Project CARS 2
By Chad Sapieha,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Realistic racer depicts authentic crashes, but not injuries.
Add your rating
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this game.
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Project CARS 2
Community Reviews
Based on 3 parent reviews
Great sim, not many age concerns
What’s It About?
PROJECT CARS 2 is an authentic car racing simulation game focused on providing players with a highly realistic driving experience and an enormous array of customizable options. It features dozens of tracks, nearly 200 branded cars programmed to mimic the handling of their real-world counterparts, extensive customization, tuning options to match tracks and conditions, realistic progression, and event planning. The career mode allows players to work through multiple series of events in varying disciplines, starting off with street vehicles and professional karts and ranging all the way up to the fastest cars on the planet. Along the way, players will sign contracts with various companies and gain access to prestigious special races, including proving grounds and invitational events. Players can customize and tune not just cars, but also the events themselves, setting race length and whether to participate in qualifying rounds. Online racing, meanwhile, is geared for competitive play, with an array of customization options that allow players to create the exact type of event they want to race, with special consideration paid to the requirements of eSports matches.
Is It Any Good?
Sometimes incremental progress can be just as satisfying as a huge, innovative leap forward. The original Project CARS created a rock-solid foundation for an authentic racing simulator, and Project CARS 2 builds on that foundation in the best ways. It provides more content and more ways to customize that content than most players can fathom, with seemingly endless options tucked away in every menu. It looks good, too, with gorgeous car models -- including realistic cockpit views -- and highly authentic seasonal lighting and dynamic weather helping to both set the mood and, in some cases, provide an added challenge. And the car handling -- the most important part of any racing game -- is just dreamy. You'll feel the weight of your car, changes made to tires, steering, and suspension, and differences in engine and drivetrain layouts. If you want to experience what it's like to drive a touring car, open-wheel car, or vintage IndyCar without actually stepping into one, this game may well be your best bet.
Most impressive, it's not nearly as intimidating to casual racing fans as one might expect, given its focus on realism. It's undeniably geared for serious racers, but less hardcore players can turn on a variety of assists and crank down opposing racer intelligence and aggression to gain a very good chance of experiencing success. You can also adjust event duration and whether or not to deal with considerations like damage, fuel, and tire wear, and allow race engineers to handle all of your tuning in difficult conditions, such as rain and heat. There's still room for improvement in some areas -- the ideal race line option isn't as accurate as in other games, and radio instructions aren't as helpful as one might hope -- but the range of players who will be able to enjoy this racer is impressive nonetheless. If you want to branch out beyond Xbox Forza games and PlayStation GT driving sims, Project CARS 2 is a great choice.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about screen time. Project CARS 2 can be easily parceled into manageable play sessions based on the number of events raced and by customizing the length of each event, but how many races do you need to complete to feel satisfied without cutting into other activities in your day?
Talk about driving safety. What are some of the drawbacks of a racing game that doesn't realistically depict the human consequences of high-speed car crashes?
Game Details
- Platforms: PlayStation 4 , Windows , Xbox One
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Bandai Namco
- Release date: September 22, 2017
- Genre: Racing
- Topics: Cars and Trucks
- ESRB rating: E for Mild language
- Last updated: April 5, 2021
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
Where to Play
Our Editors Recommend
Car Racing Games
Books About Cars, Trucks, and Trains
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate