Project Cars 3 really stretches the definition of a sequel. It bears no resemblance to previous Project Cars games, tossing aside the franchise's traditional tough-as-nails racing for a more approachable formula that a wider range of players can enjoy. The result is a racing game that leans heavily into territory that should be familiar to Forza players, meaning you can enjoy its racing without extensive knowledge of the inner workings of each car you drive. But it's also a racing game that struggles to bring together all of its new elements cohesively.

Core to Project Cars 3's transformation is its overhauled handling system. You'll have more than enough downforce in the front to bend around each corner with the right amount of car, only briefly having to counter-steer to prevent the back from whipping out from underneath you. It makes racing faster and more action-packed, and it's exhilarating when you're chaining together one perfect corner after the other.

The suite of assists lets you cater the experience to your needs in a granular way. There are standard difficulties to choose from, but each option--including stability assists, traction control, and ABS brakes--can be tweaked independently to deliver the right amount of challenge. Having more options to tune Project Cars 3 to your preferred playstyle is a welcome addition to the series, opening it up to more players than before. There's still just a hint of simulation constantly present that reminds you to still take care of how you approach each turn, which is aided by markers on the racing line pointing out each braking zone and apex. Having markers instead of a dynamic racing line keeps some of the thrill intact when tackling a track for the first time, challenging you to come to grips with its best lines and limits. It's exhilarating to perfect a track after mastering each corner, even if Project Cars 3 sometimes rewards some messy sectors when it shouldn't.

Project Cars 3 really stretches the definition of a sequel. It bears no resemblance to previous Project Cars games, tossing aside the franchise's traditional tough-as-nails racing for a more approachable formula that a wider range of players can enjoy. The result is a racing game that leans heavily into territory that should be familiar to Forza players, meaning you can enjoy its racing without extensive knowledge of the inner workings of each car you drive. But it's also a racing game that struggles to bring together all of its new elements cohesively.

Core to Project Cars 3's transformation is its overhauled handling system. You'll have more than enough downforce in the front to bend around each corner with the right amount of car, only briefly having to counter-steer to prevent the back from whipping out from underneath you. It makes racing faster and more action-packed, and it's exhilarating when you're chaining together one perfect corner after the other.

The suite of assists lets you cater the experience to your needs in a granular way. There are standard difficulties to choose from, but each option--including stability assists, traction control, and ABS brakes--can be tweaked independently to deliver the right amount of challenge. Having more options to tune Project Cars 3 to your preferred playstyle is a welcome addition to the series, opening it up to more players than before. There's still just a hint of simulation constantly present that reminds you to still take care of how you approach each turn, which is aided by markers on the racing line pointing out each braking zone and apex. Having markers instead of a dynamic racing line keeps some of the thrill intact when tackling a track for the first time, challenging you to come to grips with its best lines and limits. It's exhilarating to perfect a track after mastering each corner, even if Project Cars 3 sometimes rewards some messy sectors when it shouldn't.

PS5 is not backwards compatible with PS3/PS2/PS1 games, according to a Ubisoft supprot page https://t.co/j1wTcAApZ3 pic.twitter.com/hnbpndATPi

— Wario64 (@Wario64) August 31, 2020

There was a naked man in my court.

On June 14, 1073 AD, my steward, vassal and knight, Earl Muiredach mac Carthach of Desmond arrived at the meeting of my small council dressed only in, well... his birthday suit. This was the man I'd entrusted to manage the paperwork of my realm, to ensure taxes were being collected. Was this newfound fashion choice a portent of his impending madness? Was it some bold power move designed to put me off my game? A sign of the contempt in which he held his ruler? Or was it a bug, a highly specific graphical glitch that just happened to leave one of my councillors undressed? I didn't know.

Perhaps it's a credit to Crusader Kings 3 that I didn't have an immediate answer, a sign of the depth and complexity of its simulation and its capacity for surprise. Perhaps it was also a failing, a breakdown somewhere between the calculations of a mass of colliding gameplay systems and how their results were communicated to me. Perhaps it's both. Regardless, this memorable event served only to highlight the singular vision of Crusader Kings 3, a grand strategy game that successfully operates across a bewildering scale, feeling vast and unknowable one moment yet awkwardly intimate the next. It's a marvel of connectivity, effectively linking together complementary elements plucked from different genres--the role-playing game, the visual novel, the life simulation, the city-builder, the wargame--even if at times you can sense it straining at the seams.

There was a naked man in my court.

On June 14, 1073 AD, my steward, vassal and knight, Earl Muiredach mac Carthach of Desmond arrived at the meeting of my small council dressed only in, well... his birthday suit. This was the man I'd entrusted to manage the paperwork of my realm, to ensure taxes were being collected. Was this newfound fashion choice a portent of his impending madness? Was it some bold power move designed to put me off my game? A sign of the contempt in which he held his ruler? Or was it a bug, a highly specific graphical glitch that just happened to leave one of my councillors undressed? I didn't know.

Perhaps it's a credit to Crusader Kings 3 that I didn't have an immediate answer, a sign of the depth and complexity of its simulation and its capacity for surprise. Perhaps it was also a failing, a breakdown somewhere between the calculations of a mass of colliding gameplay systems and how their results were communicated to me. Perhaps it's both. Regardless, this memorable event served only to highlight the singular vision of Crusader Kings 3, a grand strategy game that successfully operates across a bewildering scale, feeling vast and unknowable one moment yet awkwardly intimate the next. It's a marvel of connectivity, effectively linking together complementary elements plucked from different genres--the role-playing game, the visual novel, the life simulation, the city-builder, the wargame--even if at times you can sense it straining at the seams.