PC2 Project CARS 2 Released on Xbox One, PS4 and PC

[Paul Jeffrey]

Highly anticipated racing simulation Project CARS 2 has been released today, marking the return of the best selling franchise to both console and PC systems.

Developed by Slightly Mad Studios and community backers from the world of sim racing, using the experience of professional race drivers the likes of former Top Gear Stig Ben Collins and sometime Renault Clio racer Nicolas Hamilton, Project CARS 2 looks set to be the most ambitious racing project yet from the British based development team.

Featuring over 180 cars and 60 locations on launch and benefitting from live track technology, advanced weather effects and class leading graphics, Project CARS 2 looks very likely to become yet another best selling release across all platforms following release today.

Unfortunately we have not been able to get access to an advanced copy of the game prior to launch, however in constant quest to bring you all the news and opinion from sim racing (haha, well actually because I cant resist a racing game) I will be purchasing testing this thing thoroughly tonight, with a view to writing up an article over the weekend with my first impressions.

About the Game

• 180+ licensed cars from iconic manufacturers
  
• Full 12K & VR Support
• Tested and tuned by pro racing drivers
• All-new motorsports (IndyCar, Oval Racing, Rallycross) join old favorites incl. GT3
• LiveTrack 3.0: Dynamic surface & weather physics affect vehicle performance and handling in real-time
• New loose surface racing (ice, dirt, mud)
• Full 24-hour cycle featuring real-time atmospheric conditions and seasonal ambience
• State-of-the art physics model
• Revamped gamepad handling
• Class-leading Esport capabilities

Project CARS 2 is available now for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.

Check out the Project CARS 2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment to catch up with the latest news, engage in lively discussions with the community, download some mods and get yourself out on the track in online races for both PC and console.

Well it's here! What do you think? Win, Lose or Draw? Improvement over PC1? Serious rival for the main PC racers? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[AadHofman]

Have you played it?

What a stupid question. I wish the quality of the British tracks, excluding Silverstone which is horrible, and the quality of the Caterham (road) would have been replicated in all the content, but quantity over quality seemed to be the main principle.

 

[jimortality]

What a stupid question. I wish the quality of the British tracks, excluding Silverstone which is horrible, and the quality of the Caterham (road) would have been replicated in all the content, but quantity over quality seemed to be the main principle.

By your response, I'll take that as no then.

 

[AadHofman]

By your response, I'll take that as no then.

Can I have my money and the hours spent on the game back then, please?

 

[jimortality]

For all my disparaging posts, I've yet to read anyone saying the physics is better than Assetto Corsa, never mind Automobilista.

That surely is the first step, getting that right. No amount of ambient lighting or splashy puddles is worth a damn, if that car doesn't feel like it should.

Most reviews say it's better than PC1, but not as good as AC, AMS, etc. etc.

So, Scary Movie 2 is better than Scary movie 1 but not as good as Psycho, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street......you get my point.

The physics are better than assetto corsa

 

[rw3]

I wish I was part of a marketing gig. Sadly I'm just peddling my own opinions, for the bugger all that they're worth. Sadly it has become customary on the internet to assume that anyone with an opinion differing from your own is a bot, troll, shill, fake news, or some other pithy phrase. Sadly, some people on the net are real humans giving unpaid opinions (and surely the poor quality of most of them is testament to that). As for me being Austin, I'm neither sufficiently right-wing (bit of a lefty actually), sufficiently American (the guys from the assetto corsa and Automobilista racing clubs, plus the guys on iRacing, will confirm that I am very British), I have no desire to vote for Trump or see all black people executed, and I have never called anyone a cuck. Sorry to ruin your little fantasy darling.

 

[rw3]

The physics are better than assetto corsa

Agreed, Assetto Corsa feels a bit lifeless (I prefer the physics of Automobilista but it's useless to me since getting the Rift).

