My problem with Project Cars 2
My problem with Project Cars 2
When I played the first Project Cars, I enjoyed the different classes of cars and how each series was based on a championship points system like racing leagues. I immediately took to how the system of progressing through different leagues all the way up to LP1 Le Mans (here was a serious lack of branding rights in PC1, which was my only gripe) . So when Project Cars 2 was announced with more cars, particularly the Verizon INDYCARs, more tracks, and a more immersive career mode, I was hyped. When I was able to rent it, I wasted no time and got it. Then I played the introductory race: Long Beach Street Circuit, in the McLaren MP4 in the rain.
I couldn’t drive it to save my life.
Now, as a person that has play racing games ranging from arcade style like Need for Speed, to more simulation types like the yearly FIA Formula 1 games, racing isn’t a foreign concept. But with this title, I couldn’t control the car at all. Every nudge of the joystick sent me careening into a wall and any pressure on the gas caused uncontrollable wheel spin.
I tried YouTube videos on controller setups so I could try and get something done. It sort of worked and I completed laps at the Indianapolis Motor Series Road Course in the vintage Jaguar Prototypes but nothing felt right or as comfortable as I remember PC1. I want to attribute my hard time to the possibility that this installment was based more for individuals who had access to the racing wheel. The wheel, so I’ve heard, allows for more user feedback. So a 10-degree change in the wheel on a controller doesn’t feel like a right angle and the ability to feel when to put the power down out of a turn rather than spin out immediately.
For reference, and though I understand that they are completely different titles, I played the Gran Turismo Sport beta and didn’t have control issues even though it wasn’t in my normal wheelhouse. So I retuned PC2 early, disappointed I never got to race the INDYCARs and confused as to why I couldn’t control the cars consistently. Maybe with more research I’ll give it another shot, but for now I’m holding this L.