Project CARS is a community driven game at heart. It's presentation and various options for players to modify their driving experience is the type of thing you'd see in PC exclusive racers like Assetto Corsa or iRacing with lower budget productions. But Project CARS is an upper mid-market racing game that is of a AAA quality. It's gorgeous to look at, the sound design is rich, the vehicles are really well-modeled and the atmosphere is intense and very much reminiscent of Slightly Mad Studios' previous work on Need for Speed: SHIFT.
Project CARS is a sim racer, but because far you can customize your driving experience, you can really turn this game into a simcade racer (arcade handling, simulator physics). Or if you really want that challenge, you can turn the game into the most hardcore sim racer to ever exist. But what's really impressive is how consistent and how well the game plays with either style of play. Cars can be tough to control if you're careless, but the game is fairly easy to figure out and a lot harder to master. Cars feel grounded and the physics aren't extremely unforgiving, but they still require some skill. There's a large selection of cars and tracks, and experimenting in the free play mode really opens up a racing sandbox mess around in. And it is addictive when things click and you find the right settings for your playstyle.
The soundtrack and atmosphere also require a mention here. The soundtrack is amazingly done. It tells a story and sets a suspenseful tone off the track. It's epic, it's interior, and the comm calls mixed in with the orchestral and electronic elements really enhance that atmosphere of intensity in the world of motorsport.
Project CARS is the best sim racer on the market and a sandbox for sim racing fans.
