Today’s the day for Project Motor Racing! This highly-anticipated new sim racer has literally just launched on Xbox (and other platforms), and the first few reviews have started to go live for it as a result.
As we’ve mentioned before, Project Motor Racing features 70 cars and 27 track layouts as part of its single-player career and online multiplayer modes, complete with an all-new physics engine, immersive sound design and much more. It’s been developed by Straight4Studios, made up of devs from the likes of the GTR and Project CARS series’.
The PC version sounds like the best way to play PMR right now (it allows for 31 AI racers compared to a limit of 15 on console at launch), but the Xbox version does include full mod support which is apparently a “first for a sim racing title”.
Project Motor Racing is now available on PC, PlayStation®5, and Xbox Series X|S, arriving with full mod support across all platforms and a launch trailer showcasing the sim’s commitment to authenticity. Powered by the GIANTS Engine, the sim enables creators to build and share content from day one, with the first community-made mods already live.
Published by GIANTS Software and developed by Straight4 Studios, Project Motor Racing delivers an accurate racing experience shaped by real-world racers and inspired by the brutal high-stakes world of intense motorsport action.
But is it any good? Here are some of the reviews we’ve spotted for Project Motor Racing so far:
“(Translated) Project Motor Racing is courageous and consistent. It does not try to please everyone and in this lies its most genuine strength. It’s not perfect, and it will certainly take time and patience to find the right balance between technique and accessibility, between depth and attractiveness. But if it can transform its seriousness into a long-lasting sustainable project, with an active community and tools that allow those who love it to grow it, then we will have a simulator that deserves to be taken seriously.”
“(Translated) Besides Gran Turismo, which pales in physics to Project Motor Racing and ACC (for which there are no more updates), there is no racing game that offers what PMR can offer [on console]. If you’re willing to put in the time to get Project Motor Racing working properly, you’ll get an experience unprecedented on console in return, certainly comparable to the older Project CARS titles.”
“The attention to detail on the cars and tracks is fantastic, the force feedback is superb and the way tiny details such as rubber on track or even a drain in the pitman pulling your steering is so immersive. If it was a driving sim, LMDh aside, it would be fairly flawless. But in terms of it being a racing sim, when looking at single-player, the AI needs to be a bit more advanced in terms of how racers would react to you in the real world. Career mode has so much potential if this can be fixed and a few performance issues need ironing out too.”
“(Translated) Project Motor Racing is a beautiful, yet uncompromising racing simulator that will appeal to the seasoned enthusiast. Are you looking for a challenging, realistic racer who rewards you after hard work? Then you will probably find a new addiction in Project Motor Racing. However, if you are more of a casual racer who wants to tear through corners with pedal to the metal, then you better look elsewhere. Project Motor Racing punishes every mistake immediately and that can be quite demotivating. And while PMR is very realistic on some fronts, it is not realistic on others. For example, there is no mechanical damage, which you can expect in a sim. However, if you have the time, inclination and skillset to tackle the steep learning curve, then Project Motor Racing is a fine, ultra-realistic racing game in your hands.”
“Shortcomings aside, Project Motor Racing is a promising start to righting the ship for the racing sim genre. Experiencing how each individual car handles differently based on different setup tweaks, watching the weather change in real-time, and hitting a turn perfectly feel incredible with the new engine, even if the limited amount of content and guidance kneecaps the appeal to non-hardcore racers. It’s an experience that can have you jumping from elation to frustration in a moment, for better and for worse. Regardless, if this is the beginning of a new racing sim franchise that can build and expand on this foundation in the same way as the ones that came before it, I’m excited about what the future holds for Project Motor Racing.”
“Given that the vehicle dynamics are built from scratch and they are combined with a graphics engine out of its comfort zone, there is tremendous scope to polish, refine, tweak and upgrade. Emphatically, though, PMR isn’t a complete package yet. It needs a gravel-gargling Sean Dyche-style turnaround. Once time and several updates have passed, we’ll happily revisit Project Motor Racing. But at launch, we can only give it a lowly score.”
As you can see, there are definitely mixed feelings about Project Motor Racing at launch, but also a lot of people suggesting it’s packed with potential – hopefully this is one that’ll continue to get better and better over time.
If you fancy trying it for yourself, Project Motor Racing is available on the Xbox Store (for Series X and Series S) at a price of £61.99 / $69.99, and there’s a separate Season Pass if you want even more content for “Year 1” of the game.
Will you be picking up Project Motor Racing this week? Tell us in the comments section down below.
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Fraser is the News Editor at Pure Xbox, where he spends his time reporting on the biggest stories in the world of Xbox and beyond.
