Hello you racing fans. As you might be aware this week has been incredible for fans of racing sim games. And I have spent hours and hours with both to bring you not really a review of these two games, but more of a comparison between the two products to help you guys get the game you'll be happier with. Okay maybe a review.
I'll start simply with the TL;DR. If you are hardcore into racing sim games, love using the wheel and pedal setup, want to be able to masterfully fine tune each and every car for each and every race, Project Cars 2 is your game. Forza 7 is a deep but ultimately more casual experience so if you are interested in just getting into a racing sim with ease, Forza is the way to go.
Now for the details which I will break up into sections.
Cars: Both games have more cars than you can ever possibly want or need. From supercars to go karts both games have massive collections of speedy monsters to sink your teeth into. Where Project Cars has Go-Kart racing of different degrees, Forza 7 has big rig truck racing, both race types are fun and funny for pretty much the same reason. It's a nice little touch to have here and a nice change of pace when you wanna step out of your Ferrari for a while. Frankly when it comes to car selection you really can't go wrong with either game here, although you may have a slight preference in one or the other, but don't let it be the deciding factor over which game to pick.
Tracks: Both games utilize real world tracks and the biggest feature really present on both games is showing off the weather systems. Project Cars will have you racing tracks in various weather conditions which change up how each track feels on a given weather scenario. Technically PC2 does use a "dynamic" system, but it never felt like it changed much for me. A snowy track felt the same regardless of snow actively falling during the race or not. Rain also felt the same way overall and it meant that the race didn't require any adaptation between laps. It's still cool, and the differences in weather from race to race on the same track will change how you approach that track, it just doesn't seem to change directly during a race.
Forza 7 I feel takes the edge here because of weather and time changes that take place during races. Your may start a race during a thunderstorm only to have that storm break up and those beautiful thin rays of sunshine light up your race after the fourth or fifth lap taking away the constant threat of hydroplaning, and replacing it with puddles on the track that become hazards. This system in Forza literally forces you to change how you race the track from lap to lap and it is really cool.
Customization: Here is where Project Cars 2 really takes it over the top. You can customize everything in PC2, from every aspect of your car (gear ratio, suspension, brake power, tires, aerodynamics, etc), to every aspect of the race (asists, # of laps, weather, AI difficulty, time of day, etc). The adjustments on the cars is so detailed that it is clear that it is meant for people who really know and love cars.
Forza 7 has all this as well, but to a lesser degree. You can't changed the number of laps on a race directly, instead you pick normal, long, or very long, race lengths. You can adjust your assists, and you can adjust your car but these adjustments seem lacking and the game does a good job of making it easy to tweak a car without ruining a car for people who may not be as understanding of how a suspension works. A serious racing sim fan would still be happy with what Forza offers, but compared to what they can get out of PC2, that kind of fan would definitely lean towards PC2.
Playability: Project Cars 2 loses here pretty hard. The main focus career mode feels cluttered with bad menu design making it harder to determine the career path you are choosing. As well as the game not really feeling directed. The career mode is basically a glorified "just race" kind of mode which I wasn't too keen on, but again serious sim fans wont care much about it anyway and that's what PC2 is targeting. Additionally, playing on a control is just awful here. Stirring on a stick requires so much adjusting as the default controls will force the car to oversteer at the slightest touch, not only that but you need to adjust your control again if there is weather on the track. It's cumbersome and more of a hassle that I think it is ultimately worth.
Forza 7 plays great both ways. Wheel or controller, the game just works and doesn't need controller adjusting (though you can do that if you want). Since I am not a super sim fan, I prefer a controller and this made Forza 7 much more enjoyable to play. Additionally the career mode is fantastic in that it just makes sense. You create a racing avatar, a driver that you can customize their gear and you will see this drive in your car at all times. The goal is to become the Forza Cup Champion and in order to do this you must win several championships along the way. I've always said that I loved the early Forza games because they start you in shitty cars and make you earn your way into supercar racing. Forza 7 returns to that and makes you race in pick-up trucks and hatch backs before moving into fast and faster cars. The only downside here is that they decided to add a collection element to the game, forcing you to buy and collect a certain number of cars in each "tier" before they let you buy higher tiered cars. I get why they did this, trying to encourage the player to try a number of different cars, but I don't feel like it was the complete right move as previous Forza games had category races that promoted this better. But I guess when there are over 700 cars in the game, they gotta get you to look at more than just your favorites right? It's not a deal breaker and is more of an odd choice rather than a hindering one.
All in all, both games are great. I personally prefer Forza 7 because I am not as knowledgeable about tweaking cars, plus I prefer playing on a controller which Forza just does a better job supporting. But like I said above, if a serious racing sim is what you are after, then Project Cars 2 is the way to go by far, as it provides a much better serious driving experience.
