After some not so great news the other day, the team at Project CARS has released a new video previewing the title’s career mode. The video makes it clear that the team at Slightly Mad Studios have created a racing title that does more than just the on track action.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/Tby49yV4pOk[/youtube]
In career mode, players will create driver personas with historical goals – some of which are lofty like multiple World Championships – and decide what kind of racing series they want to compete in. Unlike many racing career modes, Project CARS will not make you “level up” from slower cars to faster ones, so you can jump in a Formula car right away if your heart desires. You’ll also be able to monitor your driver’s career progress, so jumping in that Formula car right away like your heart desires may not be the smartest move for your stats…
Project CARS also looks to incorporate the extra curricular activities of being a famous racing driver such as attention from fans, media and other teams that want to hire you (and hopefully not your current team’s desire to fire you). No word yet on whether or not you get naughty pictures from stalkers…cause I think that would really ramp up the realism (and the title’s rating…)!
My biggest question to the community is do you care about these features? Do you view them as a must have that enhances the experience or fluff that gets in the way of driving?
I love the fact that Slightly Mad has taken the extra time to really flesh out the experience of this game. As far as the “extra curricular activities” mentioned, that is a HUGE plus for me.
World Driver Championship on the N64 was an incredible game for many reasons. One such reason was the fact that you would be contacted by your team boss when signing on for a team, getting progress reports, and a final message when you would leave one team for another. At the time, I had not experienced such a feature in a game at the time.
Race Driver: Grid was also excellent in that you were in contact with your handler and could manage your team. Balancing the sponsorship deals, team mates, vehicle purchases and the like.
These extra inclusions add a much needed sense of weight, purpose, and personality to racing games. To me, it is much better than the “get in and go” design of most racing games. It gives you a reason to want to go racing. Something that stretches far beyond just loving to drive fast around a circuit, or appreciating a fine automobile.
Project CARS also does well in design as far as the career is concerned.
A major issue I have with most racing games is that in nearly every single racing game I’ve played, you ALWAYS have to start from the bottom and work your way up.
I liken this style of progression system to that of a linear shooter game. You are dropped in at the start of a level, shoot your way through enemies, progress further until you get to the other side, and finish the level.
Most racing games start you with the lowest tier of vehicles. You start your way through the beginner races, work your way up the ladders, unlocking better cars and more challenging events as you progress, until you finally reach the end of the championship/series/game in the top tier of races and cars.
It’s an annoying progression system. Example: you finish one Forza Motorsport game in the top tier of racing R class cars, only to start over again in F class cars in the next.
As has been seen in Project CARS, you can choose to progress how you like.
Want an open wheel racing career? You can choose to start at the beginning stages in karting and move forward to the better tiers of formula racing. Want to start at the top echelon of formula racing? You can immediately jump in to Formula A.
It’s a much needed, refreshing change of pace to the racing game genre. A non linear, free form progression system that doesn’t bore you with having a preset, uninteresting start point at the lowest end of the spectrum.
I’m sure that there is more I could write, but that is enough for now.
Bottom line: There is a reason Project CARS is one of my most anticipated racers in recent years. The features, attention to detail, content, devotion and care that have been put in to the creation of this game truly show. This will be a monumental game for the racing game genre.
Since I do most of my racing offline, having a solid Career Mode and single player component makes this sim very attractive to me. Disappointed it’s been delayed again but I’m really looking forward to it.
I’ll never touch the career mode, I just want competitive online racing. Let’s see how it achieves that…
I am looking forward to the Online racing of course, but the Career mode will be a nice diversion. Although it does feel Gran Turismo 1-4-ish… Not that that is all bad. It will be handy for those hours when none of my friends are on.
The off line career mode is where I will spend my time. I have no interest in the fan support of race team hiring/firing stuff