Project CARS 3

By ditching much of the hardcore sim superstructure, what is left is is a fun, accessible racing game that can easily be mentioned in the same breath as Forza Motorsport. It’s fast, good-looking and, with the exception of some dim-witted AI, super fun to play. If you are in the market for a racing game, you can do a lot worse than Project CARS 3.

I feel the greatest mistake that Project CARS 3 makes is being called what it is. Fans of the previous two games probably won’t find what they expect here, while those who disliked them could possibly be put off by the name. This is essentially a paradigm shift for the series, taking it into new territory with mass-market appeal. And for racers like me, who like a game that controls well, has rewarding progression, and who aren’t particularly bothered by the absence of serious sim elements, it’s Slightly Mad Studios’ best and most accessible game yet.

Project Cars 3 abandons its deepest roots to offer us new experiences, moving closer to the arcade and abandoning pure simulation.

It is still a good game, fun because the foundation is right and the ideas attractive, but it could have offered a more unique character, instead of focusing only on reducing the realism and being more accessible.

With Project Cars 3, Slightly Mad Studios delivers a more accessible and arcadey racing experience, increasing its playability for standard controller users and offering us one of the best racing game Career modes around. It's not perfect though, mainly due to an unbalanced upgrade system, lack of qualification sessions and mechanical damages and definitely improvable graphics.

Project CARS 3 leaves mixed impressions. It can please fans with a nice process of driving, but it's difficult to recommend it to beginners because of the monotonicity factor in the career mode. Slightly Mad Studios still have a lot of work ahead to solve technical flaws and provide further support to the game, if they still want to win new players' attention.

Project CARS 3 is good, but not good enough to compete with the likes of GRiD or Forza Horizon. The path chosen by Slightly Mad studios for the third version of the game is full bumps that divert the whole series from being pioneers of the semi-simulation genre to an average racing game.

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.

While there are numerous better and more comprehensive racing games out there, Project CARS 3 is nonetheless a remarkably solid racer in its own right, with a slew of cool options, customisation features, cars, tracks, and more. If you're in the market for a spiffy new racing title, Project CARS 3 is certainly a solid choice.

A fun, casual arcade racer that has a decent chunk of a career mode to keep you busy with some fun aspects, let down by wonky AI and being placed into the wrong series of games making it really hard to recommend to either demographic of casual race fans or sim racers.

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

Summary: Project Cars 3 ditches its former charm in favour of pick up and play. As a result, the game struggles to find its own identity amongst a sea of better contenders.

The new driving physics are very enjoyable, the sense of speed is at best dizzying, real-time weather works to a great effect, and there is a lot of offline and online content (and progress between them is mutual). Dozens of tracks to race on come from all over the world, painstakingly recreated from real ones (along with some made-up ones) to maximize their authenticity. However, these positives are buried under excess rubble of inexcusably coarse presentation and flawed game design that leans too much on merciless grind instead of rewarding natural progress.