Since I am recently overworked and tired to the point where taking my wheel and pedals out of the closet seems like and inhuman feat, I can't be bothered to play proper racing, but I figured I might as well try something relaxing with cars in it. Thanks to some kind people writing guides on Reddit, I was able get NFS Pro Street running without issues and played a bunch of hours, till I hit a progression wall (kinda lacking money to build cars that would be able to win and grinding stuff I already did isn't my thing). However, a few short lessons learned from the game: - AI does not have rubber banding, or it's minimal and they actually can race properly to a large extent. - Tracks are either real world (not accurate) or based of real world tracks, which makes tons of sense for grip racing at least. - Drag racing is the best out of any racing game I have played. - Drifting can actually be quite satisfying once you get how it works (not very obvious). - Car selection and tuning options satisfy my need fully which is a rare thing. But the best feature is how the game discourages trading paint. Damage occurs on nearly any contact and impacts performance, you can even wreck your car, but most importantly it costs money and the more expensive the car the more expensive it is to fix. Feel like bumping this annoying guy off the track? That will be 5K dolaridos in that Supra. Did I mention struggling for cash is a thing in this? Forgot rating systems in racing sims, this is how it should be. Racing games have taught casuals for decades that the best way to overtake is a good old punt and despite sim developers' efforts, it still is. Not in Pro Street, unless you are filthy rich. Here it is, a NFS game which penalizes you for dirty racing. You also get some extra cash for finishing without damage. Sadly corner cutting doesn't cost anything and is sometimes the only way to win. Anyway I got bored with playing Helmet-On-At-All-Times guy and decided to check out Forza 7 again (why did I waste my money on this? oh yeah, I liked Forza 4). So months after release it doesn't crash any more. Occasional stutters still occur, if I max it out, especially in cockpit view with mirrors on and the graphics aren't all that impressive. Some tracks look nice at specific times of day, but trackside detail reminds me of rFactor 1 at times with the complimentary 2d dudes watching (and not having animations). For a 3xA game with a bloated budget and price, this is kind of disappointing. Same goes for career and how it forces you to use spec cars rather than build your own and upgrade it. The whole collection thing is annoying to say the least (buy all them cars you'll never drive to unlock that one you want). Oh and there is loot boxes, but I don't feel like the game is built around them. I eventually came to terms with the career and even had some enjoyment with it, at least until I moved to some more nimble cars. The understeer here is through the roof, no matter how you tune the car. Drifting feels super awkward because of it, like there was some unnatural force making the car go straight unless you push it past a certain point where it loses grip (you'll need a lot of horsepower too, A LOT). Handling is surprisingly more responsive from the cockpit view though. I just don't understand why. Horizon 3 had great handling for an arcade racer, why make the cars move like they were boats here is beyond me. The final straw was classic F1 cars - which slide around for all the wrong reasons and don't work at all with the AI. Oh yeah, AI is dreadful, worst ever, trash, slow, stupid... I ran out of adjectives, but you get it. The way the career is structured though reminded me of something. Grid Autosport! So ok, Grid 1 is probably my all time favourite simcade racer, Grid 2 was a total disappointment and Autosport was sort of the in-between. But not really. Handling here is a bit floaty, but very responsive, cars behave as they theoretically should and I like the fact that it's challenging (no assists allowed). A lot of stuff has been cut from previous iterations, but a few bits were added (practice, qualifying, basic tuning and upgrades). It's only a shame you cannot design your own liveries, buy cars and all that. But wait, you can! In multiplayer, and it's even got people in it (who for the most part try to race and not wreck). But you can just play custom cups with the AI in that mode. The thing is though, I think Autosport has some pretty cool features. Tracks look beautiful, with animated crowds cheering or booing depending how you do. Cars have great damage modelling, which also significantly impacts performance (another thing simracing titles could finally start doing, if they insist on actually simulating anything). Replays are very dynamic and fun to watch. There is a basic penalty system for cutting corners. The AI isn't bad either, it's possible to have clear race, though clearly some AI dudes are inhumanly fast. Which brings me to what Autosport is, or rather what it was meant to be. People seemed to think that it's just an update to Grid 2 using rehashed content an aiming to make it like Grid 1, only it wasn't that, so the game didn't break any sales records. But having a closer look at it... I know what it is - it's Grid going back to TOCA 3. And while TOCA 3 wasn't really the "simulator" it advertised itself as, it had some pretty cool stuff in it. If you haven't played it, check out this review:
shutting down grid 1 servers by codemasters was the greatest crime committed ever (especially not that long after release). Wreckfest feels simcady, i like it a lot
Ok a brief update since I sunk more and more into the Forza vortex. Forza Horizon 3 is actually pretty fun. There is stuff to do and I am having the time of my life with the barn finds. It's kind of lie the best open world racing game. Pretty good, once you don't expect anything serious. And now come the big one, Forza 7... I am ashamed to say I am enjoying it. I finally start to understand how builds and tuning works here, so as far as car handling goes (and drifting in particular), I like it. The understeer on most race cars is terrible, but once you get into customising stuff and making the game your own, it's pretty fun and you can actually find yourself something proper to play with. The good part in it is that you get that win moneys even outside of the career, so you're not forced to play that car collecting and race-spec game. I miss the music though, a game like this should have music when you're driving. Not sure why and where this came from, I was just playing some AMS and Raceroom, but I feel like it would be fun to race some Forza 7 with other people, you know just causally, have fun and fool around. There is just so many options. And yes this has nothing to do with simracing, not even close, but all in all cars behave plausibly and you can build a really unique ride for... well whatever you fancy doing with it. Disclaimer: I actually started enjoying Forza, after I updated my GPU drivers and then my game stopped working, so I had to go through a heap of trouble to make it work again, but at least now I get a smooth experience on the default settings and enjoy the game. Still, would not recommend this to anyone who hasn't been at least a Forza fan at some point in their life.