Assetto Corsa Review

Assetto Corsa is a racing simulator. It was made by Kunos Simulzioni and released November 2013. Assetto Corsa is just that, a simulator. If you were to treat it like an arcade racing game you would find yourself disappointed. A simulator means realistic physics and mechanics. For example, how the heat of the tyre affects the grip on the track. That being said, the career mode of this game is a real let down for me. Your first car is an Abarth 500 which is not a high performance race car by any stretch. The handling is easy and it is not too fast so it’s easy to progress. Once you progress to the BMWs things start getting difficult. There is just no grip for those cars and no option to have slick tyres so you will find yourself slipping and sliding everywhere destroying any enjoyment you may have. Its only when you make it to the high performance racing cars and super cars where it actually starts to get enjoyable. In my opinion, I would skip the career mode altogether and focus on the special event stages. Most of the cars there can have soft slick tyres so I found it much more enjoyable doing those events rather than slipping and sliding around everywhere.

Being a simulator I played this game with a Thrustmaster racing wheel setup. The results were very realistic and responsive. Rocking the wheel small movements left and right would cause the car to lose control, just like it would in real life and overuse of the throttle around corners would also make the car slide out of control. The game was released in 2013 so the graphics are outdated compared to modern games but are not too shabby. The sound is alright. I noticed that when you drove in the dirt and made it back on the track you would hear a bit of the crunching  sound of the dirt and rocks in the tyres for a while. I also noticed the weather affects did not include rain at any time, or a wet track.

There is not many selection of tracks and cars in the game unless you buy all the DLC. This will decrease the length you play the game because without all those tracks and cars I lost interest pretty quickly. The game mainly consists of races, time trials and a few drags. The game is also very customisable. For example; you can choose the time of day, the weather and wind (excluding rain), the track condition, temperature and there are driving assists included such as an automatic transmission and traction control. The vehicle setup is also highly customisable. Everything from tyre pressure to fuel and the choice of tyre compound.

The most fun I had with this game was the quick race. I normally chose a high performance race car with soft, slick tyres and the full length of the Nurburgring. I would rarely win any races in this game as it was too realistic. One small mistake would normally cost you the race and there is no option to reset your car or flash backs etc. It is a simulator after all.

For those people who like simulators or are very good at driving games, I would recommend it although it is a bit outdated. For those of us who are average gamers or who play for entertainment value I would give it a miss. You will find not winning any races and continually slipping off the track not very enjoyable at all.      

6/10