Project CARS: Initial Impressions

[[mXm] andy19]

I've been playing for about 4 hours now, and here's what I've concluded so far.

Visuals

The game looks really good.  The lighting is amazing.  Trackside isn't always the best looking, but the cars themselves are really good looking inside and out, and the weather effects are quite good.  This is probably one of the better looking games I've played in the PS4, and definitely the best racing game I've played (understandably).

Sound

The sounds are absolutely incredible.  One of my favourite parts of the game so far is just hearing the engines scream at 9000rpm, then the slight jump in RPM to bounce off the redline as you jam the clutch in to shift.  It just captures the sound so well.  

Vehicle Handling

The handling of the cars is pretty damn good.  It really puts emphasis on getting your tires and brakes warm before you can really run good laps.  So far, every race I've been in needed 1 lap to properly warm up the drive tires.  Once the tires show green on your HUD, you're good to go all out.

Controls 

If you're playing with a controller, you really really need to spend 10-15 minutes fine tuning the adjustments.  I found the stock settings did not go well with my way of driving, so I had to modify them.  I started with the settings found here and adjusted them accordingly to my style.  Once that was set, I had a hell of a better time controlling my car.

 

I went into the Clio Cup for my first class of races.  You can really tell the difference between FF, FR, MR, and RR vehicles in this game, and it feels like it's not just 'FF understeers, FR oversteers' etc.  The cars really do feel completely unique.  So far other than the Clio, I've taken the Caterham Classic, BMW 320 Turbo (a ton of fun), the classic Merc 190E Evolution (another hugely fun car to drive), and Formula A (see video below) out for a spin, and have enjoyed all of them so far.  The game really does have most major racing disciplines covered, and I'm really looking forward to trying out all of them.  Even karts, which GT really put me off of.

Here's a video of me testing out the Formula A for the first time.  I've read in a lot of places they're very difficult to handle, so I took it slow, warmed up the tires, then tried to do a full speed lap.  I'm racing with stability control and ABS, manual gearbox, no traction control, no racing line or anything (I tried the racing line but it was pretty bad. Break points were way off).

 

 

[[mXm] BOLD Edition]

EXCELLENT overview, man. I forgot the game released, so I will need to verify my download happened! Will give it some gameplay starting today. 

[[mXm] BOLD Edition]

EXCELLENT overview, man. I forgot the game released, so I will need to verify my download happened! Will give it some gameplay starting today. 

Damnit. The US digital download is STILL not available in the store. I hope they get that sorted soon. It couldn't be preordered for the same reason.

[[mXm] andy19]

It should be available once they update the store after 5pm EST I think.

In the meantime, here's a quick practice session before qualifying for the Renault Clio Cup:

 

 

Things I love about the sound in this game are the little things that a lot of people won't notice like the turbo blow-off valve sound, or if a car hits the dirt/rocks in front of you, you'll hear them ping off your car as they fly up and you drive through them.  

 

Edited May 12, 2015 by andy19

[[mXm] BalzOnYer4Head]

Are you messin with the suspension or tune at all? How in depth is the tuning.

[[mXm] andy19]

I haven't messed around with tuning at all because up until just now when I went to look at it, I couldn't figure out how to change anything but tire compound and pressure.

Now that I see you need to hit R2/L2 to get more tuning 'pages', it looks to be quite in depth.  On par I'd say with Gran Turismo 6, but I just took a quick look at it.

[[mXm] 404 Not Found]

Here is a nice thread on driver settings I found on gamefaqs.com

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/799997-project-cars/71774545

 

Everyone drives differently, but I like this setup a bit more as I feel I have more control going in and out of turns.  Andy the setting you posted feels a tad stiff with the turn radius, but its all style preference. 

Steering deadzone = 10
Steering sensitivity = 0
Throttle deadzone = 10
Throttle sensitivity = 20
Brake deadzone = 10
Brake sensitivity = 20
Speed sensitivity = 65
Control filtering sensitivity = 50
Force feedback = 100
Advanced settings off
 

[[mXm] andy19]

I had to adjust the settings I linked to as well.  I'll edit this once I can get to my PS4 and look up the values.

[[mXm] BalzOnYer4Head]

Just wanted to add my two cents here as I drink my morning coffee and have played enough times to come up with my own opinion. 

The physics (which are so important in a driving sim) are the best of any racer to date. This has forced me to not take liberties that I could with other drviing sims like GT and Forza. Mainly the weight shift, this has added an element to driving that we really have never had to deal with in a sim racer to an extent like this. Fast driving is all about keeping the vehicles suspension "happy". Trying to get a vehicle to do what you want when the suspension isn't settled is a crap shoot at best. If you want to make that off camber turn as fast as you can, that suspension better be settled. Love it. Adds to the realism. 

Graphics, sound, textures, lighting, all of that is superb. Lots to do in the game, racing that fits almost every niche, with more to come as the game has been promised support into the future.

Cons:

The UI needs a little polish. The magneta (damn near hot pink) is terrible for the highlighting of your selection. Almost makes it unreadable. The UI is also a bit on the clunky side.  Car selection needs to be beefed up. Not saying I want seventeen different kinds of Skyline, but more cars that arent race cars. Lastly, we have stock cars, but no stock car tracks (read: ovals) Thats about it though. More cons may surface as I play more but for now, thats the only complants I really have.