Racing games: which is your favorite?

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SPIDEI2MAN__

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The only pc racing game I've ever played was NFS: Rivals and I loved it, the graphics are great and you feel like you're going fast.

Contemplating picking up FH3 but worried that its sim-like controls would be too hard for someone like me who just wants to arcade race, but im willing to be convinced. Is it fun? How does it compare?
 
Just get FH3. Sim-like? Not really. Everything makes sense as far as physics go, but the driving experience is way more like NFS/Burnout/Motorstorm than Forza/DriveClub/Project Cars.
 
I've been a big fan of numerous Need for Speed games, but they're such a crapshoot now. As a general rule, they make a good one every 3 years. Rivals and Most Wanted were both good, though.
The Crew has a bunch of weird performance hiccups (at least at 60fps) but it's comparable to Need for Speed. It's better in some ways and worse in some others...but it's free right now. Can't argue with free.

Apex is also free and it's pretty stunning.
 
Loved most of NFS, the Grid series is good too. I like FH on the 360 so I might get FH3 for windows 10 but I'll try Apex first since its free.
Domingo Thanks for reminding me about The Crew, I was waiting for it for a while.
 
Grand Prix Legends is still my absolute favorite. Gran Turismo 4 is my second favorite, but that isn't on PC.

To answer OP question: FH3 is hella fun. You can't really compare the driving experience to Apex, though. Just buy it anyway! You won't regret it.
 
Test Drive Unlimited was the first racing game I really loved. I put 80-some hours into it and I think I was one of the first 10 people in the US to get 1000/1000 gamerscore.

It's pretty awful if you play it today but the Forza Horizon series is very similar. There are a lot of options in FH3 for difficulty and assists so I wouldn't worry about it being too difficult for you.

Edit: Project Cars and GRID Autosport are good as well. The Crew is fun with friends but I honestly wouldn't bother playing it solo, even for free. Going a bit older, maybe check out DiRT 3 or Shift 2.
 
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PiERiT said:
Test Drive Unlimited was the first racing game I really loved. I put 80-some hours into it and I think I was one of the first 10 people in the US to get 1000/1000 gamerscore.

It's pretty awful if you play it today but the Forza Horizon series is very similar. There are a lot of options in FH3 for difficulty and assists so I wouldn't worry about it being too difficult for you.
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I was a beta tester for TDU, and I absolutely loved that game. I don't know how many hours I put into the game. But I finished it to 100% including unlocking all the roads.
But there was another game very similar to TDU: Mercedes Benz World Racing. It just felt unfinished as there was no AI traffic in it. And no career mode worth a damn. But the driving was so great I spent hours just driving up and down the scenery without any goal.

And don't forget NFS: Porsche developed by the same people as TDU, of course that's too old to consider now, like MBWR, but the memories they can never take those away.


Games that are not too old to go back to but still good are NFS: The Run, Shift2, Gran Turismo 5, 6. Too bad a proper sequel is not even announced yet. Forget project cars, that game is terrible. I don't like it at all. If you can take games at the simulation end of the spectrum then I suggest Assetto Corsa, GT Legends (old but still holds up), and Live For Speed (also old, but still being developed, only the graphics looks very dated)
 
If I had to pick two games that were a bit opposite of each other but games I would play in a heartbeat would be Gran Turismo 3 and Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed.
 
The Foza series is without a doubt my favorite.

With Forza Horizon 3 out on PC... It's exactly what you are looking for. It's less SIM and mire arcade, especially with the assists enabled and it's a great racing game.

As others have said, if you want basically a sample of what the Forza motorsport series us like, check out the free Forza Motorsport APEX on tge Windows store. That's the circuit/simulation style game you are probably thinking of.
 
Thanks for the responses guys :)

Sounds like it may be the game for me then, will pick it up and hope my 970 can handle it. Also hoping for some patchwork.
 
If you liked Wipeout and are willing to deal with something a bit more "slidey" (I don't agree with many reviews that are all "they got the physics, it's so great!") then try Redout. There's a little too much F-Zero for me, and I will hate Sony for killing the Liverpool studio until the day I die... but you can't deny they tried.

If you liked Wipeout, go replay Wipeout 3. I'll wait. That, or get a PS3 cheap and play Wipeout HD.
 
Domingo said:
I've been a big fan of numerous Need for Speed games, but they're such a crapshoot now. As a general rule, they make a good one every 3 years. Rivals and Most Wanted were both good, though.
The Crew has a bunch of weird performance hiccups (at least at 60fps) but it's comparable to Need for Speed..
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I think not enough people give Need for Speed Shift any credit. I remember when I first played that game... I have never felt a sense of speed like that in a racing game ever. A proper circuit racer that felt like you were going 150 mph... you could feel every bump of the road, you can feel the weight of the car when you take a turn... It was a fantastic driving game. And that sense of speed... omg... you get that tunnel vision when going over a certain speed, and you can hear the wind rushing by on the outside of the car... I never played Shift 2, but Shift 1 is great. You can pick it up on Steam for real cheap nowadays.
 
zamardii12 said:
I think not enough people give Need for Speed Shift any credit. I remember when I first played that game... I have never felt a sense of speed like that in a racing game ever. A proper circuit racer that felt like you were going 150 mph... you could feel every bump of the road, you can feel the weight of the car when you take a turn... It was a fantastic driving game. And that sense of speed... omg... you get that tunnel vision when going over a certain speed, and you can hear the wind rushing by on the outside of the car... I never played Shift 2, but Shift 1 is great. You can pick it up on Steam for real cheap nowadays.
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Shift is horrible, physics wise. Yes, it gave a good feeling of speed, but the handling model was absolutely horrible. It was compounded by the fact they never actually added any real support for steering wheels to the game, so you were basically playing with a joystick that had extended range. This was just before tire deformation physics became a thing, though, so I think they were trying to fudge the numbers to make it feel like your car is taking a set into a corner. What it ended up doing in the end was turning the game into a guessing game about when and how the car was going to start sliding, and once it started you couldn't make it stop which again was compounded by the horrible controls.

