My quick review after messing around for 1.5 hours yesterday:
Firstly I have over 90 hours sunk into AC. Most of those are just messing around in different cars and tracks mods. I haven't touched a single career mode race in AC. I prefer road cars but I do drive GT3 cars occasionally, but I wouldn't say that I'm very familiar with them. Just before starting ACC though, I tried setting a baseline laptime in GTS with the Huracan at Nurburgring (got 2.00.xxx with Gr.3 BOP, you can probably take 1 second off because the chicane in GTS version is the slower one). Then I set a baseline in AC, and got 2.00.xxx as well.
So then, time to boot up ACC. First impressions are menu soundtrack is a definite welcome addition (yeah, I'm an OST nerd). The menus are a lot more "console like". It certainly looks better, but personally I prefer to AC menu for condensing a large amount of info in a smaller space. Also the options menu, especially controllers, are very confusing in that there are a lot of boxes that look clickable, but isn't (and vice versa). Disappointed that FFB settings are only Gain and Min Force (also the default settings are zero, really?). I settled with Gain 70 and MF 10 with my T-GT. Everything else is stock except turned up brake gamma to 2.40 because I'm a pleb that only uses stock G25 pedals. All other stuff are set to Pro with minimum assists. I tried setting the ignition sequence stuff to manual, but can't for the life of me find where the key bindings are, so for those I left it automatic. My aging laptop is from 2014, so I was conservative and set graphics settings to Mid for most. Runs at 60 FPS 1080p no problem.
Went to single race first. I find the car livery selection to be confusing. There's a livery with the same number, but if you keep clicking it will show a different pattern. There's one with the orange bit on the front hood, and there's a variation with a red logo on top (can't remember specifically what the brand is). Much preferred old AC's simple boxy list. The rest is simple enough, so off to the track we go! The confirmation screen is cool first time out, but it gets old real quick. Especially since you can't change FFB settings on track and have to go all the way out.
Went with safe preset tune. The tuning screens are definitely much simpler (probably helps that the game will only ever have GT3 cars). I miss the live settings screen, but since the values are now apparently the live ones I'll just have to take Kunos' word for it. Missing gear ratio changes though. Not sure if Blancpain actually restricts this IRL.
Anyway, off to the track! First impressions are the graphics feel a lot more gritty, so does the sound. I think the sound is the biggest leap they've done. There's so much subtle effects, and it doesn't sound flat like the AC Huracan. Reminds me a lot of GTR2 actually 👍 The HUD is ok. I hate that the redline on the tach is still as vague as ever. I just shift whenever it starts to flash yellow. The driving itself is a mixed bag. I like that the edges of grip feel a lot more defined, but when you actually lose grip, it's more sudden and harder to recover than AC. The FFB is also too noisy for my liking. I suspect they have the Road Effects settings turned all the way up. Hate that constant vibration that you get. I have all the extra effects turned off in AC and I'd like a more detailed FFB settings in the future. I read that there's also some input lag? There was a way to edit this in AC but no such thing in ACC (I looked in game folders and it's all bundled in a 3.5GB file). I miss modding already
Spent a couple laps to get my consistency rating up. Fastest lap I got was a 2.01.xxx. Interesting that from GTS > AC > ACC there's a 1 second gap each.
Anyway, next I decided to try night time. It looks ok, nothing great but then again it's probably my hardware limiting. Next I tried Stormy conditions. Oh. My. God. It is probably the most natural wet weather sim I have ever driven. Other sims when it's raining always makes it feel like there's just a cling wrap on the track surface. With ACC you can somehow feel that dynamic water surface tension getting scooped away by the grooves in the tyre. Then when you hit a puddle (I assume it's a puddle, because the graphics isn't actually there - again I bet this is my computer limiting), the sense of resistance on one side of the car pulling the wheel, and then an "Oh ****!" moment as your tyres lose contact and aquaplane. If you're lucky enough to be going slow, you might save it. Otherwise you're just a passenger. It's an awesome, awesome sensation. I've had a similar thing happen to me on a freeway groing 100 km/h, and it's such a scary yet familiar sensation (no aquaplaning IRL thankfully). I say it straddles the perfect gap between GT5/6 sterile wet weather and Forza 6's overdramatic puddles (or lakes more like). The wet road surface looks realistic enough, but don't expect anything groundbreaking ala Driveclub. I also don't see any raindrops on the windscreen - again probably my dud laptop.
Next I tried the special events. Just got through the first 2 atm. Nothing special I guess. I tried the more aggressive setup which does make the car feel pointier, but laptime wise it's equal *shrugs*. I have no idea how the **** people get 1.52.xxx on the leaderboards. Damn aliens will always be aliens
I got to the Car Control evaluation and it just stagnates there even though I'm getting all green boxes. It just keeps saying "Drive 2 more laps". I'm guessing the later special events where you race will unlock the next stage?
Anyway, that was all I had time for. First impressions are it's an exciting time surely. Top of my priority list would be more detailed FFB settings, and get rid of the input lag please. Also a better way of selecting car liveries. I'd also like the little blurb on the top right of the screen explaining the evaluation scores stay on longer (seriously, I can't read those in 2 seconds). Apart from that, I reckon they have an excellent basis to build on. All my fears of physics getting watered down by switching to UE4 engine is now laid to rest. Rest assured, that old AC driving feel is all here. There's still some rough edges but I'm sure they'll get those kinks ironed out (remember how much AC changed between tyre model V1 to V10?). Losing modding is a shame, but good ol' AC will still be there, and who's not to say AC2 won't build upon ACC and bring mods back?
Exciting times ahead. I can honestly say buying EA is worth it. Roll on the roadmap content updates!
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