A strong eSports scene is now solidified around Project CARS 2, and such is the depth of simulation that for young aspiring drivers, this might well be a fitting substitute for time on track. Several racing drivers across numerous disciplines acted as consultants during development, and it really does show.

Loose surface racing feels just as convincing as hitting the track in a road-legal car, and the fidelity it conveys to your hands as you try to bully a car into the apex with its force feedback support is best-in-class stuff. More miraculous than the sheer breadth of content in Slightly Mad’s sim sequel is the fact they pull it all off. LMP1s hurtling through Imola, Indycars defying gravity at Daytona Speedway - and when you really get bored, Honda Civics trying to make it up Eau Rouge without stalling. Rallycross within Hockenheim’s infield section, mud splattering across everything and everyone. This is the racing sim that attempts to do it all: ice racing on studded tires around Swedish snowdrifts.

Release date: 2017 | Developer: Slightly Mad Studios It's weighed down by an awful progression system too dependent on a hackneyed loot box system, but as the first mainline Forza on PC, Motorsport 7 is malleable enough to absorb the shock of a few speed bumps. Night tracks slowly transition to dawn, sunlight filling out pitch black darkness while Forza looks and plays better than ever. The addition of dynamic weather effects transforms the typical race from a technical route memorization test to an impromptu puddle-dodging marathon in low visibility. In our review of Forza Motorsport 7, James calls it 'so vast and all-encompassing that not only can I turn it into a stupid game about vans, I can also make it a game about conquering my van obsession and finally learning how to drive cool sports cars.' It's one of the most all-encompassing vehicle-lovers sandboxes, capable of providing for those who just want to go fast in shiny metal cages, simulation die-hards, and everyone in-between. Release date: 2017 | Developer: Turn 10 Studios

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