Mass Effect Andromeda

Mass Effect Andromeda tried to do a lot. It tried to tell a new story with a brand new cast, with the team behind Mass Effect 3’s stellar multiplayer in charge. It also opted for much larger play spaces and more build diversity. However, from the very outset, there were issues, whether it was the plan to have randomly generated planets, Frostbite being a mess, high-level departures, etc. Despite being decent in several ways, Andromeda flopped hard enough that publisher EA reportedly cancelled DLC and put the franchise on ice for a few years.

Marvel’s Avengers

When Marvel’s Avengers was first revealed, “yikes” was the only real way to describe it, from the characters’ looks to the proud announcement of no loot boxes. All of this before any real gameplay, mind you. Following the game’s first delay, Crystal Dynamics began offering up more details and its looter focus became a bit clearer. But cue the first beta, which was monumentally flawed from the get-go, and the anticipation for launch became all the more soured. Sure enough at launch, Marvel’s Avengers suffered from performance issues, connectivity issues, balance issues, the list goes on. Even from a design standpoint, it was criticized for its grindy gameplay, one-note mission design, shallow end-game, lackluster loot, etc etc.

While it did sell an impressive 2.2 million digital units in its debut month, Square Enix would reveal in its second quarter FY2021 financial briefing that sales were lower than expected. In fact, development costs had yet to be recouped and the company suffered an operating loss of about $67 million. New content is on the way with the two Hawkeyes and Spider-Man, not to mention launches for Xbox Series X/S and PS5 next year but for now, Marvel’s Avengers is perhaps this year’s biggest commercial flop.

It’s been a busy year for Codemasters with several major releases, including the recent DiRT 5. The company revealed its financial results for the first half of the fiscal year, which is essentially the six month period ending September 30th. Releases in this period include F1 2020, Project CARS 3 and Fast and Furious Crossroads.

F1 2020 “materially over-performed” compared to last year’s iteration. The performance for Fast and Furious Crossroads and Project CARS 3 was in line with the company’s expectations. Interestingly, it noted that the critical response to the former was “disappointing” (check out our review here to find out why).

Revenue from games-as-a-service titles is “modest” at this point but should account for more of the company’s business in the future. As it stands, revenue and profits have doubled with revenue at £80.5 million while profits after taxes hit £19.9 million. The future should be interesting for the company, especially following its acquisition at the hands of Take Two Interactive (which will be finalized by next year). Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

Project CARS 3 streamlines a lot of the realism from previous games, which may or may not appeal to hardcore racing sim fans. Nonetheless, there is plenty to work towards, like Driver Points and Credits. The latter is used to purchase new cosmetics, parts and cars but what about Driver Points?

Essentially, they’re like XP that contributes to your overall level, which directly affects which cars you can access. Driver Points are doled out based on one’s racing performance. Farming them effectively means turning off all of the available assists and raising the AI difficulty – this will increase the amount of Driver Points earned along with increasing the multiplier for the same.

Where you place at the end of a race along also impacts the outcome. Keep in mind that performing acts like a Dirty Overtake will reduce the number of points earned compared to a Clean Overtake. So try not to smash into other vehicles while racing.

During Hot Laps, you should stay on track since that will also contribute points. Breaking track rules or going off-course will not grant you Driver Points, even if you finish in first place. The best way to farm Driver Points is to essentially open up a custom race and set the laps and opponents to one. Choose a Mojave track since it’s fairly short, disable all assists, raise the AI difficulty and try to get first place. This ensures that you’re earning a substantial amount of Driver Points without much hassle.

How to Farm Credits

Credits are the means to unlock almost everything in this game, including new tracks. Driver Level will influence the number of Credits earned upon leveling up. So what’s the fastest way to level up and earn more Credits with each level? You could go with the method above for Driver Points but there’s a way to rack up some serious Credits as well.

Load up a Custom Event and use a very fast car. Set the track to Knockhill Tri-Oval and the total number of laps to 99. Now turn off as many assists as you’re comfortable with, set the AI difficulty to its highest and race through all laps to rack up the XP and Credits. This can work on any tracks that are fairly short so give it a try on the different Mojave tracks as well if those are easier.

For more details on Project CARS 3, check out our review here.

"You can upgrade cars using currency earned during the career mode. This in turn opens up more options to modify and fine tune your car, tweaking it to emphasize things like braking, handling, and speed."

The game was claimed early on in development to be a spiritual successor to Need for Speed: Shift, and you can definitely see hints of that hiding in the game’s design. It’s also drawn some comparisons to the game GRID, and I think those comparisons are apt as well. The game goes for a more arcade styled progression system than previous entries. Here, you climb a ladder of sequential events, knocking out a handful of short events at a time. As you do so, you progressively earn money, experience points, and other rewards for your efforts.

