Slightly Mad Studios delivers the racing game we need for next-gen systems
We’ve been itching for a new racing simulation game to take on established players like “Forza” and “Gran Turismo” since we bought our next-gen gaming system. After several (dozen) hours of playing, we can safely say we have it with Slightly Mad Studios’ “Project Cars,” on sale May 12 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. We gave you the breakdown of cars and tracks last week. Now that we’ve had some seat time, we can tell you what it’s like to get behind the (fake) wheel.
Beginning with the obvious, this game is gorgeous. From this gaming generation on, that will be a given. You can see the black marks on the track, you can see fans stand up and sit down, and you can see the impossibly bright sunset through the gaps in the trees. It would actually be annoying, if it wasn’t so realistic. Both the exteriors and interiors of the cars are rendered beautifully, which also plays in with the light and shadows on the racetrack. Going toward the sun, you can barely see your gauges. Going away from it? They’ll be lit up brightly through your rear window.
There are a lot of good things going on with “Project Cars” not least of which is the fact that you can jump into the fastest cars on the hardest tracks right away. You want to start in Formula A, the game’s equivalent of Formula One? It’s your funeral, pal. There are no levels to work through or cash to earn, just seasons and seasons of racing. The first two tiers -- of eight -- are karting, which we skipped, jumping straight to open-wheel Formula Rookie, which sort of represents Formula Vee.
Car Life Gallery: Project Cars
We’re using a Thrustmaster T80 wheel now; as far as we hear, PlayStation isn’t supporting Logitech wheel controllers anymore. The T80 has no feedback and less weight, which we thought would lead to a less enjoyable experience. Thankfully it did not, both because the customizing options are insane, and because we added some simulated resistance on our home-built rig.
“Project Cars” has several areas where a player can tune how the driving wheel feels, how much dead zone there is, how much traction control to dial in and probably hundreds of other adjustments, including stuff we don’t even understand, let alone know how to adjust. In that respect, it almost bests "Gran Turismo" -- you just need a track engineer to explain it to you.
You can change the race length, opponent difficulty and damage options, and add the option of restarting before each race. Those options are good, but you have to discipline yourself not to bring everything down to easy when the going gets tough.
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Right away, we got lost in the open-wheel action, alternately pretending we were James Hunt and Niki Lauda working our way up the ranks. Project Cars works through a calendar system where you can participate, skip or simulate the year’s events. It reminds us more of Codemasters’ “Grid” than Polyphony Digital’s “Gran Turismo.”
The handling model is great, much closer to a simulation than an arcade game. The Formula Vee cars switch direction on a dime; they rarely spun out, unless we really got things wrong. If you touch open wheels with another racer, it’ll toss the car in the air. It gives you even more respect for those open-wheel guys, today and in the past. You might not even see it coming and -- bam! -- you’re upside down.
PC does a really good job with the screen movement. When you hit the brakes, the windshield gets a smidge larger, like your head is moving forward, and when you bang over the curbs the whole car shakes. If you hit just the right groove in a corner, the car bounces ever so slightly but doesn’t slip. Turn the lights off and the stereo up -- the sound effects are almost as good as the graphics.
Of course there's an online component as well, where you can race your friends and set up a race weekend with strangers. We didn't mess with it too much, the game just came out and the opponent pool hasn't quite filled out yet. We also haven't signed up for PlayStation Plus, but that's another story for another time.
The next Formula One game comes out in June. If you’re purely a fan of that series, then maybe you can hold off on this game. But anyone else -- "Gran Turismo" fans, "Forza" fans, "Grid" fans -- you should probably go get this game now: It should keep you racing at least until the next serial title comes out, and maybe long after.
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19:45
jcreator