 

[Jake Fangio]

I wish I was part of a marketing gig. Sadly I'm just peddling my own opinions, for the bugger all that they're worth. Sadly it has become customary on the internet to assume that anyone with an opinion differing from your own is a bot, troll, shill, fake news, or some other pithy phrase. Sadly, some people on the net are real humans giving unpaid opinions (and surely the poor quality of most of them is testament to that). As for me being Austin, I'm neither sufficiently right-wing (bit of a lefty actually), sufficiently American (the guys from the assetto corsa and Automobilista racing clubs, plus the guys on iRacing, will confirm that I am very British), I have no desire to vote for Trump or see all black people executed, and I have never called anyone a cuck. Sorry to ruin your little fantasy darling.

Well said mate.

 

[AadHofman]

As for me being Austin, I'm neither sufficiently right-wing (bit of a lefty actually), sufficiently American (the guys from the assetto corsa and Automobilista racing clubs, plus the guys on iRacing, will confirm that I am very British), I have no desire to vote for Trump or see all black people executed, and I have never called anyone a cuck. Sorry to ruin your little fantasy darling.

Well, as you are aware of PRC, you must admit that what you wrote was straight out of Austin's vocabulary (features over physics, a DD-wheel in mum's basement etc.). Uncanny resemblance! My bad.

 

[rw3]

Just because I agree with some of his views on sim racing doesn’t mean I’m him (and again I’d like to stress that I really don’t like his politics, and as stated earlier SMS paying him off leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. He is not someone I wish to be associated with on any level.

 

[AadHofman]

And just because one criticizes PC2 doesn't mean one is an AC-fanboy who haven't even played the game...

 

[Vitor M Sousa]

Here's the thing. The physics are good enough to do the job. Just as Assetto Corsas are, just as RFactor 2's are, as iRacing's are. They're different, just as each of those games is different. I sense that Ben's idea of good physics is 'whatever is most like the game he plays most often', in which case the only game that can win that game is his game.

If however we take the view that the physics in sims are now at a point where the differences between them don't amount to a hell of a lot, then we begin to focus on what being a racing driver is about.

For me, where PC2 nails it is the feeling of being in the car, of being in an event, of being a racing driver. It even gets quite close to iracing on the competitive front, with clean online racing. The point is that past a certain point of physics improvements you run into the law of diminishing returns. So we've simulated how the tyre responds if a bird passing overhead does a huge crap on it, including splatter physics, but we've forgotten to get the pit crew animated, or to have rain, or to just have some ****ing atmosphere.

Endlessly chasing the impossible dream of perfect physics is what has put sim-racing in the silly niche hole that it's in, where every game is an endless science project but not much of a meaningful experience, where basic features are left out in favour of more tyre wankery. Let's not do that, let's go and do what sim racing used to do back in the GTR 2 days and offer a complete and well-rounded package with the features that those who aren't living in mum's basement gently stroking their DD wheel would like to see.

This is so true.

Don't see why we should want to go overboard on perfecting the physics while leaving the game completly static and boring. And yet those games physics are always the real deal and the most perfect thing, until a patch changes the feel completely and now the real deal is a different thing.

I'm yet to try PC2, but that is because there's not enough time and I'm enjoying doing F1 2017 career. Yes. That's right. Sometimes features are better than the most real physics.

It's a good thing we get so many options to choose from.

 

[BenCollins]

Here's the thing. The physics are good enough to do the job. Just as Assetto Corsas are, just as RFactor 2's are, as iRacing's are. They're different, just as each of those games is different. I sense that Ben's idea of good physics is 'whatever is most like the game he plays most often', in which case the only game that can win that game is his game.

I've been playing race sims since 1991 and have driven a real Formula Ford and a Formula 4 at Silverstone, so yo're talking complete guff.

 

[rw3]

Ben, let’s be real, nothing from 1991 counts as a sim. I’m assuming you mean the likes of Geoff Crammond’s f1 game (I had it on the Atari st). You’ve driven cars at what 50% pace on a track day, probably doing a follow the leader as that’s what they do on these formula car experiences, am I right? On the other hand I’ve thrashed a caterham R300 around Silverstone gp layout and did the same at Donington, both with a good amount of sideways fun, for a whole day in both cases. So tell me then how does any of what you said make your opinions more valid than mine?