It’s a far cry from the previous progression systems of the game’s predecessors, but I found it to be a fun change nonetheless. It gives the game a snappier pace, and the rewards flow pretty consistently, meaning you always feel like you’re accomplishing something and making progress. If you’re looking for the heftier, slower tournament style progression of past entries, then you might find yourself disappointed by these changes. Personally, I found them to be a lot of fun. The progression feels quick, snappy and constantly rewarding.

Gone are mechanics such as tire wear, and the actual mechanics of driving are greatly simplified. These cars turn at the front and break hard, as is the case in most arcade style racers. The driving feels good, and the cars are quick and responsive. In fact, the game does an excellent job of addressing some issues with handling and steering that have plagued the series since its inception. By making the cars more responsive in turns, and quicker to control, they’ve fixed the game’s sometimes wonky handling. Past entries had issues with some cars feeling much more responsive than others, while others felt sluggish and hard to control. By placing all the cars on more even footing, it fixes that problem, even going as far as to nearly eliminate it altogether.

"In addition to the visual flaws, the game suffers from some pretty poor decision making in its menus and other quality of life areas."

That’s not to say that the game eliminates it’s depth along with the handling options. On the contrary, you can still fine tune your cars to a pretty intense degree. You can upgrade cars using currency earned during the career mode. This in turn opens up more options to modify and fine tune your car, tweaking it to emphasize things like braking, handling, and speed. With enough upgrades, you can turn a dinky street car into a competitive race car. Admittedly, that sounds like a strange prospect at first, and it may serve to turn off those looking for a game grounded in the realism of the sport.

But at the same time, it’s a lot of fun and strangely satisfying to do so. Knowing that you’ve taken this little car, one that really has no place on a professional track, and have upgraded it from its humble beginnings into a professional race car feels immensely rewarding. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t offer that same depth and satisfaction in its visual customization, which is lacking compared to other major games in the genre, like Forza or Gran Turismo. Your options just feel kind of limited here, and it’s hard to make the cars look too distinct or interesting.

The game is generally something of a disappointment on all visual counts, actually. It just doesn’t look all that great when stacked up against its competition. When you’re in a genre like racing, competing with games like Forza and its top of the line graphics, your own visual shortcomings only become more noticeable. The cars themselves look good, as is expected. But environments look flat and weather effects are disappointingly static in appearance. The game also suffers from some more technical issues as well, including some noticeable aliasing on more distant objects and vehicles.

In fact, most of the game’s biggest flaws come on the technical side. In addition to the visual flaws, the game suffers from some pretty poor decision making in its menus and other quality of life areas. Menus are a cluttered mess to navigate, and they never really get any easier. The game also does a pretty poor job of actually explaining its progression and experience systems. It just leaves too much to you to figure out, and it can make the early experience a lot more confusing than it needs to be. Similarly, the AI is all over the place, both literally and figuratively. Their behavior during races can be downright weird at times, and they can alternate between extremely dumb and unbelievably aggressive. It’s usually the first one, but when the AI decides to play aggressively it can be really frustrating.

Luckily the actual racing experience is a blast. It’s fluid and responsive, and the cars feel like a joy to drive. Once you figure out the menus and progression, the systems at work here are rewarding and fun to play through. And while the customization isn’t the greatest in the world, it still gives you something to strive for, and the upgrade paths you can take for your cars are a blast. From a purely racing perspective, this is one of my favorite games out right now.

"Project CARS 3 feels like a daring departure, one that takes a lot of risks and will probably catch a lot of flak. But for those willing to take the risk, it’s a lot of fun."

And here’s the thing. Project CARS 3 achieves all of this success by throwing out major elements of what defined the previous games in the series. But despite the sweeping changes it makes to the franchise, Project CARS 3 works because there’s such a confident vision running throughout the entire experience.

All of the choices and changes that the developers made play off of and compliment one another. Every change made has a reason and serves a purpose. It’s that singular philosophy, that clarity of vision that keeps the game from feeling like a simplified cash grab. Instead, the game feels like a daring departure, one that takes a lot of risks and will probably catch a lot of flak. But for those willing to take the risk, it’s a lot of fun.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

NOTE: This interview was conducted prior to the game’s launch.

"With the new game, we definitely wanted to broaden the appeal of the series, and to introduce new people to a genre that we love. The revamped gamepad handling, career mode, multiplayer, customisation tools and so on are all part of that approach."

