Assetto Corsa: a neutral review.

[Arya]

So, Assetto Corsa. Well, the first thing that hit me when I got the game was how neatly packaged it was. At 1.5 GB it's quite a small package given it's modernity, and downloading it was a snap. I also think it's well-priced, at $39.90 Australian-which is about $12 cheaper than RF2($48 USD) and a whole $70 cheaper than Forza 5($110 AUD)

AC makes a very good first impression. I got remarkable load-times straight out of the box, and the menu design is excellent-if you played the original DiRT you'll find this quite familiar. It takes a little getting used to but once you work out how to select things, it's very slick indeed. The game's overall presentation is AAA-it really does feel slick, polished and very classy.

The first real issue I had was getting my chosen wheel(a Logi G27) working in-game. This game has quite good wheel compatability, but you will need to configure your wheel manually which may dissuade some more casual players. It's not a problem for me, but you may want to factor that in. I will say though that with everything set up correctly, the handling and force-feedback alike are well worth the struggle.

As for graphical options, I didn't really get a chance to test them as thoroughly as I'd like. AC looks fantastic on max settings, especially the cars and lighting. On any sort of modern, high-end PC it should run fine and I got very nice load times as well. Optimisation will probably improve over time-I don't know what it runs like on an older machine, but it was running as smooth as an E-Type's backside on my new PC(specs at the bottom)

As for content, the early access pack comes with time attack, practice and hot-lap modes. Drift, racing and even a career mode aren't far behind and there's already a nice stable of cars. There's staple track-day cars from BMW and Lotus, as well supercars from Ferrari and KTM, a BMW FIA GT car, and a mid 1960s Lotus F1 car.

The developer has announced additional content will come about every 2 weeks, and the catalogue of cars they have licenced is quite impressive. Hyper-exotics like the Pagani Huayra and Ferrari 599XX Evoluzione, classic F1 cars like the Ferrari 312(late '70s) and Lotus T98, and modern race machines like the McLaren MP4-12 GT3 are all planned to feature, though there's no official timeframe as of yet.

There aren't many tracks in the early-access pack but the one it does have are great: Monza, Vallelunga, Imola and Silverstone. Again, we've been promised more going into the future, and given the euro-centric bias you'd expect places like Spa, Nordschleife and Estoril won't be far behind.

The racing itself though, is where AC really won me over. This really is a true sim, and a very good one at that. AC's biggest strength is it's physics engine. The cars all feel very realistically done, and very destinct from eachother. The steering is damn near perfect even on default settings, and the actual behavior of the cars when cornering feels spot-on-especially the weight-shift and body-roll.

The force-feedback is also excellent. There's a nice resistance at top speed, and there's a nice firmness to the steering. You get a lot of "feel" especially coming out of corners, and that along with the responsive controls means you can normally step in and atleast try and correct a moment, usually before it's even happened. You can feel the back start to step out, and pretty soon you're correcting it even before you're fully aware of it.

Lastly, you can drift in this game. It's not like NFS where you tap the brake and then the car drifts itself-here it's a complex game of balance and brinkmanship and takes real practice. Once you do get the hang of it though, it's just addictive. The Ferrari 458 and KTM both drift beautifully once you get the hang of it, and the old Lotus actually relies on a subtle drift to maintain corner-speed. There's a full drift mode coming too, so drifters should be well catered for.

Final score? I'd give it a 9/10 but with the caveat that it continues to evolve. In it's present form it gets an 7.5, given it's got potential but will need more content to keep a fanbase.

[MancVandaL]

I agree. For an early access game it is already more polished than many finished games. I don't own it but my mate does and I keep going to his house for a go. I'll buy it as soon as I have the money. Pissing Xmas is ruining everything. Can't wait for AI to be added to see how that is. Could do with more graphical options but it runs smooth on my system as is and looks superb.

[xaotik]

Hi there, thanks for your review.
Regarding the manual configuration of wheels - there is a configuration wizard in the control configuration menu right next to the selector for input method, a button that reads "start configuration wizard".

[MinorThreat]

Casual players don't own a wheel.

[geanito]

Hey xaotik, sorry for asking it here. But is there any plans to make AC a Steamworks compatible? I think this can make very easy for us when mods start coming out.

