Project CARS 2 - Xbox One

Project Cars 2 is the perfect way to graduate from racing games, (ie. Forza Motorsport), and enter the world of sim racing.First let's talk about physics. Many of the cars in this sim truly feel independent and dynamic. You can feel a car's weight shifting on the tires under heavy breaking. When you accelerate down a long straight, the car jutters and bounces ever so subtlety as the suspension works to overcome the change in speed. A vehicle's weight, suspension stiffness, and driving assists genuinely do affect performance. When tc and abs are switched off they're off, trust me. There's nothing quite like tapping the brakes into eau rouge in a Zonda R, balancing the throttle and clipping the apex all while monitoring the car's momentum and weight transfer so as not to spin or flip. In short I am saying car's physics feel independent from the track. This is not something you would experience in Gran Turismo Sport.Audio is okay. It may not be as dynamic as Assetto Corsa but overall, not bad. Turbos can be heard spooling and tires gradually increase noise the harder you push them. Throughout a race, the race director talks via radio congratulating you on good starts and overtakes.Progression in this sim is particularly good. You can choose to begin from the bottom in karts, (my suggestion is to start here), or jump immediately into an open wheeled racer. You sign a contract with a team and continue your career from there. In a race, there are rules and regulations. Exiting the pits and reentering the track to early may result in a warning. Pushing someone off the circuit for an overtake will result in a drive thru penalty. The penalty system is very good.Pit stops have a degree of depth aswell. Drivers have the ability to preconfigure pit strategies which can later be used in a race. You can control how much fuel is put in the car, tire type, tire pressure, which tires to replace, whether or not damage should be repaired, and which components you would like replaced if damage to them should occur. Your choices here determine how long your pit stop will last.Lastly I want to mention pc2's graphics engine. If you're like me, the one thing you prioritize in a racing game is graphics. Even though Forza Motorsport is not a sim, I always give it high praise because of the excellent graphics. Between the textured grass and curbs on racetracks to the fantastic lighting and weather, Forza makes you feel like you're really there. In retrospect, most sims such as Asseto Corsa feel arcadey at least graphically. This is why I think Project Cars 2 excels. It has the physics of a sim and the realism/emersion of one aswell.

I recently bought a DOF Reality H3 3-axis motion simulator.Xbox does not have many racing games that marry with the sims telemetry....But this Projects Cars 2 works great and provides a more real racing reality. ** Important is setting up competitors matching ability, so recommend moving slider down first to be competitive with the crowded track..adjust from there to win.I like my controls tight, so move steering, brakes and throttle sliders closer to 100 and adjust downward. This is not an arcade style game like Forza 4...which also works great with telemetry.I'll be searching for more excitement in Xbox racing as telemetry becomes wider.

I'm coming from forza. This game is quite challenging in comparison, and it's not hard to see why. Oversteer transitioning into spinning out is quite common for me. I wish I had a demo so I could try it out but I suppose you need to cope with these challenges, overcome them, and become better. With practice, this game will be far better than it is now. Which isn't bad at all, by the way.Also it arrived 4 days early, so that's a big plus.EDIT: This game is also fine on a gamepad. It's just a matter of being more smooth with your inputs. Which I have certainly got to work on, haha

I love this sim. Still a work in progress to an extent but you can feel the attention is ongoing. This is not an arcade racer. Best experienced with a proper wheel setup though still enjoyable with a controller. It takes a while to get a feel for the cars even in the lower classes but once you do there is a pleasure in feeling the cars slide and grip beneath you. As a casual racer I know it is improving my driving with time, whether improving lines through corners or visualizing the track. Real track time is precious and fleeting