*puts on Jeremy Clarkson voice*
Every time someone mentions ToCA Race Driver 3 they do so with a twinkle in their eye, remembering fondly of days gone by, playing the game on consoles nobody owns anymore at a resolution that makes Minecraft look rather spherical. It was indeed the racing game of it's time representing the peak of playability and immersion for its generation. Dreaming about hitting the apex at Paddock Hill on a lawn mower, you can almost smell the freshly cut grass as you run wide and crash into the barriers.
"Will there ever be another racing game that compares?" You ask, and now there is... almost.
Project CARS (yes, it's all capital letters) is the closest thing I have ever played that even comes close to the feelings I remember from my ToCA days and if SMS get their act together and quickly squash the annoying bugs still in the game, in years gone by people will reminisce about Project CARS in the same way.
Project CARS is still a bit broken and on occasions you will get attacked by a ghost, sending your chosen racer flying high into the clouds, but when everything is working well it is fantastic! Especially career mode. I've found the various championships a total joy to compete in, from the nippy Clio Cup to the full throttle Formula A, Project CARS has offered me a level of realism I have never before experienced on a console. I've been fully engrossed in every practice session, every pits stop and every time I've overcooked it coming out of a hairpin and sent myself spinning across the grass like a lost ballerina.
The AI, even though they aren't perfect are also competitive, providing you with side by side, paint scraping, edge of the seat races that will keep you coming back for more and give the game potentially endless longevity. Yes, they cut the corner and push their way in front, yes they get a bit stuck on certain corners, and yes sometimes they give up altogether and park up at the side of the track, but I like it! it gives them a sort of human quality. So despite getting roughed up on a tight left-hander, or pushed off track coming up to the chicane the game is still enjoyable enough to leave you sweating at the checker flag.. or swearing at the TV like a drunk Scotsman. Besides, what's the alternative, predictably maneuvering past a soul less train of robotic drones that couldn't smash you wide if they wanted to? No thanks!
What I enjoy the most about Project CARS is (when using a wheel) how every car feels completely different to drive. I don't know what kind of sorcery they used to create this affect, but to me it's truly astonishing. From the heavy, arm breaking steering in the open-wheelers, to the Sierra Cosworth that has steering so light it will have your arms flapping about like your trying to put up an umbrella on a windy day, each car has it's own handling characteristics that after a while will leave you believing you could tell which car you are driving with your eyes closed.
The ToCA series is what got me into racing sims/games when I was a youngster, playing as the heroes (well they were my heroes anyway) I was watching on TV on a Sunday afternoon. Being the champion at the end of series and embarking on a fantasy journey that saw me winning every championship of my virtual career.
It may not yet be the finished article, but if Slightly Mad get busy removing the slightly maddening bugs, Project CARS could be looked back at in years to come as the series that inspired the next generation of little racers to pick up a pad or a wheel and get as much enjoyment controlling tiny pixels on a screen as I did, then in time to come, when these little racers have had little racers of their own and think back to the days of the Project CARS and how it was the best sim racing game... in the world!
