Project CARS 2 Reviews

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and the visual representation of those reviews is as follows

pcars2-review-table.jpg


That graphic will change as I update it with new review scores. I haven't gone through this thread yet, that's just the reviews that have been spotted in WMD2 and the public Project CARS forum :)

EDIT : Added 2 more reviews from the OP of this thread to the table I am collating (with help on Monday from Bealdor). For reference, the average review score right now is a smidgen under 85%. Take out the 3
I guess you should take out the most extreme values on both sides when taking an average since there's always some aberrant values.

In any case amazing average so far.
 
I guess you should take out the most extreme values on both sides when taking an average since there's always some aberrant values.

In any case amazing average so far.
Statistically, yeah, you would often discard a single highest and lowest score (not necessarily all of the highest and lowest though) to get a better balance. If you take out the top and bottom scores, the average score becomes just under 86% :)


EDIT : Anybody know why the graphic doesn't change dynamically? I've updated the file on my site but it isn't showing. If I click 'Edit', it shows the new version, but reverts to the original version as soon as I click Save Changes. I've tried removing it, saving the changes, then re-adding it, to no avail :(
 
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Pretend race cars review:
https://pretendracecars.net/2017/09/18/alternate-reality-rfactor-the-review-of-project-cars-2/

Edit: I think this is the best review I've seen so far. I think it's fair and balanced and also covers a lot more of what racing fans actually want to know. I know some people say it could be biased, but I think it's actually fair. I think a lot of other stuff they post goes off the deep end but SMS money may have made these guys actually stop clowning around and write a serious piece. Whatever it is, I highly recommend reading it.

It is pretty thorough... To be expected with the business connection to SMS.

But it fails to discuss handling and feel with depth... despite the length of the review. Yes there are a number of general statements and a discussion of default setups. But he compares to other sims left and right but does not get detailed with feel vs other sims. With that many words I would have compared like cars across sims and spoken to handling nuance with greater depth.

Oh well, we will all see for ourselves Friday.
 
Just watched the Ozzie live stream where Ian Bell casually dropped in and did a 3 hour long Q&A with a bottle of wine lol. I had preconceptions about his character from what I've read on sites like this and am happy to say he genuinely changed my mind and had some interesting points to talk about. I'm slightly less tentative about buying pcars 2 now after my personal disappointment with 1. Seems like they have come a long way.

Concerned about the perceived credibility among sim racers for SMS when they announce their Fast and Furious franchise though.
 
It is pretty thorough... To be expected with the business connection to SMS.

But it fails to discuss handling and feel with depth... despite the length of the review. Yes there are a number of general statements and a discussion of default setups. But he compares to other sims left and right but does not get detailed with feel vs other sims. With that many words I would have compared like cars across sims and spoken to handling nuance with greater depth.

Oh well, we will all see for ourselves Friday.
Personally I'm not really interested in comparisons with other sims w.r.t. feel/physics/FFB, as real life is the only benchmark IMO, and FFB is very personal. Austin's comparison to other sims is a generic comparison of features and approach, not feel and realism (there, I've said the R-word :scared:) which I think is a very sensible approach. Comparing sims to each other quickly degenerates into subjective preferences on various levels that have nothing to do with the aim of the game itself (i.e. simulating reality).

The overall point of the interview is also not just the feel of the cars and how much sim it is on physics level (ew, the Ph-word :yuck:), but the game's approach to what it wants to offer, which is a refreshing approach to reviewing these games IMO.
 
Personally I'm not really interested in comparisons with other sims w.r.t. feel/physics/FFB, as real life is the only benchmark IMO, and FFB is very personal. Austin's comparison to other sims is a generic comparison of features and approach, not feel and realism (there, I've said the R-word :scared:) which I think is a very sensible approach. Comparing sims to each other quickly degenerates into subjective preferences on various levels that have nothing to do with the aim of the game itself (i.e. simulating reality).

The overall point of the interview is also not just the feel of the cars and how much sim it is on physics level (ew, the Ph-word :yuck:), but the game's approach to what it wants to offer, which is a refreshing approach to reviewing these games IMO.
The problem with that is, most of us have never driven any of these cars in real life so how can we compare it to that? I've seen lots of people complain about the physics of a particular car because they don't think it would handle like that in reality and then a test driver has comes in and says no it handles weirdly in real life too.

