At times, it looks as good as real life
Superb weather system
Open-ended structure means no unlocking
Immensely satisfying when you finally win
Inconsistent quality across events
The AI needs a refresher course in how to drive safely

There’s a number of rough edges then, and it takes a while to get used to, but there’s still a lot to like about Project CARS. Put a little effort into tweaking the game to suit you, and there’s plenty to enjoy here, whether it’s tackling the unique career, dropping in for a single quick race or heading online to duke it out on track with your friends.

Design-wise, so far it holds up. At times it can be incredibly pretty, though at no point would you say it looks better than DriveClub. The menus (which you’ll spend a lot of time in) are the easy to navigate tiles that are all the rage at the moment, though they could perhaps be better presented.

Project CARS isn’t for everybody. It’s a serious, deep, and demanding racing simulation for people who like their motorsport pure. There’s no pop punk soundtrack, or explosive takedowns, or generous rewinds. Project CARS has set out to capture the experience of manhandling a real racing car around a long list of some of the world’s most famous racing circuits and, despite a couple of frayed edges, it has thoroughly succeeded. Tough but satisfying and cruel but fair, Project CARS is a truly fantastic racing game with the potential to become a real force in the genre. But it’s not for everybody.

It is, however, for anybody – and this is an important distinction. Project CARS is probably the most user-friendly racing game I’ve ever played.

In summary, Project CARS isn’t quite the complete package as it stands right now, with our main gripe being the performance of enemy A.I. and some of the glitches we’ve encountered. Nevertheless, it does feel like it’s built for a long-term audience, a community-focused racer that will no doubt keep on growing and improving. And Project CARS actually turns out to be more accessible than you might think in terms of the way the cars handle on the easiest setting, despite the fact that it's obviously designed for the core simulation fans. With so much on offer from the outset, the sandbox approach is refreshing, while its scenery and track design never fails to impress. The cars are a lot of fun to drive, too, and the challenge of tuning your car and nailing a track to perfection is as addictive as racing games get. While Project CARS doesn’t quite roar past the championship finish line in a blaze of glory, it feels ready to burst out of the qualifiers onto the main scene.

The bottom line is that Project CARS manages to refresh the racing simulation genre, and in doing so sets a new level that future entries into this genre need to, at the very least, match in order to compete with the competition. And even then, we suspect that Slightly Mad Studios will have refined this title further in the form of future DLC and patches.

Similarly brow-furrowing is the abundance of bugs. I've seen the AI take over control in the pit lane as usual, only to drive into a wall before fumbling for reverse and backing up to have another go. The clouds flicker sometimes, as does the player car in some replays. I've seen the camera spawn in below the circuit, looking up at the undertrays of the cars on the grid. I've been booted back to the Xbox dashboard… even had everything load in except the light sequence, leaving everyone waiting on the grid. Forever.

I was shocked and delighted to discover that not only could I jump the start, I would have to take a drive-through penalty in the pits to pay for it.

There's much still to address in our review later this week, notably online racing, which at time of writing consists of no more than a handful of custom games at a time and an apparent lack of matchmaking or playlists: will online Project Cars live or die by the strength of its community?

Webbins wrote:

There are just too many idiots with no interest in racing other than to grief their sorry little lives round a track for their own amusement.