Project Cars 3 is an odd one. As it’s ever been with this series, really – Slightly Mad by name, totally bonkers by nature you might say of the developer – but this third outing for one of the the most expansive racing games on the market is the wackiest yet, jettisoning sim staples such as tire wear and fuel usage for something that’s laser-focussed on the Forza Motorsport crowd. So is it a sim or isn’t it? After a couple of dozen hours with it, I’m not entirely sure myself, and fairly certain I don’t really care – whatever this is, it’s an awful lot more fun than its predecessors.
It’s still every bit as funky, in its own way, but the first thing you’ll need to know is that Project Cars 3 properly addresses the inconsistent handling that’s blighted the series from its inception. How it goes about that might not be to everyone’s taste – Project Car 3’s generous cast of automobiles are overstated things with a tendency towards oversteer that can be quickly and easily caught by a handful of opposite lock – but having spent so much time with past games tinkering with deadzones and sensitivity options it’s most certainly to mine. These things are a pleasure to drive rather than a pain.
It’s such a fundamental fix that its importance can’t really be overstated, but before getting carried away I should probably tell you about what’s gone on elsewhere, because it’s quite something. Playing Project Cars 3 is like taking in whatever’s in your front drive for a basic fix, only for the mechanics to go overboard and throw in some underfloor lighting and swapping out the rear seats for a pair of subwoofers. It’s unexpected, yet I still ended up loving it.
