Thoughts on Project Cars? - Any Good?

[MEC-777]

Now that Pcars is out, who has it and what do you think of it? How does it compare to Assetto Corsa in terms of; graphics, physics, sounds, car models, AI, Multiplayer etc.? Also, how well does it run on PC?

 

I have Assetto and it's freakin awesome in almost every aspect except for a few areas (poor AI, no weather, limited car selection). Have been doing some research on Pcars to see if it's worth my $, but I'm a bit weary of what I've seen/heard so far. Sounds silly but one odd issue I don't like is the engine sound while shifting. Maybe they've fixed it by now, but I watched one in-game video of the Mclaren P1 and when they shift gears, it's like the audio track for the engine is cut and jumps to another track (different rpm) which is not what it should sound like. Sounds very unrealistic to me. Again, I know that sounds like a stupid thing to complain about, but I'm all about the immersion/authenticity and something like this totally breaks the immersion, IMO. 

 

So, anyways, what are your thoughts?

[RollinLower]

as far as graphics go it looks really amazing. tough it feels like it needs a bit more work. the physics are just plain horrible sometimes

 

and in some places the AI is just simply not up to standards. i recommend you wait a bit to see if they update the game a bit. and if it stays like this, it just isn't worth the full price to me

[Sharif]

My thoughts are it's too racing sim like,i wish it was a arcade type 

 

I wish there was a game like NFS pro street,though I would love these sim types if i had the wheels and pedals and all  

[WolfysTech]

It's fantastic, Other than a few bugs here and there that don't really come across as noticeable, It's actually alot of fun and good to play, Has endless amount of things to do really. I enjoy it alot. Love all the weather, Different range of cars (Despite there not being an incredible amount) and the massive track list. I love the game myself, as I bought it on 3 Platforms, (PS4/XBOX ONE/PC) And PS4/PC Have been really showing potential to what the game has been made as.

[Thony]

Dont own it but will buy it when its on sale (probably december). I expect G27 to be on Black Friday so i will finally enter the race sim world with it

From what ive seen in 30minutes gameplay on Lirik's channel the rain animation is grose (very 2D like).

Thats all i can say.

[brownninja97]

Im a sim racer so here is my review as one

 

Let the comparison begin(no fanboying here)

 

Graphics: Pcars wins, Ac generally lacks in fidelity and AA options but both still look great and are very serviceable, cockpits and general vehicle models however are vastly and i mean seriously superior in Assetto corsa which is odd.

 

Physics: assetto corsa wins by a long shot, more customization, more realistic, more diversity in the type of physics it covers and making profiles in Assetto corsa actually makes a difference, in pcars not so much, seems like they added many bars in pcars which do next to nothing sadly. Big plus to AC is that its clutch, kers and tyre models are very good, for comparison hard tyres in pcars in the rain feel like very soft qualifying tyres in AC. This sadly brings about the simcade argument. Collision is bad in both games, in AC the Ai will take collisions like a champ and they will carry on, you will likely spin. in Pcars hits in the Ai glues you to them, this is the same issue found in the shift games, no the game isnt like shift but the collision model seems similar. Also changing turbo pressure in the middle of a stint is awesome 

 

Sounds: Assetto corsa barely and i mean barely wins out on this one, there are a wide number of car types in both games but while most of them in both games dont have that nice warm feeling in your groin effect there are a few cars in AC like the Lotus 98t, Z4 gt3, Alfa 155 and the M235i which are really good in fact ive been in the M235i at thruxton and it sounds the same(of course irl is a little less predictable in its sounds but damn near close). Its an odd one because Assetto corsa doesnt have good sounds for majority of the cars, narrow win but a win none the less.

 

Car models: to the untrained eye they seem similar some will say pcars is better but no its not, not even close. Upon looking closely at models from both games I can say once again Assetto Corsa wins but this is a big victory because AC has a list of achievements here, their models are more optimized, their models are closer to the real life variants, their models are finished oddly enough. Pcars cut corners here as you will notice they have left out some things in some of the cars which is odd and with the oculus rift support on both games(dropped on AC until next oculus arrives) people will be looking around a lot more then before. As for skins for the cars its a draw, both have good skins, their are great skins on both sides and not so great skins on both sides, would be nice for 4k skin textures to be used instead though, both games have skin mode support but AC has easier to use templates in my opinion.

 

Track models: Draw: AC has laser scanned tracks which are vastly superior to the project cars tracks however Pcars has way more tracks, not sure which should win as a result. 

 

AI: Both suck, Assetto corsa AI doesnt race, they drive around the track like 7 year olds behind a teacher if they get out of line they spaz out and will begin marshal law until they return to their position, if that fails they black flag themselves. In Pcars the Ai doesnt care about you, also track limits isnt a rule all of a sudden while its nice that they arent in single file they break a stupid amount of laws and they want to kill you, if you corner in front them you will spin, they will laugh, they will drive away, you will throw your G27 at a dog. 

 

Multiplayer: cant say for Pcars yet as i dont have enough time but generally it seems better then AC apart from how bad its community is, they dont drive like normal people and as this is "timmys first sim" they are fine with it, they also dont follow rules. AC suffers this but to a lesser extent but AC has a clunky interface. 

