the previous model.

In short, Project Cars 3 seems to be aimed more at racing beginners and less at the established Sim community. The exits offer a lot of action, a lot of jostling, a lot of overtaking. But is that enough to have more fun with it? Now the scope of the game decides whether the frenzy can really tie the pad. Otherwise players prefer to use Grid, Forza Motorsport or the outdated Need for Speed Shift.