Second problem, driving feel in real life is subjective too, different people will feel different things and their driving style will also affect how they think are car controls. Just look how much it's affected F1 drivers in the same car if one of them doesn't like the handling characteristics.

Really comparing them amongst each other is the best way to see if they match up because I doubt every single car in each game has had the same level of real world driver input to model the physics and if one is completely different then it's most likely wrong. Plus going back to F1 even with the most advanced computational models being used to simulate upgrade improvements they can still be completely wrong and fail.

FFB is certainly subjective, I just like the real world ones you'd get through the wheel but lots of people like the fake extras you'd normally feel through the seat, however that doesn't change underlying the physics. Personally I don't think there is a huge difference between all the recent sims physics wise, it's mostly just the FFB which separates them although PCars 1 over the limit was pretty bad.
 
EDIT : Anybody know why the graphic doesn't change dynamically? I've updated the file on my site but it isn't showing. If I click 'Edit', it shows the new version, but reverts to the original version as soon as I click Save Changes. I've tried removing it, saving the changes, then re-adding it, to no avail :(

GTP uses an image proxy (when you link to images they're re-hosted and served from GTP's servers), so changing the image on your site won't be reflected here until the cache updates:

GTP Update Log
Custom Dynamic Images - If you are hosting an image on your own server and then changing that image for it to be displayed in your thread, note that the image will not refresh until it expires from GTPlanet's cache in at least 7 days. You can change the file name to display the new changes, or, if you're using Dropbox, you can send me a private message for information on another alternative method.

Did a quick search and found that you can also try this when you edit your post:

You could also simply edit their URLs, adding a question mark to the end of each. This will trigger the cache to download the file again
 
The problem with that is, most of us have never driven any of these cars in real life so how can we compare it to that? I've seen lots of people complain about the physics of a particular car because they don't think it would handle like that in reality and then a test driver has comes in and says no it handles weirdly in real life too.
Comparing to other sims won't solve that either, as long as sim racing enthusiasts keep referring to 'realism'. Comparing to other sims will just have people go round in circles and losing sight of reality completely.

The problem actually lies in laymen wanting to have an opinion on simulated car behaviour realism, and basing that opinion/judgment on nothing (not even basic understanding of physics sometimes). Plus, these intra-game realism comparisons have too much of a herd/fanboy mentality danger to them, which won't give as an objective judgment of simulated car behaviour either.
Of course, people judge a race sim on how it feels, but then people should stick to terms like "believable" at most, or just simply "(not) nice" :)

Second problem, driving feel in real life is subjective too, different people will feel different things and their driving style will also affect how they think are car controls. Just look how much it's affected F1 drivers in the same car if one of them doesn't like the handling characteristics.
The behaviour of a car in specific situations is not subjective at all, it's cold facts. Whether a driver likes the behaviour and whether he/she can cope with it, is a different thing, though. Whether a car is planted or nervous during braking isn't a subjective feel, but whether a driver can cope with it of course is subjective. This is what you want to replicate in a simulation.


Really comparing them amongst each other is the best way to see if they match up because I doubt every single car in each game has had the same level of real world driver input to model the physics and if one is completely different then it's most likely wrong.
But this contradicts your statement above about people complaining about a car and then a real-life driver stating that it's actually behaving realistically ;). Taking the behaviour in other sims as a benchmark is plainly the wrong way, and the fact that all simulations have used way too little tyre grip over many years is exact proof of that. If it hadn't been for SMS listening to real race drivers, pC2 would still have ice skating on asphalt like all the other sims out there. pC2 is actually the one that is different, but this time it's not wrong. So being different is not an indication of being wrong when it comes to simulating race cars. It can be, but not a-priori.
 
The problem with that is, most of us have never driven any of these cars in real life so how can we compare it to that? I've seen lots of people complain about the physics of a particular car because they don't think it would handle like that in reality and then a test driver has comes in and says no it handles weirdly in real life too.

Second problem, driving feel in real life is subjective too, different people will feel different things and their driving style will also affect how they think are car controls. Just look how much it's affected F1 drivers in the same car if one of them doesn't like the handling characteristics.

