It is my favorite sim, despite its quirks.
First let's get the comparisons out of the way: of all the "recent" sims, R3E is the first I've played. I then tried Project Cars and hated the driving model. I also tried AC which I like, even though it is a bit dry and, to me at least, most cars feel like driving on ice, especially compared to R3E.
Now R3E feels a bit too grippy in many cases but I think it is a good compromise and what makes it a fun sim. (I remember practicing for a AC club event last week and I was just getting frustrated at the lack of grip and the following invalid laptimes.) And that's the point someone else was making in another thread last week or the week before: yes it's a sim, but it's also a game, and it should be more fun than frustrating.
Like countless others, I think the game sounds fantastic, and I'm actually very happy with the graphics. Sure AC and pCARS may have better textures and lighting, but when I'm immersed by the sound and the feeling of being in control, I can just focus on the racing. I have a bunch of settings on low like shadows and I don't even notice them. So, for a racing point of view, it is a fantastic sim. The netcode is pretty great, too. As most of you know, I race from Canada on European servers and my ping is higher than others. I find online racing in R3E to be very stable, as opposed to AC, for instance, where cars are not necessarily warping when trying to overtake but are moving very unevenly. It's hard to explain, but I'm sure most of you have seen it before.
However, it is of course a bit dated. If I remember correctly, I believe it is still a 32 bits game, and it's a shame that it can't run the Nordschleife properly in certain circumstances. And that's where the graphics are sometimes being annoying to me: there are some major glitches on certain tracks, usually the bigger ones including the Nordschleife and Spa, where the whole background is shimmering. I'm no expert but I think it's probably caused by those limitations. It is extremely distracting when you're trying to focus on your racing.
I'm also not a big fan of their business model. I'm what you may call a budget sim racing - I have a 12 years old Logitech MOMO Racing FFB wheel and I've spent quite a bit of money on cars and tracks already that I find it hard to keep buying investing in an old game, even though I understand the content is fantastic (that m235i is just plain awesome). I'm especially concerned with their future updates: if/when then move to the Unreal Engine in the (near) future, will the accounts transfer and let us keep the assets we've bought? If not, why am I still buying stuff for it? I realize this is groundless right now but I just wonder...
Speaking of "old game", some of the older content doesn't feel on par with the newer one. I know they've adjusted the overall physics model quite a bit, but some of the older cars just don't feel right. For instance, the handling model of the BMW M6 GT3 is far superior, in my opinion, to that of the McLaren MP4-12C or the Corvette Z06.R GT3. It doesn't mean they're not fun to drive, it's just the old cars are a bit more plain to drive. Another example is the new BMW m235i. That thing feels great to drive. I just feel everything in that car, particularly the grip. I understand that I talked about two very different car categories, but there is too much a difference to be simply left to this aspect alone.
Then there's also the lack of some features. I think it is unacceptable in a sim not to have such a basic option to adjust tire pressures... That is just ridiculous. I'm also longing for a proper data analysis program. Sure making setups and analysing data is complicated and you don't want to alienate casual sim racers, but that's why they have the amateur category. Unlock those options for the get real one.
Yet for the main part, it's hard to find major fault with the sim. I think it's pretty, it's fun, and the club events here have a great, loyal, and respectful base of racers that I feel add to the game. There are no perfect racing sims, but we can still have a favorite, and I think mine is R3E.