I still don’t understand why you’re so keeen to be involved in a thread for a game you profess to hate. How about you go and run your sim of choice, or better still drive an actual car?

 

[Andy_J]

If it wasn't for all these petty arguments about which sim is the best etc and the "I've driven a McClaren MP4 around Spa in the wet and beat Senna's 1988 record so there" statements and if it wasn't for all the fanboy rows, the put downs, the insults (many of which are funny), the physics arguments, the weather arguments and all the other stuff that gets regularly conversed about here, forums would be so boring wouldn't they?

Long live forums. Long live healthy discussion.

 

[Skidmeister]

From what I've read from Ian Bell's posts, it's just pure disrespect to customers. He assumes we are all schoolboys who should be grateful for his racing sim, but he was so off the mark it was laughable. Most sim racers are aged 30+ these days and don't tolerate his bullshit. I'm 41 and I do my best to protect young people from buying rubbish sims. Ian's attitude was disgusting and so at odds from the teams at Kunos and Reiza.

When I was 20, I had Dave Kaemmer (GPL, now iRacing) and Geoff Crammond (GP1,2,3,4) as developers, two guys who loved motor racing and still do. They weren't cynical salesmen, "unit-shifters", they were just like me, pc racers. Ian Bell is a unit-shifter.


And that's it. There's heart in GPL, Grand Prix 4, Automobilista and Assetto Corsa, even Dirt Rally. There's no heart in Project CARS 1 or 2, and it shows.

I buy sims, not the guys who develop them, no idea how this is relevant. Hitler was a prick with a bad attitude, but he built a hell of war machine. I liked GPL but Iracing is the poster child for "unit-shifters", if you want to play that you are never done making payments, so your argument makes zero sense.. Geoff Crammond made a good sim for back when it came out, but he never listened to consumers. He also had some of the worst multiplayer code ever as he refused to listen to criticism and hire someone that could possibly have gotten it corrected. How about protecting young people from reading uninformed bullshit and just stop posting altogether.

 

[BenCollins]

I buy sims, not the guys who develop them, no idea how this is relevant. Hitler was a prick with a bad attitude, but he built a hell of war machine. I liked GPL but Iracing is the poster child for "unit-shifters", if you want to play that you are never done making payments, so your argument makes zero sense.. Geoff Crammond made a good sim for back when it came out, but he never listened to consumers. He also had some of the worst multiplayer code ever as he refused to listen to criticism and hire someone that could possibly have gotten it corrected. How about protecting young people from reading uninformed bullshit and just stop posting altogether.

No point to make, just the ramblings of a lunatic, with admiration for Hitler. Jesus, is this the next generation? Generation Dumb?

 

[Skidmeister]

No point to make, just the ramblings of a lunatic, with admiration for Hitler. Jesus, is this the next generation? Generation Dumb?

You prove that with your vague generalizations every time you post, I guess you only open your mouth just long enough to change feet. I don't admire Hitler either, just making a point that even though he was not someone to admire, he put out one hell of a product. Not a reflection or inference on Mr. Bell intended either, as I have no personal ties or objections with him. Ben Collins it seems all your arguments center around him and not the sim itself. You said it yourself, you have no point to make. Great reply as usual, when you have been called out on your BS you resort to name calling.

 

[Jake Fangio]

You prove that with your vague generalizations every time you post, I guess you only open your mouth just long enough to change feet. I don't admire Hitler either, just making a point that even though he was not someone to admire, he put out one hell of a product. Not a reflection or inference on Mr. Bell intended either, as I have no personal ties or objections with him. Ben Collins it seems all your arguments center around him and not the sim itself. You said it yourself, you have no point to make. Great reply as usual, when you have been called out on your BS you resort to name calling.

You only open your mouth long enough to change feet..Classic line mate. I wish i'd not ignored Collins now.From simracing to Hitler,how the feck did we get there.

 

[Kenny Paton]

If this nonsense doesn't stop there will be a blitzkrieg on the thread.

 

[Deleted member 99238]

If Blitzkrieg does not help us, please contact Operation Bagration for help.