It offers more freedom to choose the exact teams you want to race for in each motorsport series (and more of them in general) and there’s a new “Manufacturer Drives” event list, which allows us to score gigs as regular factory drivers for many of the included carmakers. Power in Your CornerThe massive career mode is similar to the first game, with a few positive tweaks. It doesn’t replace the ability to set your car up manually but it is handy for Cole Trickle-types who need a Harry Hogge to do their car whispering for them. There’s even a built-in race engineer that will suggest tuning changes based on the feedback you give it. Project CARS 2 is a tremendously deep destination for racing diehards but it doesn’t want to outright intimidate people. It seems like part of a wider, more accessible philosophy everywhere, from the less frantic menu layout, to the calm and informative VO from handling consultant and former Top Gear Stig Ben Collins eloquently explaining each and every aspect of the game as you encounter it.

There are plenty of settings you can massage if you wish, though (and what they do to your controller’s response and feel is way more clearly explained than it ever was in the more obtuse series of settings available in the first Project CARS). You don’t need a wheel to enjoy this deep, nuanced handling model there’s a satisfying, challenging, and most of all manageable racing experience to be had here, regardless of your control method. It’s a fraction more numb on turn-in compared to the 1:1 directness you get on a wheel but the twitchiness of the first game is just gone. I haven’t even touched any settings straight out of the box Project CARS 2 feels manageable and planted. On a gamepad, though? It’s simply a different game to the first altogether. The sensation of grip is terrific but so is the feel of it going away, which is way, way more linear and realistic. On a wheel it’s brilliant, from the feeling of being able to step the rear end out – and still save your car from what previously would’ve been a certain, uncontrolled slide – to the feel of the steering sharpening as your tyres come up to temperature, allowing you to really cut into corners and gobble up apexes. “Project CARS 2’s new handling model is a tour de force.

Project cars pc