Very well put.

It mirrors my own thoughts on the matter and makes me sigh when people start calling one sim more realistic than another. I learnt how to drive cars by playing VR Racing in Arcades and Namco Pole Position! When I was learning to drive a car in real life, I used Gran Turismo 3 A Spec to get used to manual gear changes and feel that my years of playing racing games (Whether Arcade or Simulator) have made me a better driver.

A few things have put this into stark contrast in my eyes. The first was going to Mercedes Benz World back in 2010 and having the fortune of playing a pre-release build of Gran Turismo 5. The game felt great, the graphics were brilliant but driving the SLS around the test tack straight afterwards? Not comparable, from the sound, sensations and feel, driving a car in a simulator is never a direct comparison to driving a car in real life. They're somewhat connected, but you will always be disconnected in a simulator.

The second was more recent. A friend at work is a big fan of simulators, hates Arcade games, hates consoles and can't stop talking about the subtle differences in simulators. He's driven race prepared Ferraris, has a wheel set up with AC and has looked down on console sims. We both got the chance to drive our bosses modified Integra DC5, he was first and I sat in the back. He was missing gears, had erratic steering, jumps on the gas at completely random moments and asked me to check to see if their was traffic and tell him if it was clear... I jumped in, not a problem! He may have been having a crisis but if made me think, if he's driving sims for hours a week, why's he so **** in real life! When we got back, the boss was taking the micky out of his driving but he was busy for the next week after talking about how close the DC5 mirrored his diesel estate in lower revs...

The final was a little insight into how simulators work. I had a work opportunity to work on one for a motorsport manufacture several years ago, although I declined the offer in the end, but had an insight into how they work. Combined with reading up on the difference between a simulated reality being wondrous in capturing real world possibilities but also showing false positives and not declaring enough feedback, combined with chance and circumstance, there's a false sense of them being the real thing when in reality, they are not.

In the end, a racing simulator is designed to be fun, if set up right. Can't wait to play Project Cars 2 tomorrow! Fingers crossed they sorted the controller feedback. ;)
 
Not a review per se, but thought this would make sense here.




EDIT:

- the first 10 mins are about handling with a controller;
- sum up at 44:35.
 
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So they also didn't have a drying line which means it most probably isn't there. Very disappointing, especially because Andy Tudor personally confirmed it was in when I asked on Twitter a few months ago.
 
So they also didn't have a drying line which means it most probably isn't there. Very disappointing, especially because Andy Tudor personally confirmed it was in when I asked on Twitter a few months ago.
I was surprised by that as well.

But they also mentioned that they aren't running on D1P, so there's that.
 
Comparing to other sims won't solve that either, as long as sim racing enthusiasts keep referring to 'realism'. Comparing to other sims will just have people go round in circles and losing sight of reality completely.

The problem actually lies in laymen wanting to have an opinion on simulated car behaviour realism, and basing that opinion/judgment on nothing (not even basic understanding of physics sometimes). Plus, these intra-game realism comparisons have too much of a herd/fanboy mentality danger to them, which won't give as an objective judgment of simulated car behaviour either.
Of course, people judge a race sim on how it feels, but then people should stick to terms like "believable" at most, or just simply "(not) nice" :)


The behaviour of a car in specific situations is not subjective at all, it's cold facts. Whether a driver likes the behaviour and whether he/she can cope with it, is a different thing, though. Whether a car is planted or nervous during braking isn't a subjective feel, but whether a driver can cope with it of course is subjective. This is what you want to replicate in a simulation.



But this contradicts your statement above about people complaining about a car and then a real-life driver stating that it's actually behaving realistically ;). Taking the behaviour in other sims as a benchmark is plainly the wrong way, and the fact that all simulations have used way too little tyre grip over many years is exact proof of that. If it hadn't been for SMS listening to real race drivers, pC2 would still have ice skating on asphalt like all the other sims out there. pC2 is actually the one that is different, but this time it's not wrong. So being different is not an indication of being wrong when it comes to simulating race cars. It can be, but not a-priori.
I think you are arguing semantics in terminology, 4K TVs aren't actually 4K which is a cinema resolution but it's easier than saying UHD or 2160p.

