Project CARS 3

No doubt about it: Project Cars 3 is an absolute treat. In-depth and expansive enough for veteran racing genre fans, yet accessible and inviting enough for more casual players, Project Cars 3 is a title that other racing games should aspire to be - from its selection of vehicles to its contact-packed Career mode to the online features and events that are sure to foster a fun and competitive community. While (for me) many racing titles grow stale fairly quickly, Project Cars 3 is one game that I’ll be playing for a very, very long time.

Project CARS 3 is not a standard sequel. It takes a lot of content from the two previous games (including the realistic handling of the cars), but it adds some arcade ideas that work and make it look more like GRID.

Forget simulation, Project CARS 3 goes in a different direction and provides a more arcadelike experience. While this will definitely be a letdown to longtime fans of the franchise, in and of itself the game nevertheless manages to be great at what it tries to do.

Slightly Mad Studios returns to the fray with its simulator par excellence, Project CARS 3 arrives loaded with news, becoming a title adapted for all audiences under a gameplay mixed between simulation and arcade that may not satisfy the most purists. The title is entertaining in general lines and we are facing a good continuation of the saga although somewhat decaffeinated in the most purist simulation.

Project CARS 3 is a serious departure from the franchise's roots. It takes a lot of risks, but those willing to make the jump will find a fun and rewarding racing experience.

This is, in a strange way, a very brave game. It’s great - but it also targets a different audience than the previous titles in the series. It’s no longer trying to compete with Gran Turismo, Assetto Corsa and other serious sims, instead it rivals Forza Motorsport. But you can still feel its simulation roots.

A solidly made and entertaining racing game with loads to unlock, whose minor graphical shortcomings and sim-lite handling do nothing to interfere with long term appeal.

While some might balk at the fact that Project Cars 3 is designed to be accessible, under the hood is the same bone-grindingly difficult racing sim that the series has always been. There’s just more variety of modes and an easier on ramp for people to get into them. This newest title is a welcome mat for the new fans and the die hards alike. There’s always another fresh race to enjoy and a new challenge to overcome. While it isn’t perfect, Project Cars 3 is a solid entry to the series and the racing genre as a whole.

Project Cars 3 is bustling with things to do. It’s as accessible as the series has ever been, and while marred by some inconsistencies in its presentation, is for the most part a joy to play.

The driving model, once framed in the perspective of a title that also points to accessibility, is certainly functional and fun, but don't expect the simulation rigor of the old chapters.

When looking at the game objectively and trying to forget you're playing a Project-Cars-game, this is a fun arcade-style racer with a little more depth than normal arcade racers. But as a fan expecting a follow-up in the same style as former Project-Cars-games, this is a bit of a mindf.ck.

If you're looking for an arcade-sim with buckets of content which combines all the best bits from Gran Turismo, Forza and DriveClub, look no further. If you're a Project Cars 2 fan hoping for an update to their favourite sim, forget it. Key sim elements are now missing and although it's a fine arcade-sim racer, it should have been rebranded rather than gutted for a mainstream audience.

Project CARS 3 carries some of the DNA that has defined the series from its origins, but it is also true that, with the change, part of the identity was lost. This is clear because it's fun, it works and fulfills every proposal, but at the same time, it does not change anything nor does it offer something that distinguishes it from the rest of its competitors.

The third entry in this series leaves its roots behind to offer a more accessible game. We’ve had a good time with it, but Project Cars fans might be disappointed with this new approach.

Project Cars 3 shifts from simulation to simcade drive style, and the career mode has been redesigned from the ground up. The PS4 version has a lot of serious technical flaws.

Project CARS 3 represents a huge shift in Slightly Mad Studios’ attitude towards racing games. I suppose this means the studio lives up to their name! What Project CARS 3 lacks in realism, it now makes up for with accessibility. However, lacking the flair of other established racers in this arcade-sim genre such as The Crew 2 or Need for Speed will make it a tougher sell. Still, there are a couple hundred new events to try, with hundreds of cars to tweak, upgrade, and drive. So, if Project CARS is to continue down this path of more friendly racing, then they are on the right track, but whether their regular fans will be along for the ride is another question entirely.

Project CARS 3 took a huge turn and lost many features that made people love the series. Now it's not a game that focuses on the realistic side of motorsports but it can provide fun moments if you can overcome some of it's faults and adapt to it's new genre.

The new cars feel individual and there's plenty of incentive to replay challenges to get the career level increased and the career achievements completed. It's just a shame then, that there's a key part that so negatively impacts the whole experience of Project CARS 3, and that is the grind. It regularly makes things so much worse and it seems like such a quick thing to fix - just increase the money paid out. Make it retrospective for those who have already invested so much time and this will instantly address the biggest issue.

Project Cards 3 feels less like a simulator and more like an arcade racing game. If you are a series veteran this might feel like a wrong direction for the series, but newcomers should appreciate all the accessibility options available for them.

