Project Cars 2 contains an abundance of choice and has an unrivalled dynamic weather system. Just don’t forget your wellingtons.

Having no experience of the previous project cars sim, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this. After having a good play through the game, I can easily say it’s a very good racing title, in what is arguably a stale genre of games that need something fresh, a little different to the norm on the market.

Project Cars 2 has plenty of magic up its gearstick, and the twists and turns, produce plenty of exciting, pulse-racing moments. Developed by Slightly mad studio’s in co-operation with Bandai Namco, this racing sim provides a career mode deep in depth, and with plenty of variety. Looking to rival the likes of colossal racing legends Forza, and the GT series of games, it was imperative that licenses, customisation and tracks were rich in numbers.

Project Cars 2 certainly nails all of this, featuring 182 cars, from 38 manufacturers, the likes including big hitters BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Ferrari, Lotus and plenty more. A track roster with a plentiful amount of layout options, such as 60 venues and over 130 different track layouts to smash those speed limits through, this is a game you won’t be bored of anytime soon.

In joint-collaboration with some of the auto industry companies, cars now have individual performance characteristics, that maintain the performance of the virtual car to accurately reflect that of its real-life model.

Career mode offers plenty of choices, spread out across 29 motorsport types, with five disciplines and six tiers to work your way through. The game offers you the decision to start at the bottom from the grassroots level, to get to the top. With exception to the F1 license, a lot of the smaller brands are here. Formula rookie, Formula C, amongst many others. The choice of disciplines includes rallycross, GT, open-wheel, touring cars, and prototypes. Real life-based events from the likes of Le Mans 24 hours, to Pirelli world challenge offer challenging events amongst many other licensed series that frequently pop up.

One aspect which I found deeply frustrating was the failures of finishing outside top 3. Having to restart the championship can be gut-wrenching, and almost grind like. Certainly, feel penalised for not meeting that requirement. Especially when you factor in practice sessions, qualifying etc.

The authenticity is about as lifelike as one would expect, driving a GT3 comes with full traction control and the anti-braking system (ABS), which assists newcomers, like myself to handle these speed freaks. Cars’ are extremely detailed, and this can be seen in the showroom, where a neat photo mode feature is included for those of you who love to show your cars off and play around in the garage.

Manufacturers also shake things up by providing players with events to become a proper factory driver,14 manufacturers encourage drivers to partake in challenger race-offs which gives you the opportunity to race for specific manufacturers and their race programmes.

A dynamic weather system known as Live Track 3 really does shake events up, thunderstorms, and blizzards provide exhilarating, and difficult driving conditions, in endurance events such as le mans, day turns into night, and becomes a stern test of mental willpower/desire to succeed, where corners and turns become frustratingly difficult to adjust to, as the view in-front becomes that bit more pitch black, you suddenly realise a real reliance on the headlights to guide you round the course, where blind spots become just that. Weather conditions could be clear one moment to experiencing a torrent of abuse in the form of rain droplets the next. Which of course impact on the handling of the car.

Struggling with the handling of the car? No problem, race engineer is your friend. It assists to diagnose issues and then suggest a solution.

My experience with how the fuel addicts handled and AI was mixed. A sprint around the countryside felt satisfying and thrilling, the handling physics are pretty good (though I’ve heard the cars are better handled with a steering wheel), and sound and look to each motor is beautiful, with plenty of detail. The sound of rain slamming on your windscreen, to the sun almost perfectly reflecting off the bodywork of every vehicle, makes PC 2 feel and look incredibly realistic. Yet this is spoilt by ridiculous A.I decisions. Overly aggressive nudges into others, or a naughty ram from behind, and on the rare occasion some major pileups.

Dipping into online mode gives you access to all cars and circuits from the off. Being able to customise everything from levels of skill and aggression of opponents to weather conditions, times of the year and obviously the cars. Multiplayer offers access to differing race types, custom lobbies and a plethora of options to provide a long-lasting drive.

Project Cars 2 looks fantastic and is incredibly detailed in licenses, choice of cars, tracks, and customisation. The option to tinker around with your car during events is also available, to those that prefer playing around with the dynamics of how the car races. The Live Track 3.0 is a top-rate addition, quite possibly the best weather system I’ve come across in my experience of racing games.

Project cars 2 is out now for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Are you a fan of Project Cars 2, or even just racing games in general? Let me know down below in that comment box, thanks.