 

Optimization: AC is optimized a lot better then Pcars, running it with a 6770(bros pc) temporarily showed how AC runs better on lower end systems which is a massive issue for Pcars as not many people can afford 980s. Ac does however need to optimize its AI a bit more. Improvements are needed for both games, i dont think any win this tier.

 

FFB: Pcars is a insult to FFB its honestly pathetic

 

Overall: AC has mod support and it won most of the above categories so thats that however if you dont like modding pcars could be for you. As im a hardcore sim guy i have to prefer AC. The biggest issue I see is that AC devs said they will support AC until 2020 and then depending on the community size they will go from there, SMS announced a second Pcars and 12 months of dlc, you do the maths which one will last longer. The sim community hates shift and there are minor hints of it which means the sim community with lose interest within a few months and sim communities are the ones that hold up games even if the devs leave. Assetto corsa will live on long after Pcars dies, thats the fact of the matter and thats why it wins. the lack of mod support has gone and killed project cars. 

 

Before you say im a fanboy i have a lot of hours in both games just check my steam account, actually wait no pcars is on my other account,crap.

[MEC-777]

-snip-

 

Awesome write-up and thank you for taking the time. You pretty much answered all my questions and then some. I've watched reviews on youtube, but they still didn't give me the info I was looking for and most reviewers aren't as objective as they should be. Saying "it looks great" just doesn't cut it, and unless the reviewer is a hard core racing sim enthusiast (like you and I) they can't give proper feedback/commentary on if the physics is realistic and feels right. Most reviews don't even mention that. So thank you for going into so much detail.

 

So by what you've told me, my fears have come true with this game - that it has basically fallen into the valley of the "simcade" to join with the likes of Forza and Gran Tourismo - able to be played with a gamepad controller. And with that, I must say, I'll have to leave this game alone. It's just not "real" enough, by the sounds of it. That's not to say it's not a fun game. I have, after all, put countless hours in playing Forza 4 on the xbox 360 over the years. But I've moved on to PC gaming and have a G27. Thus, I want to put it to good use and play the racing sims that will give me "as close to the real thing" experience.

 

I have many years of real racing experience (autocross, time attack, ice racing etc.) and once you're hooked, you just can't get enough.

 

Also have to say; after all the hype this game generated, I'm a bit disappointed by how it's apparently turned out... Glad I bought Dirt Rally instead - which is very good BTW.

[brownninja97]

Awesome write-up and thank you for taking the time. You pretty much answered all my questions and then some. I've watched reviews on youtube, but they still didn't give me the info I was looking for and most reviewers aren't as objective as they should be. Saying "it looks great" just doesn't cut it, and unless the reviewer is a hard core racing sim enthusiast (like you and I) they can't give proper feedback/commentary on if the physics is realistic and feels right. Most reviews don't even mention that. So thank you for going into so much detail.

 

So by what you've told me, my fears have come true with this game - that it has basically fallen into the valley of the "simcade" to join with the likes of Forza and Gran Tourismo - able to be played with a gamepad controller. And with that, I must say, I'll have to leave this game alone. It's just not "real" enough, by the sounds of it. That's not to say it's not a fun game. I have, after all, put countless hours in playing Forza 4 on the xbox 360 over the years. But I've moved on to PC gaming and have a G27. Thus, I want to put it to good use and play the racing sims that will give me "as close to the real thing" experience.

 

I have many years of real racing experience (autocross, time attack, ice racing etc.) and once you're hooked, you just can't get enough.

 

Also have to say; after all the hype this game generated, I'm a bit disappointed by how it's apparently turned out... Glad I bought Dirt Rally instead - which is very good BTW.

Its a weird one because project cars is definitely harder then granturismo or forza(closer to gt5 id say) however they are then caught in that weird position because they wanted to cater for the sim racers but then realized "they are leaving money on the table" by not catering for the masses. While i can see their point ill throw pcars in the "grid" pile. its nice and all, graphics are very good however i just cant get motivated to play it as the growth curve isnt there. While the AI is hard i feel as if they are faster then me which normally means they get better tyres as they are pulling times which shouldnt be possible aka the 3:30 issue on la sarthe is smashed with god mode ai. The more i think about it the more it bugs me nevertheless Ac still has a lot of interesting stuff coming to it. Ill just leave this here. Yes i look forward to driving this car more then any game coming in the next two years, drm revival was amazing in rfactor so in Ac it could be even better

 

[MEC-777]

Its a weird one because project cars is definitely harder then granturismo or forza(closer to gt5 id say) however they are then caught in that weird position because they wanted to cater for the sim racers but then realized "they are leaving money on the table" by not catering for the masses. While i can see their point ill throw pcars in the "grid" pile. its nice and all, graphics are very good however i just cant get motivated to play it as the growth curve isnt there. While the AI is hard i feel as if they are faster then me which normally means they get better tyres as they are pulling times which shouldnt be possible aka the 3:30 issue on la sarthe is smashed with god mode ai. The more i think about it the more it bugs me nevertheless Ac still has a lot of interesting stuff coming to it. Ill just leave this here. Yes i look forward to driving this car more then any game coming in the next two years, drm revival was amazing in rfactor so in Ac it could be even better

 

 

The 935, aka; Moby Dick!!!! YEEEEESSSSSS!!!! (I'm a crazy Porsche fanboy ) I cannot wait to drive this car!

 

Looks like they got the sound pretty darn close too.