One of the notable changes Project CARS 3 has made is veering away from being a 100% simulation experience in an attempt to have a broader appeal. With that in mind, what were the challenges you faced during the game’s development in terms of striking the right balance between appealing to fans of the first two games’ hardcore simulation and Project CARS 3’s bid to be a more accessible experience?

With the new game, we definitely wanted to broaden the appeal of the series, and to introduce new people to a genre that we love. The revamped gamepad handling, career mode, multiplayer, customisation tools and so on are all part of that approach. At the same time, this is still a game that has the Madness Engine powering it. The underlying technology and simulation remain the authentic driving experience that people have come to expect from Project CARS. If you jump straight in with the assists off in tricky weather conditions, you’ll find the game as challenging and rewarding as ever, but we also want to guide new players on their journey to becoming sim-racers.

Keeping in line with the previous question, can you talk to us about the assist options in Project CARS 3 and how they cater to both, the hardcore simulation enthusiasts and those looking for a more accessible experience?

The assists in Project CARS have always been rooted in reality, and Project CARS 3 is no exception. From Traction Control to ABS, the tools available to drivers are modelled on those found in real cars, and we’ve refined them in the new game to make them less intrusive to the driving experience. This time around, they will of course help you out in a pinch, but they don’t get in the way of the experience. We also took a long look at the traditional “racing line” assist for learning circuits, and we could see that, for a lot of players, it had become a bit of a crutch, meaning that they over-relied on it and were not really using it as a training option to get faster and better. And that’s not just in Project CARS, but across all racing games. So we replaced it in Project CARS 3 with a new corner marker system inspired by real-world track-days. Instead of reacting to a colour changing on a line on the ground, you now learn tracks through dynamic braking, apex, and exit markers, designed to improve your muscle memory for each circuit and teach you about driving technique in a more realistic manner.

What are your plans for Project CARS 3’s post-launch support as far as updates and new content are concerned?

As always, we will be reviewing the balance of the game post-launch with the community’s feedback, so fans can expect plenty of updates. We also have a Season Pass, so there will be lots of exciting additional cars and tracks coming that we can’t wait to start talking about in the near future.

"The overhauled multiplayer modes in Project CARS 3 are really going to open-up the opportunities for us to continue our fantastic track record of uncovering new talent in the sim-racing scene."

The esports scene is obviously something that Project CARS fans are quite invested in. With Project CARS 3, what are the steps you’re taking to grow in that area?

The overhauled multiplayer modes in Project CARS 3 are really going to open-up the opportunities for us to continue our fantastic track record of uncovering new talent in the sim-racing scene. We had skill and safety ratings in Project CARS 2, but with Project CARS 3, we have refined the ways in which those stats are calculated, and we’re using them for skill-based matchmaking across all of the game modes for the first time as well. From Quick Play to Scheduled Events, this will make online racing in Project CARS 3 fairer and more competitive than ever before. And of course, we’ll be backing that up with official tournaments too: we’ll have more to say on that as soon as those plans are locked in.

Project CARS 3’s career mode has seen a significant overhaul, with extensive progression, car classes, objectives, and more, and it’s an improvement that fans of the series are very excited about. When you were setting out to re-envision the career mode, what drove the decision that all these improvements and changes were necessary?

We really wanted to make each player’s journey through the game feel more personal, and to let you put your own stamp on your experience. Our previous Career Modes have been about picking one motorsport discipline, sticking with it, and winning every race. This time we wanted players to have more freedom to choose the races and cars that they are most passionate about, and to take the emphasis off the need to come first every time, and shift towards objectives that encourage you to learn more about racecraft—from learning racing line techniques to particular types of overtakes, drafting, and so on. You can forge your own path through the career mode now, while also building you your collection of personalised cars and finding your own driving style.

24 hour cycles and dynamic weather put together are an exciting combination, especially in a racing sim. What’s the biggest impact this will have on races in Project CARS 3?

It wouldn’t be Project CARS if we didn’t have dynamic weather and the freedom for players to setup their races exactly how they like. The biggest impact is of course on immersion: From the tunnel vision you get in the darkness of the night to the concentration you need to avoid any unpleasant surprises in low-grip wet conditions, this is all part of the Project CARS experience. The LiveTrack atmospheric and weather simulation is something that we continue to refine from game-to-game, and we’re super proud of it again in Project CARS 3. It’s particularly awesome if you’re lucky enough to have a PC VR setup.

"We’re super excited to see what the new platforms will be cable of, and what new experiences appear, but right now we’re just focused on getting Project CARS 3 into the hands of gamers on the current generation of platforms."

The decision to not have microtransactions in the game is obviously a popular one, especially because this is a genre that seems rife for in-game monetization with car packs, cosmetics, and the like. Can you to talk us about how you landed on that decision?

