Project Cars, developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published by Bandai Namco Games, was a game that was never completely on my radar. I had heard about how it is the most realistic car racing simulation to date and other general praise, but after falling victim to hype one too many times I decided to take a more measured approach to following the game. Now after getting a chance to sit down and play the game for a short period of time I can see where the praise and general hype is coming from.

Project Cars offers the most realistic card handling to date with the car I drove reacting realistically to my actions. When I tried to hit the accelerator while cornering the car would jitter from side to side, this effect had me change how I drove as I realized I had to focus not only on the cars in front and behind, but also my own car. While it took a few races I did manage to change my style to compensate for the increased difficulty in handling. While I feel some people might not like the idea of having to work hard and practice to get good at driving in the game, I felt a level of pride and accomplishment knowing that I managed to learn how to handle such a difficult to drive car. While it wasn’t available in the preview build Bandai Namco Games stated that the game would have multiple gameplay settings, so if you don’t want to learn you can tweak the game to suit you.

The cars really do like to slide

The realism isn’t only limited to the handling as Project Cars is one of the most beautiful PS4 game I have seen to date, although the PC version is supposedly far more stunning with it supporting 4K and 12K Ultra HD resolution. While the track I drove on, Brands Hatch, was stunning what really caught my eye were the cars, as the attention to detail was simply amazing. If you get involved in a collision the car will show off the damage in a realistic fashion with car parts not simply just falling away after one hit, but try to stay attached to the car for as long as possible. The prime example for me was the rear bumper of my car trying to hold on for dear life as one side was hanging on my by a thread.

While my hands on experience of Project Cars was nothing but perfection for me, I did happen to see another reviewer test out the physics engine by driving his car head on into another car, and well the result was pretty hilarious as his car was rocketed into the air to be most likely never seen again.

From my short hands-on preview of Project Cars I find myself eagerly waiting to try the final product, as I want to see what else the game has to offer. Although from what I’ve seen Project Cars might just be the best racing game made to date.

Project Cars will be available for PS4, Xbox One and PC in November 2014. A Wii U version will also be released sometime in the future.