Preview: Project CARS with Oculus Rift

Every once in a while you have that gaming experience that makes you think, “yes, this is going to change everything.” For me, that came last week when I had the opportunity to check out the latest build of Project CARS. Unlike the last time though, this preview came coupled with Oculus Rift.

My experience with virtual-reality prior to the preview was nil, so what better way to get introduced than with what’s shaping up to be 2015’s premier racing title? The first thing I noticed was that, graphically, the game wasn’t looking anywhere near as sharp as the latest (or even original) screenshots. From the moment the race started, though, graphics became irrelevant. Simply put, Project CARS plus Oculus Rift is undoubtedly the most immersive racing experience I’ve ever had.

Ever.

The entire preview was played in a rig complete with seat, wheel (with paddle shifters) and pedals. There’s nothing quite like sitting in an open-wheel racer, leaning over and seeing the suspension of your vehicle, then sitting back down and focusing on the path ahead. There’s also something to be said about how fun it was to be overtaking an opponent, turning my head to the side and seeing the other car slowly start to disappear from view. Looking into an on-coming corner and have the camera adjust with you without using a stick, or just looking up and seeing the stars above as you race at night, made for a truly great racing experience. Making my way around Bathurst first and then Laguna Seca afterwards, I discovered that rain and sun-glare also impaired my visibility far more than any other racing titles over the past few years – and that’s not exactly a bad thing.

Motion sickness was thankfully a non-issue apart for one instance where I had quickly looked up and down at one stage during the race, but which passed quickly after.

Once I had finished with the Oculus Rift demonstration (which I’m told should be completely ready for CARS towards the end of 2015) it was time to switch to the latest build of the game, and it was much of the same goodness I saw during my last preview. Despite the fact that car customization won’t play a part, the developers have instead gone above and beyond with the level of customization regarding the racing experience itself.

Of just some of the options available for both PC and console versions of this game, gamers can choose to set-up full race weekends or skip straight to the race itself (which I did). Different weather conditions like sunny, overcast, rain, storm (and most importantly) night are all possible here, but what I felt was particularly cool was the option to select any date and the game would use the track’s position and the season at that time of the year to accurately determine what weather conditions were being experienced on that day. Gamers are also able to customize visual settings such as camera shake at high speeds, sun-glare and my favourite, crepuscular rays (although I had no idea what they were at the time).

The neatest feature I found was the level of opponents you can have on any track is dependent on the amount of pit garages available at the track in real-life. To get an idea, when I selected the Bugatti Circuit I was able to select over 70 opponents! AI opponent difficulty is also adjustable on a scale from 0-100, allowing for pin-point race customization – which is something Project CARS is clearly based on.

The remainder of the preview was spent test-driving various other vehicles on some of the different tracks the game had to offer. Despite the fact I find myself struggling with wheels and pedals in games, I didn’t find racing with vehicles like Radical SR-8 RX or Palmer Jaguar JP LM, but had no chance with the power and handling of the McLaren P1 or RUF RGT-8. The detail in each track is fantastic, and grip and control issues from slightly venturing off the side of a track and then rejoining where the tarmac and grass meet haven’t been overlooked here. I won’t lie, in those few races where I had no chance of winning I ended up just admiring the detail on the cars themselves and turning it into a driving simulator as the rest of the vehicles overtook me. Project CARS really does look every bit as gorgeous as the screenshots suggest.

I’ll admit, the only one area where I feel slightly let down is with the car list. Make no mistake, CARS features a decent array of vehicles, spanning from track-day cars to open-wheeled racers, LeMans prototypes to supercars, but the one area I felt it was lacking was with road vehicles. I respect the fact Slightly Mad are aiming to provide the most authentic race-driver experience possible, but in a time where so many racing games feature high-end supercars, it’s the road vehicles I long for as of late. Yes, there is a road car list, but the majority are hot-hatches, with the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X as the only Japanese tuner I could see. Where are the Mazda RX7s? The Nissan Skylines? The Honda NSX perhaps? There’s a lot of love for American and European race cars, but not a lot of love for the Japanese racers.

I have a lot of hope for Project CARS and there’s no doubt it’s going to be one of the best track-based racing titles that console gamers have either ever seen, or that they have seen for quite some time. CARS looks to deliver not just a solid racing experience, but with graphics to boot – a combination so many developers seem to struggle with. I only wonder if the focus on more race-type vehicles has damaged my interest somewhat. With a lack of the more popular Japanese road sports cars from the roster, while it will no doubt be fun, will it be enough? Guess I’ll have to wait and see.

Project CARS launches on PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Wii U on March 17.