What I mean is different driving styles can bring out completely different characteristics of a car and a drivers perception of said car could therefore be very different. Just like different setups might be undriveable to one person and perfect for another.

I don't mean the underlying physics, I just mean how cars handle might not be entirely accurate and especially with race cars the drivers giving feedback are basing it on how they like their car setup to feel not the default of the car and this could be very different.

So when I say it's good to compare sims take RRRE and it's DTM cars which we know DTM drivers did a lot of work on and a number of them race online together and use it to practice tracks. We know those handle exactly like the real thing according to the drivers so if another sim has them and they are different we know it's wrong. I remember one video online where a driver kept spinning on the same corner which caused people to question the physics but it was simply because the rumble strip was too high in game and it kept throwing him off compared to the real thing.

I feel like you are getting defensive about PCars 2 which I find odd since I already said I think they all handle pretty similarly. Grip levels have no effect on physics though so one game feeling like it has less or more grip than another doesn't change how the cars handle just how fast you can go. Not convinced PCars 1 is accurate though given how much faster the lap times are compared to real life for even average drivers.

P.S. I have the Deluxe Edition pre-ordered, love me some racing games, I never get embroiled in the my sim is better than yours nonsense.
Very well put.

It mirrors my own thoughts on the matter and makes me sigh when people start calling one sim more realistic than another. I learnt how to drive cars by playing VR Racing in Arcades and Namco Pole Position! When I was learning to drive a car in real life, I used Gran Turismo 3 A Spec to get used to manual gear changes and feel that my years of playing racing games (Whether Arcade or Simulator) have made me a better driver.

A few things have put this into stark contrast in my eyes. The first was going to Mercedes Benz World back in 2010 and having the fortune of playing a pre-release build of Gran Turismo 5. The game felt great, the graphics were brilliant but driving the SLS around the test tack straight afterwards? Not comparable, from the sound, sensations and feel, driving a car in a simulator is never a direct comparison to driving a car in real life. They're somewhat connected, but you will always be disconnected in a simulator.

The second was more recent. A friend at work is a big fan of simulators, hates Arcade games, hates consoles and can't stop talking about the subtle differences in simulators. He's driven race prepared Ferraris, has a wheel set up with AC and has looked down on console sims. We both got the chance to drive our bosses modified Integra DC5, he was first and I sat in the back. He was missing gears, had erratic steering, jumps on the gas at completely random moments and asked me to check to see if their was traffic and tell him if it was clear... I jumped in, not a problem! He may have been having a crisis but if made me think, if he's driving sims for hours a week, why's he so **** in real life! When we got back, the boss was taking the micky out of his driving but he was busy for the next week after talking about how close the DC5 mirrored his diesel estate in lower revs...

The final was a little insight into how simulators work. I had a work opportunity to work on one for a motorsport manufacture several years ago, although I declined the offer in the end, but had an insight into how they work. Combined with reading up on the difference between a simulated reality being wondrous in capturing real world possibilities but also showing false positives and not declaring enough feedback, combined with chance and circumstance, there's a false sense of them being the real thing when in reality, they are not.

In the end, a racing simulator is designed to be fun, if set up right. Can't wait to play Project Cars 2 tomorrow! Fingers crossed they sorted the controller feedback. ;)
Strange that he would be so bad, I wonder if that's because of how different pedals are in different cars in real life which sim racing doesn't simulate at all. Like most road cars I've driven rev real high with barely a tap on the accelerator and they all have a super long throw on the clutch but then some the bite point is near the bottom of throw and others right at the top. Then you have the brakes which are so different in road cars and race cars you have to make a decision on which way to go.

I'm away until after next weekend so no playing for me :(
 
I read that post but I didn't feel like going through watching 7 hours worth of gameplay material to find it - and when VVV say it isn't there, it can't be very apparent.



Start at 3:30:00 and watch for ~5mins. The drying line becomes visible especially in the downhill section and before the last corner.
 
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So when I say it's good to compare sims take RRRE and it's DTM cars which we know DTM drivers did a lot of work on and a number of them race online together and use it to practice tracks. We know those handle exactly like the real thing according to the drivers so if another sim has them and they are different we know it's wrong. I remember one video online where a driver kept spinning on the same corner which caused people to question the physics but it was simply because the rumble strip was too high in game and it kept throwing him off compared to the real thing.

