Project CARS 3 Critic Reviews

For a car or racing enthusiast, Project Cars 3 has a lot to offer. The depth of customizing, upgrading, and tuning up cars is impressive. The track-time experience is a lot of fun and generally feels realistic. When you pause it to enter “Photo Mode,” there’s also a variety of customization options to capture the drama of a race. The only question I have is how/if they will reoptimize for the next gen consoles. If you’re big on racing games, while it doesn’t really offer much that’s new to the equation, Project Cars 3 is a buy. See you on the track.

No doubt about it: Project Cars 3 is an absolute treat. In-depth and expansive enough for veteran racing genre fans, yet accessible and inviting enough for more casual players, Project Cars 3 is a title that other racing games should aspire to be - from its selection of vehicles to its contact-packed Career mode to the online features and events that are sure to foster a fun and competitive community. While (for me) many racing titles grow stale fairly quickly, Project Cars 3 is one game that I’ll be playing for a very, very long time.

Project CARS 3 is not a standard sequel. It takes a lot of content from the two previous games (including the realistic handling of the cars), but it adds some arcade ideas that work and make it look more like GRID.

Slightly Mad Studios returns to the fray with its simulator par excellence, Project CARS 3 arrives loaded with news, becoming a title adapted for all audiences under a gameplay mixed between simulation and arcade that may not satisfy the most purists. The title is entertaining in general lines and we are facing a good continuation of the saga although somewhat decaffeinated in the most purist simulation.

Forget simulation, Project CARS 3 goes in a different direction and provides a more arcadelike experience. While this will definitely be a letdown to longtime fans of the franchise, in and of itself the game nevertheless manages to be great at what it tries to do.

Project Cars 3 is bustling with things to do. It’s as accessible as the series has ever been, and while marred by some inconsistencies in its presentation, is for the most part a joy to play.

While some might balk at the fact that Project Cars 3 is designed to be accessible, under the hood is the same bone-grindingly difficult racing sim that the series has always been. There’s just more variety of modes and an easier on ramp for people to get into them. This newest title is a welcome mat for the new fans and the die hards alike. There’s always another fresh race to enjoy and a new challenge to overcome. While it isn’t perfect, Project Cars 3 is a solid entry to the series and the racing genre as a whole.

A solidly made and entertaining racing game with loads to unlock, whose minor graphical shortcomings and sim-lite handling do nothing to interfere with long term appeal.

This is, in a strange way, a very brave game. It’s great - but it also targets a different audience than the previous titles in the series. It’s no longer trying to compete with Gran Turismo, Assetto Corsa and other serious sims, instead it rivals Forza Motorsport. But you can still feel its simulation roots.

Project CARS 3 is a serious departure from the franchise's roots. It takes a lot of risks, but those willing to make the jump will find a fun and rewarding racing experience.

The driving model, once framed in the perspective of a title that also points to accessibility, is certainly functional and fun, but don't expect the simulation rigor of the old chapters.

When looking at the game objectively and trying to forget you're playing a Project-Cars-game, this is a fun arcade-style racer with a little more depth than normal arcade racers. But as a fan expecting a follow-up in the same style as former Project-Cars-games, this is a bit of a mindf.ck.

The third entry in this series leaves its roots behind to offer a more accessible game. We’ve had a good time with it, but Project Cars fans might be disappointed with this new approach.

Project CARS 3 carries some of the DNA that has defined the series from its origins, but it is also true that, with the change, part of the identity was lost. This is clear because it's fun, it works and fulfills every proposal, but at the same time, it does not change anything nor does it offer something that distinguishes it from the rest of its competitors.

If you're looking for an arcade-sim with buckets of content which combines all the best bits from Gran Turismo, Forza and DriveClub, look no further. If you're a Project Cars 2 fan hoping for an update to their favourite sim, forget it. Key sim elements are now missing and although it's a fine arcade-sim racer, it should have been rebranded rather than gutted for a mainstream audience.

Project Cars 3 shifts from simulation to simcade drive style, and the career mode has been redesigned from the ground up. The PS4 version has a lot of serious technical flaws.

The big question for me, personally, though, is whether Project Cars 3 just zigged when it should have zagged. The thing is, that I do like accessible racing games. I spent many, many hours with Real Racing. But this new entry with Project Cars has given the series an identity crisis, and where the developers could have taken their existing learning and delivered the previous Project Cars vision to an all-new degree, instead we've got the team effectively starting from scratch again. I guess we can look forward to Project Cars 4 being a repeat of Project Cars 2, in taking and refining the initial idea and actually delivering to the vision.

Project Cars 3, at least on the base console versions, isn’t quite the polished sequel we were hoping for, but despite its foibles – and there are many – it’s entertaining. The racing can be fun, finding that niche of being accessible and competitive.

Project Cars 3 might not be the sequel you expected from the series, but its shift to a more arcade style of racing is one that makes the series approachable for the first time. It's not a clean cut from its roots, and Project Cars 3 retains just enough of its simulation options to provide enough of a challenge with all of its assists turned off. The transition isn't seamless, with some confounding racing objectives and uneven AI that takes the sting out of some events. But if you're looking for another way to get out on a virtual track, Project Cars 3 is an exhilarating new alternative.

The choice to make Project Cars 3 a more accessible, yet (sort of) realistic racing game, does not work out quite well. Nevertheless, this combination does provide entertaining moments.