When you arrive in Project CARS 3, you don't really feel like you're dealing with a super simple approach game. Indeed, after having created an avatar (boy or girl, a choice of combination, the name, the nationality and drive young), the game asks you what is your driving level, and puts you directly behind the wheel of a Corvette C7R to make you drool a little. Fortunately, it is possible to modify after the fact the choice of assistance, as well as the difficulty (according to 4 levels) and the aggressiveness of the AI. On this point we also note an improvement compared to the previous opus where the bots had a certain tendency to overrun Verstappen way. The game offers the classic arsenal of ABS, TC, and ESP steering aids, with much more intrusive options such as automatic braking. Whatever your level, it will be possible to do laps serenely, or almost. On the main menu, we discover various modes including a campaign, a free mode, weekly challenges, and the traditional multiplayer mode. We therefore immersed ourselves in the campaign, in order to see the novelties. Here, there is no longer any question of embodying a young driver ready to make his mark in a discipline as before. It's a shame, because this system was quite involving. Now, there is nothing clearly defined, and we must content ourselves with aligning the races in different series, knowing that the cars will be more and more powerful.
A GARAGE THAT MAKES CRATES
Through the 20-25 hours of play allowed by the campaign, we will go through various series, devoted to production cars in the first half, then to racing cars afterwards. Know that we can move to competition cars more quickly, sometimes you are more connected Aston Martin Vantage GTE than Koenigsegg Agera. The good news is that lovers of beautiful bodies will get their money's worth. The game compiles more than 200 road and racing cars, with a wide choice of brands and eras. We can go back in time and drive a Ford Escort Mk1, an Aston Martin DBR or a Jaguar XJ220. The selection impresses, and has been tastefully done, while each car is very well modeled, inside and out. Likewise, the deluge of content continues with the circuits, of which we find an impressive selection made up of real destinations and a few fictitious tracks. Moreover, each circuit generally offers several routes, which makes it possible to multiply the possibilities a little more. For example, the Nürburgring has its northern loop (Nordschleife) available in several sections, its GP circuit (GP-Strecke), also available in several routes, and finally the famous Gesamtstrecke of 26 kilometers. Better, each car can be personalized via a relatively simple livery editor that allows you to choose paints, vinyls and stickers from many brands related to motorsport (Motul, Michelin, Öhlins, OZ Racing, Sabelt, Recaro, etc.). We can also modify the rims and their dimensions, as well as the tires, knowing that all this remains purely cosmetic. For the mechanical modifications, it will be necessary to take the direction of the garage and the section improvements. Here, we will boost our car, with a points system very easy to understand for a novice. Each part will increase the performance rating of our car, and will have an effect on various statistics including power, grip or handling.
PIMP MY RIDE
In short, no need to be a mechanic at heart to tamper with our car and make it faster. Attention, on most production cars, it will be necessary to buy certain top-of-the-range parts in order to then be able to benefit from the mechanical adjustments. Very few initially (tire pressure, distribution of braking), the settings will diversify as we buy. To adjust the suspension or the gearbox, you will have to invest in a fully configurable system, praying that the latter does not make your car too powerful for its category. Each category is indeed subject to the performance score, which means that it is technically possible to do the whole campaign with our initial Honda Civic, as long as we upgrade it each time. That said, some events being reserved for particular models, it will be impossible to finish the game without going to the dealership. As far as activities are concerned, the game delights in the very classic, with races, time trials, regularity tests over three laps, and a few wacky things like when you have to rush on bales of straw to score points. If the whole is coherent, the game quickly shows major weaknesses. First of all, the old ones will notice the disappearance of karting, or even that of rallycross which brought a lot of freshness to the gameplay. Similarly, to make the title more arcade, tire management has completely disappeared (no wear, temperature, type of rubber), as has the damage system, which has become hyper permissive and purely cosmetic. It's a shame, but we were warned: the game is now arcade.
In fact, the more you play, the more you feel like you're dealing with a version of Project CARS 2 with certain elements missing.
During the first moments on the track, we also have the impression of rediscovering the gameplay of GRID 2, with a subtle balance between arcade and simulation, while allowing a lot of sliding, without losing speed. But this feeling fades very quickly as you go up in category. The super easy opponents from the start (even on hard mode) get faster and faster, and it becomes impossible to take a sliding turn without wasting too much time, which brings us back to the simulation side. In fact, the more you play, the more you feel like you're dealing with a version of Project CARS 2 with certain elements missing, forcing the game to make do with what's left. Inevitably the result is quite wobbly, and the behavior of the cars varies greatly depending on the model, going from good to very strange without anyone being able to explain it. We saw our Porsche GT3 RS jump from the rear in a turn, as if the differential had been welded by a drifter. These issues are just the tip of the iceberg of flaws plaguing Project CARS 3. For example, the campaign offers no motivation, and it feels pretty lonely. Worse, the progression system is particularly unpleasant, since each race will put us in front of three objectives, of which victory is not necessarily part. Take the slipstream then do a "fair" overtake, pass several competitors in a limited time, complete a certain number of laps without leaving the road, or even obtain the "perfect" rating on several turns. Although we initially believed in a clever way to advance the player without forcing him to victory, the reality is quite different. Victory remains essential since the prize money paid at the end of each event depends on our ranking. But cash will be essential to buy and modify cars (some of which are incredibly expensive), and even to unlock new events.
ENGINE BREAKAGE
The worst part is that even trying to complete the objectives, the game will continue to be frustrating. Indeed, the system that judges whether our overtaking is "fair" or not is random at best, since we were judged as "unfair" after having grilled a competitor in the straight line slipstream, while in playing gates and obstructing, the game found the maneuver fair. Likewise in time trial events, the slightest exit from the road is eliminatory, without the event stopping immediately. So we finish our test for nothing, before realizing that when a lap is invalid, all we have to do is start over. Besides, the penalty system is also quite random, penalizing turns where you pass on the curb without exceeding the limits of the track, while certain much more generous trajectory enlargements go unpunished. Finally, the timed events quickly end up becoming a game of cat and mouse with this penalty system, a real driving test where you try to go all the way around avoiding the fault. Clearly, we will rarely meet all the objectives, which will force us to use our virtual bank account to unlock new events. We would at least have hoped to be able to console ourselves with the technical aspect of the game, but there too, the disillusion is palpable. Project CARS 2 was beautiful, but unfortunately the new opus does not seem to have progressed one iota. Worse, the latter suffers from numerous display bugs, with artifacts appearing (especially in the rain and snow) on the screen, and textures slowing down to load. We also observe quite inexplicable drops in framerate, since the use of the graphics card drops during these jolts, which makes us think of a problem related to the game. Finally, many other bugs have appeared, such as the livery of our car that inexplicably turns solid red during a championship, or AIs that collectively go off the road in the same bend.