I'll start simply with the TL;DR. If you are hardcore into racing sim games, love using the wheel and pedal setup, want to be able to masterfully fine tune each and every car for each and every race, Project Cars 2 is your game. Forza 7 is a deep but ultimately more casual experience so if you are interested in just getting into a racing sim with ease, Forza is the way to go.
Now for the details which I will break up into sections.
Cars: Both games have more cars than you can ever possibly want or need. From supercars to go karts both games have massive collections of speedy monsters to sink your teeth into. Where Project Cars has Go-Kart racing of different degrees, Forza 7 has big rig truck racing, both race types are fun and funny for pretty much the same reason. It's a nice little touch to have here and a nice change of pace when you wanna step out of your Ferrari for a while. Frankly when it comes to car selection you really can't go wrong with either game here, although you may have a slight preference in one or the other, but don't let it be the deciding factor over which game to pick.
Tracks: Both games utilize real world tracks and the biggest feature really present on both games is showing off the weather systems. Project Cars will have you racing tracks in various weather conditions which change up how each track feels on a given weather scenario. Technically PC2 does use a "dynamic" system, but it never felt like it changed much for me. A snowy track felt the same regardless of snow actively falling during the race or not. Rain also felt the same way overall and it meant that the race didn't require any adaptation between laps. It's still cool, and the differences in weather from race to race on the same track will change how you approach that track, it just doesn't seem to change directly during a race.
Forza 7 I feel takes the edge here because of weather and time changes that take place during races. Your may start a race during a thunderstorm only to have that storm break up and those beautiful thin rays of sunshine light up your race after the fourth or fifth lap taking away the constant threat of hydroplaning, and replacing it with puddles on the track that become hazards. This system in Forza literally forces you to change how you race the track from lap to lap and it is really cool.
Customization: Here is where Project Cars 2 really takes it over the top. You can customize everything in PC2, from every aspect of your car (gear ratio, suspension, brake power, tires, aerodynamics, etc), to every aspect of the race (asists, # of laps, weather, AI difficulty, time of day, etc). The adjustments on the cars is so detailed that it is clear that it is meant for people who really know and love cars.
Forza 7 has all this as well, but to a lesser degree. You can't changed the number of laps on a race directly, instead you pick normal, long, or very long, race lengths. You can adjust your assists, and you can adjust your car but these adjustments seem lacking and the game does a good job of making it easy to tweak a car without ruining a car for people who may not be as understanding of how a suspension works. A serious racing sim fan would still be happy with what Forza offers, but compared to what they can get out of PC2, that kind of fan would definitely lean towards PC2.
Playability: Project Cars 2 loses here pretty hard. The main focus career mode feels cluttered with bad menu design making it harder to determine the career path you are choosing. As well as the game not really feeling directed. The career mode is basically a glorified "just race" kind of mode which I wasn't too keen on, but again serious sim fans wont care much about it anyway and that's what PC2 is targeting. Additionally, playing on a control is just awful here. Stirring on a stick requires so much adjusting as the default controls will force the car to oversteer at the slightest touch, not only that but you need to adjust your control again if there is weather on the track. It's cumbersome and more of a hassle that I think it is ultimately worth.
Forza 7 plays great both ways. Wheel or controller, the game just works and doesn't need controller adjusting (though you can do that if you want). Since I am not a super sim fan, I prefer a controller and this made Forza 7 much more enjoyable to play. Additionally the career mode is fantastic in that it just makes sense. You create a racing avatar, a driver that you can customize their gear and you will see this drive in your car at all times. The goal is to become the Forza Cup Champion and in order to do this you must win several championships along the way. I've always said that I loved the early Forza games because they start you in shitty cars and make you earn your way into supercar racing. Forza 7 returns to that and makes you race in pick-up trucks and hatch backs before moving into fast and faster cars. The only downside here is that they decided to add a collection element to the game, forcing you to buy and collect a certain number of cars in each "tier" before they let you buy higher tiered cars. I get why they did this, trying to encourage the player to try a number of different cars, but I don't feel like it was the complete right move as previous Forza games had category races that promoted this better. But I guess when there are over 700 cars in the game, they gotta get you to look at more than just your favorites right? It's not a deal breaker and is more of an odd choice rather than a hindering one.
All in all, both games are great. I personally prefer Forza 7 because I am not as knowledgeable about tweaking cars, plus I prefer playing on a controller which Forza just does a better job supporting. But like I said above, if a serious racing sim is what you are after, then Project Cars 2 is the way to go by far, as it provides a much better serious driving experience.
