PC3 My late pCars3 review

A bit late to the party, i preordered pCars3 but then my GPU broke so i didn't get to play it untill last week.
Having read some forums and reviews i was prepared to hate it, but i have to say i got quite hooked up by the carreer and am totally not regretting to have bought it:

Physics: Yeah, it's for sure not a sim, but i have to say is one of the best simcade physics i ever played. Oversteer, understeer and car's character is clearly percived, different cars can be good on different circuits, the absence of tire temperatures promotes aggressive griving and letting the car slide a bit on corner exit, but this only adds to the fun, while other simcade titles tend to abuse understeer to force people to slow down. Suspensions may even feel a bit better than on pCars2 and transmission flex really improves the sound and the feel, expecially on 4wd vehicles.

Graphics: didn't do any direct comparision with pCars2, but it feels smoother, more contrasted and with more vivid colors, i'd argue i may look a bit less realistic but also looks a lot better expecially around mid-day, where pCars2 had a very flat lightning

AI: As a sim AI it'd be very bad, but for a GT-like experience they are very good, stay in close packs with some nice battles between them, they are also quite eager to pass you and sometimes can take you out, but this is improved from previous pCars titles and i still find it better than both GT or Forza AI (played at leggendary/max aggression in the early carreer and now had to take down the difficulty a step for later races)

Upgrades and PIR: that's where i think the title really shines: inittially i hated the fact that there were no aero kits and no aestethic differences, but then when you start trying the various mixes of upgrades to take out the best from your car in some cathegory it really starts becoming FUN.
You can clearly feel all the upgrades and they're not like "stats upgrades", they actually change the feel of your car in the way you'd expect. I tried the caterham (don't take it, choose the lotus for carreer!!!) with both supercharger upgrade and no supercharger but engine/ECU/airbox, same PIR, but very different torque curve and car character.
Also my beloved evo IX with upgrades easily beats many supercars and is fun as hell to drive sideways out of corners, i'd give the game 10/10 just for that car!

At the end of the day, i really think that if only they named it like pCars revolution as initially planned and were more clear about it not being 100% sim, it would have been recieved much better: the game is a fun and solid experience, the only bad side of it is that you recive a bit too little cash during carreer, but otherwise i find it much better than any GT/GRID/Forza.
 
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