Fitting between an arcade racer and a sim, Project CARS 3 tries something new with the series, but doesn't feel like a huge step forward.

The choice to make Project Cars 3 a more accessible, yet (sort of) realistic racing game, does not work out quite well. Nevertheless, this combination does provide entertaining moments.

Project Cars 3 might not be the sequel you expected from the series, but its shift to a more arcade style of racing is one that makes the series approachable for the first time. It's not a clean cut from its roots, and Project Cars 3 retains just enough of its simulation options to provide enough of a challenge with all of its assists turned off. The transition isn't seamless, with some confounding racing objectives and uneven AI that takes the sting out of some events. But if you're looking for another way to get out on a virtual track, Project Cars 3 is an exhilarating new alternative.

Project Cars 3, at least on the base console versions, isn’t quite the polished sequel we were hoping for, but despite its foibles – and there are many – it’s entertaining. The racing can be fun, finding that niche of being accessible and competitive.

The big question for me, personally, though, is whether Project Cars 3 just zigged when it should have zagged. The thing is, that I do like accessible racing games. I spent many, many hours with Real Racing. But this new entry with Project Cars has given the series an identity crisis, and where the developers could have taken their existing learning and delivered the previous Project Cars vision to an all-new degree, instead we've got the team effectively starting from scratch again. I guess we can look forward to Project Cars 4 being a repeat of Project Cars 2, in taking and refining the initial idea and actually delivering to the vision.

Slightly Mad has changed a lot of things with Project Cars, and it's not going to appeal to gamers looking for outright simulation.

Project CARS 3 suffers from a bit of an identity crisis in what it brings to the player, blending racing sim gameplay and arcade racer mechanics. Its message isn’t entirely clear without some trial and error, and while the narrator, drive-assist, and AI modifiers help ease into gameplay, there isn’t quite enough to know what everything means for the un-initiated. Driving feels wonderful and I expected nothing less given the history of Slightly Mad Studios and Codemasters, but this feels more like a racing sim for casual play over an engrossing and addictive time behind the wheel. It has a lot going for it, but its identity seems lost and with it, my drive to sink time into it.

A patchy, unbalanced, and shallow racer with obvious technical issues on PS4. Chasing lap times is fun thanks to the superb pad control and track list, but everything else is disappointing. [Issue#180, p.78]

Project Cars 3 will definitely have a place for those wanting a quick and easy racing game with a ton of customisation, cars, tracks and challenges. For more seasoned racing fans, or anyone looking for something even remotely different to what we have seen hundreds of times before, you will definitely need to look elsewhere.

In trying to please both simulator and arcade players, Project Cars 3 fails to truly master any of the two playstyles, but the game's variety in tracks, challenges and cars still makes it a racing game worth experiencing.

Project CARS 3 marks a significant departure for the series, abandoning most of its sim heritage in favour of arcade racing. Offering a variety of different cars and tracks, there’s plenty of content on offer, making for a fun distraction, but it lacks the excitement we expect from wheel-to-wheel racing. It takes inspiration from all over the place, but it’s perhaps most closely aligned with Sony’s own DriveClub. It would seem, then, that the PS4 cycle is ending the way it began. We’re just not sure we’d pick this over what’s come before.

Impossible to recommend to fans of Project CARS 2, Project CARS 3 is a total 180 for the series. It’s easy to pick up and play and the racing here is robust enough for some casual thrills and spills, but ultimately it cribs from so many other racing games that racing gamers probably already own that it’s simply inessential.

Project Cars 3 appears to want to be a different kind of racer than the previous two games in the series. This isn't entirely a problem, and the game presented is quite enthralling to play. The issue is that while games like Forza and Froza: Horizon separate themselves with titles that express their shift in principles, Project Cars 3 presents itself as a continuation of a series, while turning its back on the broad efforts of realism brought forth by previous titles. Players who want something fun and engaging, without all the tedious practice of simulators, will love this game wholeheartedly. Controller racers finally can enjoy the wider variety of cars in one title, and graphical improvements and AI tweaks would make this a perfect Simcade racer. Fans of Project Cars 1 and 2, however, will likely have to stick with those games going forward.

Project CARS 3 suffers from a case of mistaken identity. Once you adjust to the new direction, you can get into a fun flow of ticking off objectives, drifting around hairpins and purchasing upgrades. However, while the series' existing platform means you get a great variety of circuits, cars and weather conditions, it also shackles this game from being a great arcade racing experience.

Despite its name, Project Cars 3 is anything but a sequel to the realistic Project Cars 2. For better or worse, this is more of a sequel to Need for Speed Shift. Instead of tactical and demanding gameplay, Project Cars 3 aims for fast and thrilling races, spiced with an ounce of realism. It might sound like a disaster, but if you know what to expect, there is a lot of fun to be had here - if it was not for all the bugs and some odd design choices that currently ruin the experience. After a few updates the game might very well be worth your time, but at the moment it is better to wait.