[Revvin]

I think steamworks would be a good solution. I remember when rFactor launched, the mod scene was a bit chaotic for a while until rFactorcentral launched and gave us more of a one stop shop. Even then it relied heavily on free download sites to mirror files and that just increases the hassle for the end user with dead links, endless pop-ups etc.

[P-eLko]

Originally posted by Vindekar:

The first real issue I had was getting my chosen wheel(a Logi G27) working in-game. This game has quite good wheel compatability, but you will need to configure your wheel manually which may dissuade some more casual players..

I dont agree with that. I played all sims around, and this was for the first time when I set my wheel (G27) nicely after ONE minute with setup wizard. Really, in game it takes literally one minute until you have fully set your wheel, pedals and shifters. Never experienced this is any simulator out there. And your wheel is after this wizard fully synchronized with ingame wheel!

And I dont think there will be nonsteam version of game (I hope so), so I think we will see steam workshop for this game which will be AMAZING for both moders and players

[エース極端]

Originally posted by MinorThreat:

Casual players don't own a wheel.

Lol, interesting point you have.

Anyway, great review. Perhaps there could do a default profiles for major wheel models, but I am fine with manual configurations. Maybe they should have an option on first launch to prompt players about the existence of the wizard. As of now, everything is very bare. Let's hope this won't follow how poorly documented Netkar Pro is; more effort needs to put into this area to make life easier for the people who play games.

Also, could I suggest that the menus in-game be more intuitive? Right now, every time you restart a race, you have to click another "drive" button at the top left before you can start your engines and race. Then to do any changes to your setup during hotlapping, you have to restart first before you can do any settings. Can't somebody just simplify things here? Perhaps you could allow an option to change car setup just by pressing ESC. We really don't need 2 menu types here, do we?

Furthermore, we could also allow certain menus that we use frequently be bound to keyboard, such as restart the race. I frequently do that when hotlapping and it's so annoying to have to press ESC -> reach for mouse to click restart -> then click the top left "drive" button. Why can't a button just be pressed to allow us to restart immediately without all these extra steps and any confirmation; lots of racing games are so cumbersome, having to click here then there, then here again just to restart race, something I believe we all do quite frequently? And why can't we control the menu with the keyboard's directional buttons after pressing ESC to select the appropriate options? So cumbersome to have to reach for the mouse and keyboard when I have my expensive T500RS wheels with all those fanciful buttons and directional D-pad unused. Let us have that option to customize and make our racing life easier.

Is there a possibility you can implement this before it's too late?

[Revvin]

Originally posted by geanito:

Hey xaotik, sorry for asking it here. But is there any plans to make AC a Steamworks compatible? I think this can make very easy for us when mods start coming out.

The only drawback might be licensing issues, car manufacturers will be watching and unleash their packs of ravenous lawyers on any trademark infringements

[xystof]

THERE IS SETUP WIZARD WHICH MAKES EVERYTHING FOR YOU! :D

you should just check the menu better ;-)

[Packy]

good review of the pros and cons of AC.

Yes, I think it would have been nice if there was a small manual or text file to explain all of the features and settings? Maybe there is one but I missed it (insert embarrassed smiley here! LOL). However, I took my time and I still had not problems installing AC and setting up my wheel, graphic settings, sound settings, etc. thank to the mostly intuitive GUI.
(I still have no clue what facemap and cube settings do to the graphics....other than drag down my framerate on high settings! LOL)

[stenyak]

Originally posted by xaotik:

Hi there, thanks for your review.
Regarding the manual configuration of wheels - there is a configuration wizard in the control configuration menu right next to the selector for input method, a button that reads "start configuration wizard".

As a suggestion, the wizard button should be more in-your-face the first time you set up AC. Even though I've played AC-TP, with AC-EA I literally didn't realize/remember there was a wizard, and fully went through manual configuration before I saw there was a wizard button there.

[Son Goku]

Nice review, I purchased this as soon as I saw it available, It's shaping up to be great and your right, for an early access game, the polish is there.

[Pixelchaser]

Originally posted by Revvin:

Originally posted by geanito:

Hey xaotik, sorry for asking it here. But is there any plans to make AC a Steamworks compatible? I think this can make very easy for us when mods start coming out.

The only drawback might be licensing issues, car manufacturers will be watching and unleash their packs of ravenous lawyers on any trademark infringements

only where profit is made usually. workshop is free. mods are free.....