Pre-order Bonus for Project CARS Available for Online Pre-orders Only
*pre-order links posted at the bottom of the page
Here I am, not long ago, talking about just how passionate and involved a particular group of fans are, only be confronted with another, which forced me to think. My first thought was a rueful ‘ if anyone puts the Street Fighter guys to shame, it’s the car worship guys’. Which then made me realize that it’s no different from the Cosplayer’s, nor any other niche you care to mention. The ability to connect and team up has created enormous push, power in the hands of a proactive many which as a community demand a certain standard. SFIV is one example, and gosh darned if Project CARS isn’t another.
Release Date: March 17, 2015
Consoles: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Wii U
Rating: T
Crowd funded and community tested, the folks at Slightly Mad Studios are clearly proud of that fact. The CARS in ‘Project CARS’ stands for ahem, ‘Community Assisted Racing Simulator’ (which is really a clever little play on words). It’s representative of a symbiotic relationship that is cropping up more and more, and why not use an engaged and interested horde of enthusiasts to hone your experience? They’re the target demographic anyway, and they know what they like (and what they don’t). So, get ready for some vehicular worship race fans, take a look at this…
I’m not sure about you, but there were several moments back there where I lost the ‘artificial’ look of CG, looking at some of the screenshots just reinforces it. This is as close to real life as I’ve seen CG rendered in a game. Makes sense I suppose, if precision has a home, it belongs with the Car Sim people, and the genre has always pushed at the boundaries of a hardware’s graphical ability. At any rate, if you are a car fan your pulse is surely quickened by now. Heck, even if you’re not a car person that it should be enough to spark some interest. I expect Project Cars will be making a big splash in November.
They might have called it ‘World of Cars’, as it seems as though Slightly Mad have created a one stop shop for the Racing Sim enthusiast. Boasting ‘the largest roster of race locations of any recent racing game’, from what I can tell is in the 50’s, with the car count round about 70. They’re calling this a ‘Sandbox’ style game, maybe ‘open box’ might have been a better choice.The idea being, create your racer, pick your motorsport, and you’re (if you’ll excuse the pun) off to the races. No piddling around with constrained career paths, choose from any of the car types with a four tiered system they’re throwing around Career, Solo, Online, and Community. With Career, the standard, zero to hero experience is available, where Solo allows you to do your own thing by organizing a Quick Race Weekend, a feature giving the player total control over all race variables. For those folks who like to brag, or merely test their skills against their fellow racers, Online beckons. Meanwhile, you’ll have plenty of time to share and obsess over your passion with their many Community features. And did I mention the 3D virtual reality thing? Everything I hear out of the Oculus Rift / Project Morpheus arena is that it’s like the future, but needing a practical gaming experience as proof of concept, or at least, to give it a mainstream, viable delivery method. Given the choice of third party wheels and pedals for racing titles, it’s not hard to imagine the VR world finding a home on the race track.
So, with all that in mind, available for online pre-orders only, get the Modified Car Pack, which includes
- Ruf CTR3 SMS-R – A race spec version of the already impressive Ruf CTR3 super sports car created by the talented engineers at veteran developer Slightly Mad Studios. This modified version produces over 750 horsepower and a staggering 330 km/h top speed making it a truly unique combination of technical excellence and aesthetic passion.
- Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster – An open-top hyper car with a monstrous top speed, racecar levels of downforce, and extravagant beauty to match its multi-million dollar price tag.
- Ariel Atom 3 Mugen – Instantly recognizable with its exposed red chassis and white bodywork while underneath the hood a tuned Honda Type R engine gets it from 0-60 in just 2.9 seconds.
A stunning looking experiment that appears to be paying off, Project Cars seems to be an accumulation of the best in modern media. Enthusiastic people making products their passionate about, with the help of the community they belong to, producing an experience tailored by many hands and hearts working in concert. The result is, well, I’m not sure the word ‘Game’ applies as much anymore, and the word ‘Experience’ is too generic, but its somewhere in between. A suite of digital, simulated content reflecting the many facets of a particular ‘hobby’? No, not strong enough a word, ‘Sport’ is the best I can do, and it’s more a platform than any mere game.
And remember the Modified Car Pack Pre-order Bonus for Project CARS is available for Online Pre-orders only
