078REVIEW
INFO
FORMAT PS4
ETA OUT NOW
PUB BANDAI NAMCO
DEV SLIGHTLY MAD
STUDIOSS
o. Many. Problems. In fact, the definite
end of Project Cars’ pursuit of the
hardcore sim market isn’t the main
issue. This is intended to be more of a
spiritual successor to PS3’s Shift 2: Unleashed,
and arguably an action-packed, gamified, semi-
realistic racer is exactly what the increasingly
po-faced genre needs right now. But this isn’t
it. This isn’t convincing. At all.From the impotent collisions with cosmetic-
only damage to the uncharacteristically jarring
and cheap-looking weather transitions, former
high points associated with the series seem
downgraded here. Worse, the racing action is
unbalanced, both by the upgrades system, which
can be cheesed a little, and by the AI, which is
downright unfair. Rivals’ cars find inexplicable
speed on the straights, discover phantom grip
in key corners and sometimes (but infrequently)
completely disappear into the distance. But then
in the very next race in the same series, you’ll
win by seven seconds. No competition is fun for
long when it’s not a fair fight.
Even the corner mastery system feels
unbalanced. This was first introduced in Need
For Speed: Shift and is a truly great idea, turning
every corner into a minigame to be perfected,
here marked by floating icons over the track,
which work really well as sighters for brakingzones and apexes on blind
corners. Trouble is, the criteria
for perfecting a turn appears to
be arbitrary, as oversteer kicks,
exit lifts, and even wall taps can
still be rewarded with a ‘perfect’
message, making it unfulfilling.WINNERS DON’T WIN
Many of the simulation
elements of the first game are
gone, which means no tyre
warming, no practice sessions,
and no qualifying. Instead, races
are normally three-lap affairs,
forcing ultra-aggressive driving
due to their brevity. Not that
winning matters as much any
more, with new progression
criteria to meet, such as hitting
a particular top speed, passing
cars cleanly, or making it
around the track for one lapIf you crash really
hard, the damage looks
decent, but doesn’t
affect your handling.without touching anything –
which is easier said than done
when the AI is so tap-happy.
As a result, this breathless,
quickfire career mode feels
very shallow, and only really
works well when you’re alone
on the track, trying to hit the
gold-equivalent hot lap time or
post a mean average of three
successive laps to win the
prize, which is usually more
XP. But the XP-fest feels like
overkill as you fill up countless
bars with seemingly everything
you do. Used a view? Get XP!
To the game’s credit, the pad
handling is the best yet in a
modern, serious racing game,
allowing you to grab your car by
the scruff of the neck and kick
the back out into a Jeremy-
Clarkson-style powerdrift. AndSTART NEW PROJECT @catgonecrazy“RACES ARE NORMALLY
THREE-LAP AFFAIRS, FORCING
ULTRA-AGGRESSIVE DRIVING.”
PROJECT CARS 3
“Er... guys? Who replaced my dashboard with Lego?”
078
INFO
FORMATPS4
ETAOUTNOW
PUBBANDAINAMCO
DEVSLIGHTLYMAD
STUDIOSS
o. Many. Problems. In fact, the definite
end of Project Cars’ pursuit of the
hardcore sim market isn’t the main
issue. This is intended to be more of a
spiritual successor to PS3’s Shift 2: Unleashed,
and arguably an action-packed, gamified, semi-
realistic racer is exactly what the increasingly
po-faced genre needs right now. But this isn’t
it. This isn’t convincing. At all.From the impotent collisions with cosmetic-
only damage to the uncharacteristically jarring
and cheap-looking weather transitions, former
high points associated with the series seem
downgraded here. Worse, the racing action is
unbalanced, both by the upgrades system, which
can be cheesed a little, and by the AI, which is
downright unfair. Rivals’ cars find inexplicable
speed on the straights, discover phantom grip
in key corners and sometimes (but infrequently)
completely disappear into the distance. But then
in the very next race in the same series, you’ll
win by seven seconds. No competition is fun for
long when it’s not a fair fight.
Even the corner mastery system feels
unbalanced. This was first introduced in Need
For Speed: Shift and is a truly great idea, turning
every corner into a minigame to be perfected,
here marked by floating icons over the track,
which work really well as sighters for brakingzones and apexes on blind
corners. Trouble is, the criteria
for perfecting a turn appears to
be arbitrary, as oversteer kicks,
exit lifts, and even wall taps can
still be rewarded with a ‘perfect’
message, making it unfulfilling.WINNERS DON’T WIN
Many of the simulation
elements of the first game are
gone, which means no tyre
warming, no practice sessions,
and no qualifying. Instead, races
are normally three-lap affairs,
forcing ultra-aggressive driving
due to their brevity. Not that
winning matters as much any
more, with new progression
criteria to meet, such as hitting
a particular top speed, passing
cars cleanly, or making it
aroundthetrackforonelapIf you crash really
hard, the damage looks
decent, but doesn’t
affect your handling.without touching anything –
which is easier said than done
when the AI is so tap-happy.
As a result, this breathless,
quickfire career mode feels
very shallow, and only really
works well when you’re alone
on the track, trying to hit the
gold-equivalent hot lap time or
post a mean average of three
successive laps to win the
prize, which is usually more
XP. But the XP-fest feels like
overkill as you fill up countless
bars with seemingly everything
you do. Used a view? Get XP!
To the game’s credit, the pad
handling is the best yet in a
modern, serious racing game,
allowing you to grab your car by
the scruff of the neck and kick
the back out into a Jeremy-
Clarkson-stylepowerdrift.AndSTARTNEWPROJECT @catgonecrazy“RACES ARE NORMALLY
THREE-LAP AFFAIRS, FORCING
ULTRA-AGGRESSIVE DRIVING.”
PROJECT CARS 3
“Er... guys? Who replaced my dashboard with Lego?”