Project Cars 3 goes all out for the Forza Motorsport crowd

First off, the good news. Actually, make that great news – at the third attempt, Slightly Mad Studios has finally got pad handling in Project Cars feeling absolutely brilliant out of the box. It’s now possible to make Project Cars 3’s impressive roster of cars really dance, and do so without ever feeling out of control – they tend towards the lairy, but any insolence is quickly seen to by putting your boot down and applying a turn or two of opposite lock.

Project Cars 3 previewDeveloper: Slightly Mad StudiosPublisher: Bandai NamcoPlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out August 28th on PS4, Xbox One and PC

It’s good news because it means at last players can enjoy everything that makes Project Cars really shine. There’s the tracklist that takes in esoteric locales such as Cadwell Park and Knockhill, while folding in well-known classics, historic venues such as Rouen and a few fictional ones besides (there have been a few casualties of licensing deals this time out, with Le Mans and Spa seemingly absent – I’m awaiting confirmation on that – but Interlagos steps in alongside the Porsche test track in Leipzig and a handful of new city backdrops).

There’s dynamic weather that has you racing in sunshine one moment before a downpour has you sloshing around in puddles the next – and all the while Project Cars 3 looks beautiful. It’s an immensely impressive audiovisual experience, the cars’ barking that little bit meaner, their bodywork that little bit shinier. It is, on first impression, an absolute blast, and as close to being a Forza-beater as it’s ever been.

Project CARS 3 – Gameplay: Porsche 935 (2019), Porsche Leipzig Full Circuit Watch on YouTube

And being a Forza beater really feels like something Project Cars 3 is dead set on. You’ll probably have seen the headline changes already – Project Cars 3 does away with things like tyre wear, fuel usage and pit stops as it moves firmly away from sim territory and into something a bit more approachable. It’s there too in the campaign that feels like it’s been lifted wholesale from vintage era Forza Motorsport, where you’re acquiring a collection of your own rides, upgrading modest sportscars to trackday beasts and beyond and being rewarded with XP at every step.