Project Cars 2 Review

Developer: Slightly Mad Studios

Publisher: Bandai Namco

Release Date: September 22, 2017

Platforms: Xbox One (reviewed), PS4, PC

Project Racing Modes 2.

The margin for error in Project Cars 2 is about as minuscule as the niche of players who might find enjoyment from this punishing racing simulator. That’s not to say Project Cars 2 is bad. However, with excruciatingly few on-ramps for new-comers and even fewer rewards for finding success, Project Cars 2 is a difficult recommendation despite its technical prowess.

The Highway.

Many of this game’s strengths are equally weighted down by an equal and opposite weakness. For example, there is a mountain of content to be discovered, played, and re-played. Players who find joy purely in unlocking other game modes or racing types will be right at home with Project Cars 2. Unfortunately, this vast variety of gameplay is nothing much more than uninspiring grids and menus to navigate. There is no sense of progression – aside from bar graphs (woo) and fractions (4/5 unlocked) – or even ownership of the cars you drive. Similarly to other racing sims, the player gains affinity to a selection of makes and brands. This should be a good thing except the brands available to the player, at least in the beginning, is so limited that I started to grow “affinity” for car makers I don’t care about. The only reason I was driving their car is because the Career mode pointed me in their direction.

This is the crux of my problem with Project Cars 2. There’s a very, very defined way to play and if you don’t align with it – which I don’t – there is almost no fun to be had here. With such a strong focus on the technical aspects of racing – setting tire pressure, fuel amounts, gear differentials – the game forgets to reward the player for great work. Aside from winning, of course. If Project Cars 2 were a person, I’d joking remark “you must be great at parties.” This is a game that works hard, and succeeds, at demonstrating there is a massive well of car knowledge on display.

Nearly twice as many cars and double the tracks, fans of the first game will be excited to see there’s even more to do in Project Cars 2. However, aside from tuning the vehicles, they come as-is. No upgrading internal parts like engines, turbo, or brakes. In a way, there’s no making these cars your own. Cars are unlocked just like game modes. I never felt like I earned a car in the way of working hard, saving up, and choosing one over the other. Project Cars 2, while it provides many options or paths, only offers the guise of player choice.  Ultimately, there is a track upon which there are various forks but I never truly felt the freedom that driving should afford. In most cases, I had to go out of my way to find which car I was driving! There is so much in the way of user interface, navigation, game modes, settings, that the cars – in a way, the titular characters – get buried under information.

The review guide (thank you Bandai Namco for the review code) pointed out a set of adjustments for “Rookie,” “Amateur,” or “Expert” players but why wasn’t this available in the game? This is a staunch example of Project Cars 2 doing everything it can to make new-comers feel unwelcome and reinforce the notion that this is an elitest-only experience. Guiding reviewers to ensure they have a pleasant experience but failing to pass that courtesy on to players is a recognition that Project Cars 2 is unapologetically unwelcoming. Fine tuning and employing the advice from the Race Engineers produces notable differences but represents a half-step towards introducing the uninitiated to the nuances of mechanics. The most frustrating experiences arose from the more intense environmental and climate effects. After hours of tweaking driving styles and car configurations, it seemed like snow and rain impacted my car to an undriveable degree. AI drivers would speed through puddled corners and peel off snowy start lines with a seemingly unfair advantage.

The rewards of success are solely in the collection of accolades and unlocking of more game content. The celebration of “cars” is totally lost on me.  Sure, there is a celebration of fine tuning and the science of driving. But the feel, the exhilaration, the irrational passion for non-violent vehicular supremacy is nowhere to be found. Find a magic combination of specs, test the result on the track, and possibly find success? That’s the game. Unfortunately, the feeling in success does not overcome the punishing defeat playCers are likely to experience.  Does Project Cars 2 accurately represent how a Ginetta G40 Junior performs in 80-degree weather with 4.5 gallons of fuel in the tank and 1.70 bar tire pressure? Probably. For me, that only gets the game so far if I have no motivation to play it.

To me, driving is about discovering the limit of your vehicle and pushing it just beyond. Finding that magical moment where the car is just about to fling out of control and making those fine, mid-turn adjustments to make it work and gleefully racing past your opponents who haven’t quite figured that out. With Project Cars 2, that glee is available but really only on the technical side. Players will find endless amount of joy in tightening or loosening the suspension just right or tweaking the Radiator Opening to optimize engine cooling. The actual racing, sadly,  feels just as scientific and amounts to a series of button push combinations rather than a fluid driving experience. Coming into a corner too quickly? Tap the breaks one, two, three times – pause – adjust steering, begin tapping the gas, etc. I’ve never been more aware of how many times I push each button or nudge the thumb stick in each direction. That’s the opposite experience I want out of a driving game. The reward for breaking, turning, and accelerating out of a turn isn’t necessarily a jump in the leader-board, it’s not spinning out.

This leans into the difficulty settings and driver assists as well. Other “hardcore” racing simulators have figured out ways to prevent the player from feeling like they’re in for a lesser experience by adding assists or reducing difficulty. There is no graduation system, such as increased experience points or currency, for turning driver assists off or increasing difficulty. The reward is knowing you’re better than everyone else. Again, elitest. So it’s not just that the game is difficult. Project Cars 2 flaunts its difficulty and actively pushes new-comers and even novices away.

Visually, the game is sharp but unremarkable. I experienced notable visual hiccups in the rear-view mirror such as dropped frames and significant tearing on the Xbox One S. Sound effects are audibly accurate but evoke little excitement.

Final Verdict

Project Cars 2 feels like a spreadsheet come to life. The DNA of this game is numbers and that shines through the gameplay. For many, self-declared hardcore players, this represents what is missing in racing games. For me, Project Cars 2 failed to convince me why this is such a revelation.