Project Cars 2 review: A vast journey through motorsport history that frustratingly isn’t ready for release

PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, PC - £44.99 – Slightly Mad Studios

Let me start this review by being honest. I love motorsport, and spend some of my spare time out on the track testing cars, if not watching anything with two or four wheels. When Project Cars came out back in 2015, I was delighted, as it followed months and months of delays and was just about the best thing on the market when it finally hit the shelves.

Sadly, I’m not sure if the same can be said this time around, and the problem is I don’t know where to start. From the questionable AI decisions, to the infuriating pit stop strategy, to the fact that if you want to string a fair few races together combined with qualifying, you’ll have to write off half the day because you’ll spend so long trying to get your set-up right.

But given my love of the first edition – so much so that I was playing it the day before the release of Project Cars 2 – let’s be fair and start with the good points. The dynamic weather system has somehow managed to improve, and that’s saying something. Lurking clouds will give you a familiar feeling that rain is coming, while rays of sunshine breaking through the clouds will bring a huge sense of relief. That’s because the biggest improvement here is the formation of puddles exactly where they should be – take the usual apex through certain corners and you’ll aquaplane or spin, encouraging you to use the outside line as you would in real life. These puddles take time to disappear, making them as realistic as they are annoying to negotiate.

The collection of cars and tracks have significantly increased too. With 180 cars to choose from across Le Mans classics, IndyCar thoroughbreds and RallyX thrillseekers, you won’t get bored quickly while the 60 tracks on offer include English national circuits like Knockhill and Cadwell Park to Daytona and the old 8.75-mile historic Spa-Franchorchamps. Throw into the mix the 29 championship classes and the career mode is certainly an improvement, with more structure and a genuine sense of building to the top as the higher classes are locked.

The online gameplay is also good fun, although it’s hard to gauge just how good with so few users face. That said, I have high hopes for the multiplayer aspect of Project Cars 2.

But now it’s time to note the negatives. For starters, the car handling – while incredibly realistic – can be a nightmare, simply because you have to spend so long testing different set-ups to find one that works. Come the next round of the championship, you’re set-up is the complete opposite and you need to spend even more time to tinker. If you want to qualify and race at each one, it can take hours just to negotiate a couple of rounds, and when it comes to a simulation, that’s just not what’s needed unless you’re a complete petrol head.

The second major issue is the difficulty vs the AI level. On the first edition, it didn’t take too long to get up towards the ace mark, and racing anywhere lower than 90 per cent would often result in a walkover. This time around, it can prove impossible to keep pace with the lead bunch from as low as 60 per cent. It’s great that races are much harder to run away with, but at this low a difficulty the AI cars make stupid errors or run straight into you. Furthermore, at the slightest drop of rain, the AI is suddenly two seconds-a-lap off the pace, which simply isn’t realistic when it’s across the board.

There are a number of glitches to fix, although the promise has been that these will be ironed out. Unfortunately, that wasn’t done soon enough, so if you restart races are suffering significant damage, your car will reload with the effects still visible, even if you lose a wheel in the accident – a bizarre sight when you see a Lotus 25 running around the old Monza layout without any tyres.

The pit stop strategy is also a mess, with users required to pre-set stops before the race starts. That means you’ll have to pick one strategy with a certain compound of tyre and level of fuel without knowing what weather or damage may come your way – a complete nightmare for races. Why anyone felt it necessary to get rid of the setting changes upon entry to pit lane is beyond me, and it can make for race-ruining consequences.

With all this in mind, I can’t help but be left with a sense of disappointment, and a feeling that this game simply wasn’t ready for release. Last time around, Slightly Mad Studios delayed its unveiling until it was ready to go. They would have been advised to do the same with Project Cars 2, and that’s a shame.