''Project CARS 2'' is a motorsport

racing simulator Simulated racing or racing simulation, commonly known as simply sim racing, are the collective terms for racing game software that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tir ...

video game developed by

Slightly Mad Studios Slightly Mad Studios Ltd. is a British video game developer based in London. Founded in 2009, it is best known for the ''Project CARS'' series of racing games that it developed from 2015 until the series' discontinuation in 2022. Codemasters acq ...

and published and distributed by the Bandai Namco Entertainment group. It was released worldwide on 22 September 2017 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

Gameplay

''Project CARS 2'' offers 140 track layouts at 60 different locations and 189 cars to choose from. It advertises that "each track is a living, organic venue" and "changes lap by lap" as the race progresses. This is achieved by a system called ''LiveTrack 3.0'', including e.g. track temperature or dynamic weather. The game now features off-road driving, including rallycross tracks and cars. There are new manufacturers in the game, including: Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Jaguar,

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

, Acura and Nissan. In addition, ''Project CARS 2'' supports

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...

(VR), up to 12K resolution, and triple screen support.

Development

Following the success of ''

Project CARS ''Project CARS'' is a racing video game series developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The franchise was introduced in 2015 and received a sequel in 2017, followed by ''Project CARS 3'' in 2020. Games ...

'', funding began to open for ''Project CARS 2'' on 23 June 2015. World of Mass Development and

opened donations through the "''Project CARS 2'' official forum". Forum members and visitors choosing to donate had the option to using membership through the forums. In exchange, donors could gain access to development builds and voicing thoughts, opinions, and suggestions critical to the progress of the game. On 8 February 2017, ''Project CARS 2'' was officially announced as a game coming late 2017. Slightly Mad Studios soon revealed that the game was going to consist of 182 cars from 38 manufacturers and a variety of car and race car classes, new additions including the Honda Civic,

Jaguar XJ220 The Jaguar XJ220 is a two-seat sports car produced by British luxury car manufacturer Jaguar from 1992 until 1994, in collaboration with the specialist automotive and race engineering company Tom Walkinshaw Racing. The XJ220 recorded a top s ...

Toyota GT-86 The Toyota 86 and the Subaru BRZ are 2+2 sports cars jointly developed by Toyota and Subaru, manufactured at Subaru's Gunma assembly plant. The 2+2 fastback coupé has a naturally-aspirated boxer engine, front-engined, rear-wheel-drive confi ...

and

Nissan R89C The Nissan R89C was a Group C sports prototype developed by Nissan. Development Replacing the original March built series of prototypes that Nissan had used, the R89C was part of Nissan's increased involvement in the project. Developed in conj ...

. The game also has a larger track roster, with 46 tracks (containing 121 layouts), the majority being laser scanned circuits, and new additions including Fuji Speedway,

Knockhill Knockhill Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Fife, Scotland. It opened in September 1974 and is Scotland's national motorsport centre. The circuit is located in the countryside about north of Dunfermline. It is the only FIA appro ...

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

and the Dirtfish rallycross track. A new time and weather system have also been included in-game which can allow multiple different changing weather conditions and changes within a given season (winter, spring, summer, autumn). The game uses the proprietary Madness Engine which enables highly detailed vehicle simulation using a custom physics engine called LiveTrack 3.0, bringing realistic track conditions throughout a race weekend. Online mode has also been developed with a focus on esports, bringing an online ranking system, online championships, and better functionality in matchmaking. They also developed a partnership with IndyCar, which includes all the lineup of the 2016 season, the official logo and the

Indy 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianap ...

. Through the months leading up to a release, Slightly Mad Studios have worked closely with auto manufacturers, auto industry companies, and race car drivers to help them in making an accurate simulation. As a result, cars have specific performance characteristics and represents its real-life counterpart accurately. The tire physics have also been built from the ground up to use the proprietary Seta Tire Model (STM), with full dynamic tire movements and actions simulated at up to 200hz. On 21 September 2022, the game was delisted from digital storefronts due to expiring car and track licenses, although the game will remain playable for those who currently own it.

Additional content

Reception

''Project CARS 2'' received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. "''Project Cars 2'' may do a great many things exceptionally well, but it's hard to look past the mountain of gaffes that quickly pile up on and off the track. Racing, after all, is about results, not potential." was Josh Harmon's conclusion on ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...

'' with a score of 6/10. Matthew Kato from ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...

'' gave the game a score of 7.75/10 saying that "With all its customization options, racing demands, and copious track configurations (140-plus at over 60 locations), ''Project Cars 2'' has a lot to dive into. However, it's more than just a scattershot of content – it's a title that rewards players for exploring all of its nooks and crannies. It could still use a good coat of polish, but it has a charm and daring that is often missing in the sub-genre." ''Hobby Consolas'' also praised the breadth of content. Richard Wakeling of ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'' awarded it 7/10 stating that "When it all works as intended, ''Project Cars 2'' is a brilliant simulation racer provided you're playing with a wheel. It's ambitious in scope and depth, and the sheer breadth of available motorsports almost guarantees there's something for everyone to sink their teeth into. It's a shame, then, that there's always this nagging feeling in the back of your mind that a bug or moment of AI madness will disrupt the whole thing and more often than not, it will. These issues may be ironed out in the coming weeks and months, but with potentially stiff competition on the very-near horizon, Slightly Mad Studios might not have enough time to capture the hearts and minds of video game racing fans before they move on to pastures new." ''

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EG ...

'' also mentioned the bugs. 9.2/10 was Luke Reilly's score on ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' and said "With its refined new handling and piles of race options, ''Project CARS 2'' is about as good as real racing gets right now." ''Edge'' agreed, saying that "no racer offers such a breadth of choice, or seems so willing to let the player set the rules of the road." The game was nominated for "Best Racing Game" and "Best VR Experience" in IGN's Best of 2017 Awards. ''

PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games m ...

''s Phil Iwaniuk scored the game an 89/100 with the consensus "Serious racing for serious racers. Extraordinarily convincing at each of the disciplines on offer." ''Evo'' opined it had "excellent graphics and thundering, all-encompassing sounds". Driving.co.uk said it was "Very tricky to master, which will put off the arcade racer crowd, but impressive attention to detail, realistic handling, speedy, atmospheric menus and a mouth-watering array of cars and tracks continue to make ''Project Cars'' one of the best racing games available." ''Project CARS 2'' was the 17th best Xbox game of the year on Metacritic.

Sales

''Project CARS 2'' reached number 2 in the UK sales charts, behind ''

Destiny 2 ''Destiny 2'' is a free-to-play online-only multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie. It was originally released as a pay to play game in 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. It became free-to-play, utilizing th ...

''. The game reached number 3 in both Australia and New Zealand. In Japan, it was the 6th best-selling PlayStation 4 game, and 11th overall. The game sold 265,000 copies on PC in the first 9 months following release.

Awards

Sequel

In December 2018, Slightly Mad Studios' CEO Ian Bell confirmed the development of a new installment in the ''Project CARS'' series. It was released on August 28, 2020.

References

External links