Like most racing games, Assetto Corsa lets you drive cars in a circle very fast. Unlike most racing games Assetto Corsa makes it feel, as long as you own a racing wheel setup, which is a great way to test how strong your relationship with your significant other really is, pretty real. This of course is not true. Sitting in you living room holding an expensive toy that moves on its own has nothing to do with real world driving, but as far as immersion goes that toy in combination with Assetto Corsa make it a pretty great experience. Did you hear that? I called Assetto Corsa a game. Yes, as far as genres goes it’s a sim, but it’s still a game. It doesn’t matter how much time and money you spend on it, how much skill you build up, you keep playing a video game. Get over it, sim racer! It’s okay.
Assetto Corsa has perfected driving fast in a circle as far as video games go. The cars and tracks feel fantastic, especially because of the very good force feedback that’s delivered through your steering wheel. A wheel is a must if you really want to experience the game and how much you suck at driving a race gar. Being a sucker for the “real” feeling I prefer to play with all artificial assists of, which means I’m really bad at playing Assetto Corsa. I don’t want to spend the time I would need to get good at it, but still it entertains me to put in a really bad time at Spa every once in a while, or to start and end last while trying to beat the AI, which unlike Forza Motorsport 7 does try not simulate retarded teenagers full of hate and malice, but real race drivers. It also looks pretty.
The car and track selection is great, but I wish there were more street cars, especially more old school American Muscle, but that just personal preference. It just means that I will have to suffer through more Forza Motorsport 7.
What I don’t like about the game is the UI. It’s a disgrace. You can only navigate by keyboard AND mouse, which is kind of impractical when you sit there, strapped in your fancy living room car. If they at least had managed to make it keyboard only or even better allow me to navigate per controller. They released the game for PS4, so this really shouldn’t be a big deal. Less annoying, but somehow worse, probably because it’s such a dick move, is that quitting the game, doesn’t end the game, but instead parks you on a page displaying the game credits for a few seconds. Every. Time. Who does something like that?
If you want to get into seriously driving a simulated race car in a circle fast, then Assetto Corsa is probably one of the best ways to go. It’s also a good choice to remind you of all that’s wrong with other games’ force feedback, especially Forza Motorsport 7, which is a game that’s already trying it’s best to remind you every second you play it/crash to your desktop, what’s wrong with it. Go get Assetto Corsa and also buy all the DLC. If you want to fuck yourself hard, you could also buy Forza Motosport 7. More on that later.
Info: Assetto Corsa is developed by Kunos Simulazioni and was released in 2014. You can buy the game and all its DLC at Steam.