All of us working on Project CARS are gamers at the end of the day, and we want to make games that we ourselves feel inspired to play. Project CARS 3 is about expanding our audience and the sim-racing genre, so it needed to be an inclusive title, focused on the gameplay and the sense of reward and progression. With that in mind, it didn’t make sense to us to promote micro-transactions.

Project CARS 3’s support for 12K resolution and VR is something that many in the PC community are excited about. Can you talk to us more about that, and what they will add to the experience?

A bit like the weather simulation, 12K and VR are all about immersion. Triple screens are a great way to get that realistic sense of being surrounded by the cockpit of the car. Widening your field of view so that you can see more of your opponents and the road ahead. VR of course takes that a step further with the ability to turn your head in any direction, and combined with the 3D visuals and audio, it makes it that much easier to judge braking distances, apex kerbs, and so on. We continue to improve our support for both of these technologies with each new game we make, and the game’s performance in VR keeps getting better and better.

Given that next-gen consoles are right around the corner, have you given any thought to PS5 and Xbox Series X enhanced ports for the game?

We’re super excited to see what the new platforms will be cable of, and what new experiences appear, but right now we’re just focused on getting Project CARS 3 into the hands of gamers on the current generation of platforms.

Even if Project CARS 3 isn’t quite the racing sim follow-up that fans were expecting, there’s still quite a bit of content to play through. Along with a fully-fledged Career Mode and multiplayer, players will be collecting over 200 cars and racing across 120 tracks worldwide. Locations include the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, China, Germany and much more.

Check out the video below for a complete run-down of all the cars and tracks in the game. Several of the cars require currency and leveling up one’s Driver Level to unlock them. Slightly Mad Studios will be adding even more via the Season Pass so stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

Slightly Mad Studios’ Project CARS 3 is now available for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Unlike previous games, this title focuses more on arcade-style racing and being more approachable for new players. Check out the launch trailer below which contains some of the action that players can indulge in.

Billed as a spiritual successor to Need for Speed: Shift, Project CARS 3 does away with tire wear, pit stops and fuel depletion for a more fast-paced experience. There are over 200 cars to race on more than 140 circuits across the world. Seasonal weather and 24-hour cycles add more variety to each harrowing race.

Career Mode has also seen some changes and is now about building up your reputation and rising through the ranks. Players will earn XP and currency to unlock more cars which can be upgraded using parts. There’s also a virtual driver avatar with cosmetic customization. More updates and content are likely to be added in the coming months so stay tuned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4CVPFt16QI&t=0s

It’s time to take some more laps around the course in the latest entry in the racing series, Project CARS 3. It’s been a busy year for Slightly Mad Studios between this and The Fast and The Furious game earlier in the year, but fans win all the same. Project CARS will release at the end of this week, but today we got over 9 minutes of gameplay on some of the game’s highest settings.

The video comes from YouTuber Shirrako who is showing off the game at ultra high settings. He has all HUD elements switched off, and explains he’s using a 2080 TI graphics card to push a resolution of 2160p and 60 FPS framerate. Now, obviously, a lot of people’s version of the game won’t look quite like this, but it still manages to give an idea of how the game can look, as well as how it plays.

Project CARS 3 will release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC August 28th. You can check out the PC requirements through here if you do want to try and get a pretty close resemblance to the video below.

Project CARS 3 developers have promised some ambitious things for their upcoming racer on PC as far as technical stuff is concerned, from 12K resolution support to best-in-class VR, but there are some things that it won’t be supporting. 

For instance, there’s no ray tracing support in the game. Speaking in an interview with Wccftech, Marketing & esports Manager at Slightly Mad Studios Joseph Barron said that though the developer is excited about the potential of VR, owing to the fact that Project CARS 3 is also being released for current-gen consoles and the fact that the developers wanted to priotitze performance above all else, ray tracing support couldn’t make it in.

“Ray tracing is an awesome new development for gaming as a whole. It’s exciting to see light and colour getting ever closer to reality,” Barron said. “For Project CARS 3, we’re still targeting the current generation of consoles and PC, so ray tracing wasn’t something that was on our radar for this particular title. We target 60FPS on all platforms since the frame rate is so crucial in simulation racing to help you to maximise your driving performance, and of course the PlayStation 4 and current Xbox consoles are not ready for ray tracing.”

Meanwhile, Barron also confirmed that though it’s something Slightly Mad Studios will consider for future titles, Project CARS 3 will not feature support for cross-platform multiplayer.

“Cross-platform play is certainly something that we will consider for future titles, but we don’t have any plans for it in Project CARS 3 right now,” he said.

Project CARS 3 releases on August 28 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. You can check out its PC requirements through here.