Project CARS

Deep and demanding but incredibly user-friendly, Project CARS is real racing done right.

Project CARS offers a sharp racing simulation with an open-ended structure.

If you make the effort, you'll find that Slightly Mad has built a motorsport game for the people, at once flexible and uncompromising: a single-minded hymn to the gritty thrills of the pit-lane and the back straight. There's room for improvement and we'll be watching future updates with keen interest, but these foundations are strong indeed.

Beautiful, bold and varied. Slightly Mad are uncompromising in their simulation.

I've played many racers like this, but Project Cars still feels invigorating and fresh – and that's an accomplishment

The next instalments of both those franchises will of course show up one day, hoping to overtake this admirable curent-gen racing engine. But they had better hurry, because Project Cars has got one heck of a head start, and you get the feeling this developer isn't going to waste it.

Admittedly, Project CARS isn't for everyone. In fact, it isn't for most people. It's niche, and it's for those who take their racing games seriously. It does most of what it sets out to do, and it does that very well. However, the broad appeal is lacking, as the long learning curve likely outweighs what most are willing to put up with. But, for those who put in the time and manage to take the checkered flag, this title has a supremely rewarding experience that most anyone can feel proud of, regardless of familiarity with cars.

Once you get the controls where you want them, your car exactly how you like it, and your race day tactics tightened up, it delivers an exhilarating ride, but few will have the patience – or, indeed, the willpower – to reach that point, and thus it's hard to imagine this outing achieving the mainstream success of other competing motoring series.

Project CARS is not for the faint of heart. It undoubtedly has the ability to grab players and take them on an outstanding tour of Simply Mad's racing world, and does look absolutely stunning at times. However, the game is ultimately frustrating with a controller and features more than its fair share of bugs. With a wheel, it's a more rewarding proposition.

I feel Project Cars won't receive the mass appeal games like Forza Horizon 2 or DriveClub have received. Instead, only those who are really into realistic driving simulators may flock towards Project Cars, although they might get bored easily considering there really aren't any unique game modes either. It carries a sense of realism in spades, but there isn't much under the hood.