I feel like you are getting defensive about PCars 2 which I find odd since I already said I think they all handle pretty similarly.
I'm not being defensive of pC2 (not yet anyway ;)), I'm against the idea of comparing to other sims because it opens up a huge can of unwanted and irrelevant arguing. Other games aren't necessarily good references for what we look for, i.e. realism, and on top of that there's not enough people who can do unbiased sim-to-sim comparison, so I'd rather avoid it altogether.

Your example of comparing to RRRE would be valid IMO, though, as basically that would still be comparing to real life (assuming that RRRE got it right with the real-life driver feedback). But that only underlines my point that the only reference is reality, not what feels nice or believable.

I think we're more or less on the same page, it's just that I think that when not having reality as a benchmark, looking at other sims is not a good substitute even though there may not be an alternative. At that point, all I'm saying is that comparison is OK as long as there's no "more/less realistic" label used in that comparison.
 
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Start at 3:30:00 and watch for ~5mins. The drying line becomes visible especially in the downhill section and before the last corner.
Thanks for looking for it! I just hope that, when time progression is slower, the drying line becomes apparent in more sections of the track. In real life, it's mostly all over the track.
 
I'm not being defensive of pC2 (not yet anyway ;)), I'm against the idea of comparing to other sims because it opens up a huge can of unwanted and irrelevant arguing. Other games aren't necessarily good references for what we look for, i.e. realism, and on top of that there's not enough people who can do unbiased sim-to-sim comparison, so I'd rather avoid it altogether.

Your example of comparing to RRRE would be valid IMO, though, as basically that would still be comparing to real life (assuming that RRRE got it right with the real-life driver feedback). But that only underlines my point that the only reference is reality, not what feels nice or believable.

I think we're more or less on the same page, it's just that I think that when not having reality as a benchmark, looking at other sims is not a good substitute even though there may not be an alternative. At that point, all I'm saying that comparison is OK as long as there's no "more/less realistic" label is used in that comparison.
Well I can certainly understand why you are jaded about the comparisons because some of the things that come up in the sim community you read and it's just like :rolleyes:.

However it is useful just for getting an idea of how it feels relative to something we already have available even if they go down the path of how the other sim is the greatest thing ever.
 
if it's hot (it can be even when raining) and depending on how many cars are on track, wet track but just stopped raining I once measure it at roughly 30m till a dry line started to show up mid s/f straight on formula cars all on wet.

There were about 20 cars but I have to look for the grid pictures to actually know the exact number.

But again it was hot that day with "a bit" of wind (Estoril really is windy...)

/edit
@F Inferno
That's why I expect reactions as in my RL car. Unfortunately much of the ffb on my car is dead even in "sport" mode for power steering but I know when tyres have 0.1 bar lower pressure or the noise or the lift off oversteer (scary if you're not used to TCR cars :D :D :D :P ) or the slight understeer or how the lighter (not much) feel coming out of corners on the front wheels. The loss of feel (now that's light) going over puddles, the slightly damped feel when I turn in a bit harder, worse when lower pressure tyres and more front movement too under braking) and I have have everything but a powerful car, or light...

So yeah... if I can feel that and tbh every racing game has stronger wheel force than my RL car... I'm happy.

What pC2 does it extremely well though is in the between(s) of all that that makes it VERY intuitive and natural in feel. Hence why I considered it the best ffb ever. Not as harsh and stiff as rF2 not as on/off (and slightly digital) like AC and not snap on you just because and lack of feel underbraking as iR (as I remember it but it has been a while).

Add all the cars/tracks/features and especially LT3.0 and weather (wind will get you, you'll see when the posts start to show :D ) and there's no way I can say pC2 is not the sim for me.
 
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Not a review per se, but thought this would make sense here.



