PROJECT CARS 2 Review

At the time of the release of the original Project CARS, Slightly Mad Studio would have to prove that the game published by Bandai Namco had sufficient padding to be considered as one of the best automotive simulators in the market, status that was achieved with some ease, as evidenced by the announcement of a second title after mere months through the company's blog, although this was only officially announced in February this year.

It is also true that in May 2015, there was no competition that could spoil the success achieved, Forza Motorsport 6 was months away, Assetto Corsa far from reaching the consoles, and the PlayStation giant, Gran Turismo, had been dormant for years . The same will not happen with Project CARS 2, which despite being leveraged by the success of the first, has much less space to breathe.

In this way, content unless the former had, mainly in the number of cars available, had to be superseded on a large scale. And the solution was obviously on the side of Bandai, who accompanied the production of this title from the beginning, providing a larger budget budget, both to be spent on production, and to promote the second numbered game of the now saga of sports driving.

If in the original we had 65 cars at launch, Project CARS 2 has almost triple. In all, there are 189 bólides, in a mixture between the less powerful and the super sports, and although it is not an impressive number, the bet has fallen on the quality and variety, where each of them is a different car to pilot and requires a previous habituación.

Regarding the circuits, we are talking about a compilation of 63 (twice what we found in the previous one) that unfold in 146 different tracks, which promotes a deep variety in the gameplay, since, in addition to what I mentioned above, each car behaves differently, the result of which is that each tuning has to be specific to each race, with each track.

Speaking of car tuning, which of course is not in the glossary of all players, the team behind the game has inserted a system that helps a lot the newcomers in this matter, and which consists of a sequence of questions about the behavior of the car in track.

For example, in a curve, if the car flees too far from the rear, the engineer advises us to move the downforce, or suspension, depending on the vehicle we have at hand. These changes can be made manually or by the engineer himself.

And to make each race different, Slightly Mad Studios introduced a new system that affects driving on each track. LiveTrack 3.0 tries to recreate the actual driving style, where weather conditions, runway temperature, rubber accumulation, among other things, are elements that we have to take into account. It is a dynamic system that changes the rules of the game at any time, which works quite well and increases the challenge as if someone changed the level of difficulty in half.

Project CARS 2 wants to be a simulator, while wanting to have fun, and finding this balance is not at all easy. The physics engine has been improved as well as the tire simulation model, which ensures a greater sense of realism, and as a consequence, more realistic car racing behavior. However, it still has some flaws in the approach to pure simulators in the market, such as Factor 2.

As I mentioned, it is difficult to deliver the best of both worlds, with PC2 being very close to achieving it, but very far from offering it.

m of the aspects that require the greatest care on the part of the players, especially those that use command, is the balance between the use of acceleration and braking. Braking followed by foot or finger deep in the throttle increases the likelihood of losing cornering control. This management proved to be fundamental, whatever the traction or braking aids he had selected, and always ended up completely influencing the outcome of the race.

With this extra touch of difficulty, it becomes imperative to always make a correction of direction, especially when we are in more powerful cars. Therefore, in addition to adding a greater dose of realism and, of course, fun, the use of a steering wheel has proved too important to be able to control the car better and increase the precision with which we make each curve. In addition, the control of acceleration and braking is done in a more natural and instinctive way.

The evolution regarding PC1 also goes through the game modes, albeit in a very timid way. Obviously the highlight is in Career mode. Here, the player begins his career as a rider, although there is a freedom of choice from where to start. In this way, we have six distinct categories, with the two highest levels blocked at the beginning. Among the remaining four, the decision is in the hands of the player. These six categories are divided into 29 events, and within each event, we can still decide what kind of competition we want.

That is, when we select, let us imagine, the Clio Cup, the player can choose between a short or long championship, which is based essentially on the number of routes of the championship. Regarding the duration of each race, it will be selected at the beginning of the race, where we can cancel / activate the free practice and qualification and choose the number of laps in the main race. At the end of each championship, we can choose another competition of the same level or move to another category, if we achieve the necessary objectives.

Still in the same way, we find the events of each manufacturer. In total there are 14 brands present, among them Ferrari, BMW, Porsche or Lamborghini. To unlock them, we have to guarantee a certain level of affinity with the builder, to the point where we receive an invitation to be one of their drivers, and, after a series of races, we win the chance to acquire one of their cars. Finally, in a different category, we can at any time choose one of the five events that are disconnected from the career, which are unblocked when you complete certain requirements, such as driving a specific number of kilometers.

In addition to the usual custom race and training modes, we can put all our skill in online sessions against other players. In this mode we rely on the events where we have to try to make the best possible time, but, and perhaps the most interesting point, we are offered with a new reputation system. Here, each player will have a level of reputation that varies depending on their results and is divided into sportsmanship and competitiveness. In the first, the ranking is increasing according to the track behavior.

Already the second, each player starts with 1500 points, which varies depending on the skill shown, up to a minimum of 100 and a maximum of 5000.

Finally, with respect to Artificial Intelligence, it can be adjusted in two parameters, skill and aggressiveness, and the result turns out to be at least satisfactory. However, we have seen some flaws here, especially in terms of qualifying behavior in contrast to the race. In addition, we see some unconventional attitudes, especially when it comes to returning to the track after a top, where the result is usually an accident.

VERDICT

Project CARS 2 is more mature than its predecessor, giving more emphasis to simulation rather than fun. The introduction of LiveTrack 3.0 brings the game closer to reality, especially with regard to the dynamism of each race, but it is a matter of the way it deals with game modes. Probably we do not have a new king in the driving games, since the market this time will have height competition, but fight for this place with all certainty.