Project CARS has a bit of an uphill climb ahead of it. Not only does the name sound like a generic '80s action film, the racing genre already has so many well-established and well-loved series that a newcomer like Project CARS has the potential to simply get lost in the shuffle. Longtime fans of series like Forza and Gran Turismo need a reason to look outside their car racer of choice, and all too often a new racing title can emerge and just as quickly disappear and be forgotten. Project CARS certainly has enough ideas to possibly set it apart in an almost saturated genre, and its success likely depends entirely of its execution of these concepts.

The CARS in Project CARS is actually an acronym, standing for community assisted racing simulator. That might not make the name any better, but is an almost perfect description of what this game is. This is a racing simulator, focusing on realistic, white-knuckled racing in a variety of different vehicles. There are a lot of different options to fine-tune exactly how you feel like driving, and Project CARS gives you the option to take a leisurely cruise around a track of your choice in solo play to get a feel of the track or jump right into an intense multiplayer races against a multitude of players around the world. It looks to be give players a highly personalized experienced, allowing racers to slide right into their racing style of choice without having to jump through a bunch of hoops first.

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The meat of the game is located in its career mode, although the multiplayer content also looks substantial. A lot of racing games will force the player to slowly upgrade their cars and circuits, starting off racing against the video game equivalents of kids in their soapbox derby before reaching the events people actually want to race in. Project CARS on the other hand throws you the keys to the garage immediately before getting out of the way and inviting you to go nuts. You can jump straight into whatever class of car you want and sign off on that first contract before heading out for an eventual season, and the game never forces you to go through all that annoying foreplay that permeates many similar titles. As the player progresses through their career, new events and accolades will be unlocked and opportunities will occur to sign special endorsement deals based on performance. Race well enough and special events or races will become available, and on top of this optional historic goals can be tackled if the racer is feeling truly skilled.

An impressive online component is also promised, although the exact details of the features have not been fully revealed yet. You will be able to set up races in both public and private matches as you see fit, and can also browse the entire swath of available games to find a race you like or players of a comparable skill level. Your affinity with certain motorsports will be monitored, as will your performance and reputation. The game's Driver Network will also allow players to perform in asynchronous time trail challenges against ghosts and even promises a regularly updated schedule of community events. There have been promises of real world rewards for performing well in these events, although the scope of the events and specifics of the prizes have yet to be fully detailed.

Racing games like this are frequently judged not just on the racing itself, but on the quantity and quality of cars and tracks the game gives you to race with. On that front, Project CARS absolutely excels. This is a game specifically designed with automobile aficionados in mind, and the amount of car porn already confirmed is staggering. Pretty much every facet of car culture is represented in some way, and the number of and types of cars should cater to even the most rabid of car fiends. The number of confirmed cars is nearing a hundred, with types varying across the entire spectrum of motorsports. Supercars, track day cars, and even modern open-wheel variants are all well represented. Cars themselves cannot be upgraded which might upset some that like to tinker with their vehicles, but everything comes pre-optimized according to the car type so you start off driving the best version.

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The tracks are similarly well varied, with over sixty different locations already confirmed. Project CARS will take you from the United States to France to Japan, and is boasting the largest location variety in recent years. Variety will be increased further by something the developers are referring to as "Quick Race Weekends" which allow you to change nearly every facet of the race. Its length, atmospheric conditions, and structure of the race are all modifiable, and your favorite setups can be saved for later on the Driver Network. The locations and cars are all well varied and look amazing, and this has the potential to be the best looking racing title ever released.

With a recent delay to March, the wait to see if Project CARS can live up to its lofty promises will unfortunately be longer. From what we've been shown, however, there is every reason to be excited as this looks to be one of the biggest and best looking racing games for this newest console generation. Whether it will be able to compete with the big boys of the genre remains to be seen, but if it plays as well as it looks, we might finally have a new contender for the throne. Project Cars will be released on the PS4, Xbox One, and Windows next month and will be seeing a Wii U and Steam release sometime in 2015.