I have to say I'm a little disappoint by their lack of enthusiasm. My expectations have been all over the map for this game but now less then 24 hrs away I have to say there average to low. Which I think is always the better place to be. That being said I'm bummed there hasn't been more excitement around the title. Reviews not included. I'm speaking more about the Gamer Muscle, Jimmy, VVV crowd. They all seem to enjoy it enough and it's clear the game is a huge improvement. But that's all they really ever say."It's a huge improvement." To draw a recent comparison with WRC 7. When everyone did they're impressions they had real excitement about the game. Even with it's short comings they couldn't help but be really impressed by the positives. The games even mentioned in the above video and your hear them perk up when they talk about it.

I did't expect the "sim Experts" to think PCARS 2 would be best in class. But I did hope that the improved handling and FFB would get them to a place where they could really get excited about everything else the game offers the other titles don't.

Anyway. I'll find out for myself soon enough. Maybe I have too much time on my hands.
 
I have to say I'm a little disappoint by their lack of enthusiasm. My expectations have been all over the map for this game but now less then 24 hrs away I have to say there average to low. Which I think is always the better place to be. That being said I'm bummed there hasn't been more excitement around the title. Reviews not included. I'm speaking more about the Gamer Muscle, Jimmy, VVV crowd. They all seem to enjoy it enough and it's clear the game is a huge improvement. But that's all they really ever say."It's a huge improvement." To draw a recent comparison with WRC 7. When everyone did they're impressions they had real excitement about the game. Even with it's short comings they couldn't help but be really impressed by the positives. The games even mentioned in the above video and your hear them perk up when they talk about it.

I did't expect the "sim Experts" to think PCARS 2 would be best in class. But I did hope that the improved handling and FFB would get them to a place where they could really get excited about everything else the game offers the other titles don't.

Anyway. I'll find out for myself soon enough. Maybe I have too much time on my hands.
I think the point is that with driving sims there are already so many established options each of which does some things well. WRC 7 is offering a big variety of new, narrow, interesting Rally stages which brings a lot more to the table than driving a sim with slightly different physics around the same tracks as you have been racing for the last 10+ years.

pCARS 2 excitement for guys who have been PC simracing for years and years will end up coming from the game changer aspects, which are the dynamic weather/season/time elements. And you hear that in those YouTuber voices: give them slightly different physics around a known track and they are pretty neutral. Give them changing puddles, aquaplaning, weather variance and their voices become a lot more enthusiastic.
 
I have to say I'm a little disappoint by their lack of enthusiasm. My expectations have been all over the map for this game but now less then 24 hrs away I have to say there average to low. Which I think is always the better place to be. That being said I'm bummed there hasn't been more excitement around the title. Reviews not included. I'm speaking more about the Gamer Muscle, Jimmy, VVV crowd. They all seem to enjoy it enough and it's clear the game is a huge improvement. But that's all they really ever say."It's a huge improvement." To draw a recent comparison with WRC 7. When everyone did they're impressions they had real excitement about the game. Even with it's short comings they couldn't help but be really impressed by the positives. The games even mentioned in the above video and your hear them perk up when they talk about it.

I did't expect the "sim Experts" to think PCARS 2 would be best in class. But I did hope that the improved handling and FFB would get them to a place where they could really get excited about everything else the game offers the other titles don't.

Anyway. I'll find out for myself soon enough. Maybe I have too much time on my hands.
WRC 7 is a lot further away from AC and iRacing than pCars 2 is. ;)
 

Very interesting review, Really worried about force feedback now as i hated it in PCars 1 (Oulton Park was good right enough) , Also it sounds like it just isnt as fun as AC which is a shame. I was late to AC after hammering PCARS 1 but it's so much more engaging to drive compared to the SMS game.
 
Whitout playing yet the game SMS improved a lot the Force Feedback
Some guys prefer Assetto Force Feedback and others this one
What is good for me maybe is not good for other,and viceversa
It´s a matter of taste.
For sure is a much deeper game then others , with some new great features making the most complete sim on market
Enjoy the game and in a few weaks for sure we have a game more polished ,with some patchs to correct IA ,some bugs,etc and we are talking about a icon game
 
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Also it sounds like it just isnt as fun as AC which is a shame.

I got the opposite impression after watching his review and watching him and Jimmy Broadbent doing an multiplayer stream last night, it's going to be much more fun than AC. May not feel quite as convincing as AC but in the fun department it's going to come out on top (for me). I mean, how can racing F150's in the snow at Nords not be hella fun?! :D
 

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