Project Motor Racing Launch Issues: AI & Penalties Plague Sim

The highly anticipated spiritual successor to the beloved Project CARS 2, Project Motor Racing, has arrived, hitting digital storefronts by November 25, 2025, from developer Straight4 Studios. Heralded as the torchbearer picking up where Slightly Mad Studios' acclaimed 2017 title left off—and pointedly bypassing the controversial direction of Project CARS 3—this new racing simulator promised a return to hardcore simulation roots. However, early impressions from senior gaming journalist Luke Reilly, reviewing the PlayStation 5 version, suggest a disheartening reality: despite a strong foundation and ambitious vision, Project Motor Racing is currently marred by critical flaws, delivering a largely frustrating and unfinished experience at launch, earning a "mediocre" score of 5.

A Legacy Reimagined, Not Yet Realized

Project Motor Racing descends from a storied lineage, with Straight4 Studios essentially a "rebirthed" Slightly Mad following the studio's acquisition by Codemasters and subsequent purchase by EA. On paper, the game presents an enticing proposition for racing enthusiasts. It boasts an impressive roster of over 70 meticulously modeled cars, focusing strictly on racing models and featuring many vehicles often underrepresented in contemporary titles, such as classic GT and N-GT machines like the iconic Lister Storm. The title commendably avoids free-to-play mechanics or monthly subscriptions, prioritizing a robust single-player experience over multiplayer dominance.

The career mode's design shows genuine innovation, offering players significant flexibility:

• Three distinct starting budget figures allowing diverse career paths.
• Ability to run three separate careers simultaneously, catering to different playstyles or multiple users.
• Customizable in-game payouts, letting drivers choose between flat event fees, performance bonuses, or even covering damage repair bills in exchange for a portion of earnings.

Furthermore, Project Motor Racing aims for authenticity in its physics and handling. Reviewers noted satisfying force feedback on wheels, particularly with high-end belt-driven models like the Thrustmaster T-GT II. Certain car and track combinations—such as GT3 cars like the Audi R8 or Ford Mustang at Mount Panorama—deliver intuitive handling, pronounced weight fluctuations over elevation changes, and a significant, realistic disparity between cold and warm tires, demanding delicate first laps. Excitingly, Straight4 Studios has also announced future DLC, with Australian touring cars from two distinct eras of the Supercars series planned for release next year.

The Race to Frustration: AI and Penalty System Breakdown

Despite these promising elements, the actual racing experience is severely undermined by two critical shortcomings: an aggressively oblivious AI and a brazenly unfair penalty system. The AI's behavior is a consistent source of frustration, with opponents frequently driving as if the player's car does not exist on track. This manifests in aggressive shunting when attempting overlaps, and a "freight train" mentality on racing lines, leading to collisions without regard for the player's presence. Exacerbating this issue is the complete absence of crucial driver aids like radar, proximity indicators, or a spotter, leaving players blind to surrounding traffic. On PlayStation 5, the single-player opponent count is limited to 15 (though crossplay multiplayer allows up to 32), a number considered insufficient for a modern racing sim, yet ironically perhaps a mercy given the AI's current state, which draws comparisons to the infamously unaffected opponents of classic Gran Turismo titles.

Compounding the problem is a ruinously strict and often illogical penalty system. Minor contact or being forced off track by AI drivers invariably results in a two-second penalty for breaching track limits, regardless of fault or time already lost. This stands in stark contrast to more nuanced systems, such as that in Assetto Corsa Competizione, which only penalizes if an advantage is gained. Project Motor Racing, however, levies penalties for tiny mistakes, or even after a full spin and rejoining the track, where no advantage could possibly have been gained. Alarmingly, the system also appears exploitable; the review notes instances of gaining positions by taking shortcuts, such as through Turn 1 on the game's version of Monza, with minimal or no penalty. This renders the "Authentic" difficulty, which locks opponent strength at 100 and disallows restarts, largely unappealing for many players, potentially impacting trophy acquisition.

Visuals, Sound, and Control: Hits and Misses

Beyond the core gameplay frustrations, Project Motor Racing exhibits inconsistencies in its presentation and control schemes. While cars appear detailed in menu screens, the on-track visuals are described as "washed out" and fail to look a generation newer than Project CARS 2. Damage modeling and rain effects are underwhelming, lacking the visual impact expected from a modern sim. Sonically, the game captures raw mechanical noises well, yet the reviewer noted room for improvement, specifically desiring thicker and throatier engine notes.

Handling, while strong on wheels for certain car types, presents a mixed bag. Hypercars, for instance, were found to be "undriveable out of the box" even with a high-quality wheel, exhibiting unpredictable pulling, slipping, and a noticeable lack of the expected downforce sensation. The experience on a standard gamepad controller is even more dire; the game is described as "too twitchy" and the cars "unsettled" by minor stick movements, often leading to erroneous penalties. This makes Project Motor Racing difficult to recommend for players who rely exclusively on gamepads.

The Unfinished Grid: A Premature Release?

Ultimately, Project Motor Racing launches feeling less like a polished AAA title and more akin to an early access game that has yet to be formally identified as such. While "glimpses of a competent racing sim" are evident, the overall package is "drastically unfinished." It struggles to live up to its ambitious goal of filling the void left by Project CARS 2, and in its current state, fails to surpass its 2017 ancestor as a superior racing experience. The hope remains that future development time and the promised mod browser might eventually sculpt Project Motor Racing into the contender it aspires to be.