For me, it started out being fun, but quickly became an exercise in frustration the further I got into the career.
 
Going way way back, I think the following NFS games were good: NFS 3, High Stakes, Porsche, Underground, Most Wanted, Hot Pursuit, Most Wanted ver. 2, and Rivals.
A few others (Underground 2, Shift) had good elements but just weren't a complete package.

What I'd rather see than another Need for Speed is a new Burnout. Criterion is apparently no longer involved with NFS so the door is open. All of the actual canon Burnout games were killer.
 
Monster Truck Racing 2
Grand Prix 2
Grand Prix Legends
IRacing

And still the best Racing Sim ever.....

NASCAR Racing 2003

And yes, from a pure enjoyment point of view, IMHO NR2003 > iRacing.
 
from the way way way back era: BIg Red Racing
from just slightly more recent than that: MotorCity Online
from the current era: Forza Motorsport series, all but FM5 - that one sucked donkey balls
 
Does a big open world driving game exist that involves no racing? Just driving leisurely with no clock or opponent competing against you.
 
I loved Fuel. Everyone else hated it. You need to cheat even worse than the AI does (and boy does it ever cheat) and many didn't like that concept. For many races, don't limit yourself to staying on the road or you will lose, and a certain motorcycle does off-road shortcuts a lot better than the cars, and you need to cheat to use the motorcycle instead of the cars. The best shortcuts were plunging all the way down the mountain in a single jump rather than following the switchback road down. I would like to see another game like this.

I liked Dirt 1, hated Dirt 2. I guess I prefer much longer courses.

Burnout Paradise is one of the most fun racing games (get the Ultimate Box edition). Lots of mayhem! Not realistic at all and I wouldn't have it any other way. That mode where you bounce around trying to wreck as many buses as possible is the best.
 
Project Cars is only like $10 for the next few days. What's the general opinion about that? Looks like there are tons and tons of paid add-on packs. Is this one of those games where you're only buying a shell and everything else costs more money?
 
Domingo said:
Project Cars is only like $10 for the next few days. What's the general opinion about that? Looks like there are tons and tons of paid add-on packs. Is this one of those games where you're only buying a shell and everything else costs more money?
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The base game already comes with a lot of content. It's just that they happened to release a lot of extra content to go with it. No reason to not buy the GOTY Edition at this point, in my opinion, but I think one would be completely content with the original game.
 
For fairly current stuff, I enjoy Assetto Corsa. It's fun to drive the cars in that, and looks great.

For older stuff, I really Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit and Porsche: Unleashed. GPL will always be one of my favorites.
 
celwin said:
Does a big open world driving game exist that involves no racing? Just driving leisurely with no clock or opponent competing against you.
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Maybe not what you are looking for but you could basically play GTA (any of them) that way. Not the most realistic physics obviously though.
 
You can play Forza Horizon games without competing but will need to earn some credits which normally require you to run races.
 
Mario kart on snes!
Daytona USA(arcade version was waaaaay ahead of its time!).
wipEout! redout is cool too.
most of the nfs series, shift 2 I really liked.
apex is great! waiting on a fh3 demo before I buy into that...
I have always preferred arcade racers over sims. I think ive played about 15 minutes combined between all the turismo games.
 
I see a few GPL fans in here :). By far my best racing sim, I still drive with a UK based league once a week.
 
Arcade game would defineltely be "Daytona USA" although "Atari Super Sprint" was a lot of fun.

At the time, "Super Cars II" on the Amiga was great.

Current PC casual games I'm enjoying are "Table Top Racing World Tour", "Mantis Burn Racing" and "Riptide GP Renegade".

A couple of early access titles I'm enjoying are "Grip" and "Formula Fusion" (Rollcage and Wipeout variants).

Of the Dirt series, I thought 2 was the most fun.

Flatout Ultimate Carnage is still good fun as is Gas Guzzlers Extreme.

Sim-wise, "Assetto Corsa", "RaceRoom Racing Experience" and "Dirt Rally" hold my interest.

Currently playing Forza Horizon 3 and having fun with that.
 
Need for Speed II: Special Edition

Sadly, these days EA keeps contend locked and expects me to unlock it, even in multiplayer. Yeah, fuck you EA. No money for you.

Lately I've been playing F1 Race Stars (Mario Kart clone) with my wife. It's fun.
 
once you step into the world of sim racing with a proper steering wheel, hard to go back to the games...

my picks are assetto corsa, dirt rally. Assetto corsa is full on sim.. while dirt rally has enough sim- arcade to make it enjoyable.
 
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