Project Cars 3: we tried the new racing of Slightly Mad Studios!
Index
Two games in one Please don't bother me Certainties and Doubts For a moment forget the problems related to bugs and imperfect communication deriving from a development managed entirely remotely: even with their defects the two Project CARS they are extremely good driving games, built on the evident passion for racing of their developers, and on countless data collected to offer a more hardcore and simulation experience than the titles of the genre that dominate the market. The first Project CARS succeeded in launching to surprise - and sell - enough to create a large fan base and secure a following, which in addition to correcting many of its problems, put in place an excellent atmospheric system, as well as a considerable increase in variety in surfaces and in competitions. At the Slightly Mad series, however, something has always been missing: a little extra extra care capable of making it compete on equal terms with far more refined titles, or perhaps even just a little additional cunning in the design, to attract players not necessarily bewitched by all that is motoring.We therefore arrived at the tried and tested Project CARS 3 (on PC) with considerable curiosity, since the slow but inexorable evolution of the development team at the reins today could give life to a racing classic, with a bit of luck and elbow grease. Expecting us, understandably, we have not found a perfect build; yet the premises for something significantly higher than the two predecessors are all there.
Two games in one
let's Start from the question of accessibility , because the developers there had already been keen to stress as a greater range of options for the less experienced players does not mean necessarily a simplification of the mechanical, and from our test their words seemed more than ever true. Project CARS 3 part, with a large number of "set help" selectable based on the experience of those who face it, and changed in detail from the menu. Starting with many simplifications makes the races markedly more arcade, facilitating the control, but once disabled the "string-pulling" the title is also more complex to manage than in the past, and we noticed that the responsiveness is much better commands. In general? The diversification of the car is more evident (even within the individual categories), and the response of the gamepad's much more precise, to prove the will of Slightly Mad to make the game enjoyable even for those who do not have a steering wheel or a seat. Of course, controllers that level consistently increase the quality of everything, even under good atmospheric system, that change in the way huge the estate of the cars (and is particularly amplified by a good wheel).The major modification that increases of 200% to the enjoyability of the game, however, comes from the new shape of his career . The division into categories is in fact less clear than in the second episode, with the drive divided to all the effects from different levels of power . What is wanted, in the first place for not having more of a problem of setting base capable of creating absurd spikes in difficulty in certain categories (some races initial Project CARS 2 the still remember with horror...) and, secondly, to better support the system of tuning that is the big news of the title. In a few words, here, you can easily neglect the purchase of new cars, and upgrade fairly certain cars to bring them with you to the category category: a solution that is brilliant for fans of the specific car, which can now dwell on the own wheels of the heart for almost his entire career. The tuning of the box, it seemed pretty natural and easy-to-manage - given that the bulk of the complexity is always in the settings pre-race - but it is impossible to estimate from a test of a few hours, it actually is possible to break the limits to get the performance out of this world. His presence is still appreciated.
please do not urtatemi
Interesting, but also management of difficulties , much more scalable and precise. Now set at low levels their opponents guarantees to overcome them without too many problems even with cars with little performance, while an' artificial intelligence aggressive will give you seriously a hard time, regardless of your ability on the track. Here is, indeed, the second thing derives not only from the speed of their spins, but also by the unfortunate propensity of the CPU to pull straight, regardless of your position in their proximity, resulting in a spin for the speronate not really pleasant. It is quite crystal clear on this sort of behaviour, there is still a lot of work to do, given that in certain challenges very excited it is not even a choice designed to avoid the classic "take", but just a huge hassle that makes it disastrous overtaking is sometimes perfectly sensible and legal.During our demo, we got a curious bug where the runner-up to a certain point, suddenly turned into Ayrton Senna, staccandoci than 7 seconds in less than a lap for no apparent reason, in spite of the difficulty was set to normal. In the test, however, only happened once, and the game clearly doesn't use any kind of elastic effect, so we are not worried.
of Course, considering the history of the team, similar errors must be taken into consideration, more than any other thing. Project CARS has had a lot of fun, and, in general, there seems to be a dry evolution of every element that has made us appreciate the series, however, the possibility of spoiling a chapter that is potentially superior to the other in all of oversights or a development hastened exists. Nothing to say instead on the technical sector : outside of some artifact, the game seemed to be decently optimized (even if a few hiccups in the framerate with the rain, we noticed), and particularly the most beautiful to see, thanks to better lighting, to the slopes aesthetically very pleasing (the Italian ones we have seen are beautiful), and a general increase in detail. Perhaps the direct contact with Codemasters has helped in this field.
our test Project CARS 3 showed a game capable to improve many of the elements that had made valid by his two predecessors, but he also did catch a glimpse of some unpleasant bug, disappears absolutely before the release. In fact it would be absolutely insane to ruin a racing game with so much potential, with errors similar to those made in the past. The basis for the best chapter of the series are all there, you just need to treat them properly.
