Assetto Corsa, racing simulator initially released in 2013 in format Early Access, being officially released on 2014 US PCs it finally hits consoles, bringing motorsport fans a lot of speed and challenges in racing where precision is everything!
From 0 to 100, taming the fastest machines
Assetto Corsa is a racing simulator for motorsport lovers and those who like realism over speed in racing. And what is obvious, but worth mentioning, is that this is not a game for players who like crashing or making turns in 200 km/h Drift, but that can still please those players.
the most important of Assetto Corsa it’s precision, it’s knowing when to accelerate at the right time, and especially when to brake at the right time. Because believe me, the brake ends up being more important than the accelerator itself during races. Because it’s no use having a car that goes from 0 to 100 in a fraction of a second and reaches up to 400 km/h if you don’t control it the right way, and the basic control of any car is its brake.
The game has a huge collection of racing cars from several different automakers, from BMW The Alfa Romeo arriving at the Ferrari, Lamborghini and even cars from Formula 1. Each car is different from the other, requiring the player to train well to tame the machines before heading to the races.
races against time
As in professional racing, time is of the utmost importance to the game, with several clock-based racing modes. And as we’ve talked about before, it’s no use having the fastest car of all if you can’t tame it. In order for the player to do well in the game’s races, it is necessary to completely dominate his car.
This means training well to get to know each machine, knowing its maximum acceleration, brake force, resumption and stability. As it’s a simulator, don’t expect to get into a tight turn wanting to Drift and pass three opponents at once. Again, the brake is vitally important, you need to know when to brake at the right time, how long to brake, and when to accelerate again.
Turns demand precision, entering a turn a little bit above speed results in a bad turn, with a very wide arc and a lot of loss of speed. Entering a turn too slowly can also hurt you, with the car closing too close, or not even turning at all, depending on the car you are using. The key is to know how to combine the brake and accelerator at the right time, when it is necessary to brake, or just decelerate, and when it’s time to step out of a corner at high speed.
And the good or bad control of the car directly influences the time. In every game mode, the game counts its time at each lap, always showing how your performance is in relation to your best lap, and this makes a lot of difference in some game modes like Time Attack and Hotlap. Being fast on the straights and being accurate on the corners will result in great times, as well as poor car control will result in precious lost hundredths of a second that will be harmful down the road.
Cars, game modes and artificial intelligence
The game has several options for customizing races and cars. In every race the player can change these settings and let the game your way, from defining the opponent’s difficulty, such as the car’s gear (manual or automatic), clutches, tire wear, vehicle damage and so on. As well, for beginning players, it is possible to turn on and off that imaginary line that indicates the best path on the tracks and when to brake.
And before each race, the player can directly touch the cars, tinkering with the angles of suspension, brake, fuel and several other options. The game even allows the player to save “profiles” of modifications for each different track. For example, if a BMW Z4 E89 (one of the first cars in the career game mode) is better in one way in Barcelona, and another in Silverstone, the player can save these different settings and choose them before each race.
The game has six game modes: Training; Fast race – where the player starts in the last position; Race Weekend – Which is like a professional race: First comes the qualifying stage, in which the player needs to get the shortest time in a lap to get the first positions at the start, then go to the race; Free Race – which is basically like training, with the difference that after each lap, the game puts the “ghost” of your own car on the track, so that the player can try to overcome his own time; Time Attack – A classic mode of any racing game, in which the player must reach the end of a lap before the time runs out, gaining more race time and scoring. The better the time each lap, the more points; And finally, Drift, which is a race against time on specific tracks for skidding or even on circuits, in which the player must perform certain drifts to score and continue in the race.
The game’s artificial intelligence is both well-made and cruel. Opponents’ AI reacts to the cars around you and the player very well, most of the time. The game’s AI knows when to brake and accelerate, and avoid crashing cars, braking to avoid accidents or even taking the car out of collision situations. However, I’m talking about the AI reacting against itself, as the AI’s reaction to the player isn’t always that way.
The AI will avoid hitting the player’s car at times, such as overtaking on straights. Or rather, if an opponent is behind you, he will react to your movements, if the opponent has at least the tip of his car on his side, or is in front of you, he will most of the time ignore you. Several times, in the two situations described above, the AI harmed me, hitting my car from the side and continuing to accelerate as if there were no steps in front of its car, and always reacting perfectly to my hits.
If the AI hits your car, you lose control, your car starts to skid, and you have to slow down many times to get back in control in the car. But if you slam into the back of an opponent, he won’t lose speed, his car will skid a little, and in a very short time he regains control as if nothing had happened.
In fact, in career mode, the game puts the difficulty up there, even playing on low difficulty. in mode Career is where the player will get to know the game modes and accelerate even more. Starting with slow cars and with each new stage running faster and faster cars. This mode is divided into several different stages with different tests for the player. Usually starting with a Time Attack for the player to know the tracks and new cars, followed by races against the AI, with the player starting in last place and having to do their best to climb positions.
And the way Career pits the player against ever better opponents. Putting the player in races against more powerful and faster cars. This is often frustrating, as even when accelerating to the top of the speedometer, opponents will easily overtake you on the straights. In addition to the fact that the AI is flawless in races, rarely making mistakes and making virtually perfect corners. Thus, the player needs to train well to overcome opponents in the corners and close the path on the straights so as not to let anyone overtake him.
And finally, we have the online mode, with all available race modes, but with a classification stage. A race accepts new entrants until the end of the qualifying stage, in which players must race in search of the best time to set the start. Even in the drift mode there is a sort of “ranking”, which is a free mode for players to have fun before the real competition starts. It’s a bit difficult to find several races happening online, normally I would find about two to three different races, luckily the connection to the races is perfect, without any kind of lag.
graphics and sounds
Assetto Corsa it has beautiful graphics. The cars are very well detailed, both on the outside and inside, when activating the driver’s vision. The game’s lighting is impeccable, giving the game even the choice of time for their runs, each time with a different lighting. The bodywork of the cars is shiny, and with excellent reflections of the surroundings, from sunlight to nearby cars.
The game’s asphalt has a very realistic texture, as well as the “zebra” curves. We can see the asphalt in detail even as we run, from its grooves to the matte marks of burnt rubber from skidding. And on races in the afternoon we can see those bright spots of the asphalt pebbles reflecting the sun.
The game has a great feeling of speed, you can really feel it when we’re fast and when we brake hard and our car slows down abruptly. Which makes racing so much more exciting and challenging.
The game has a good soundtrack present in the menus and loading screens, but it is in the races that the most beautiful sounds are heard, which are obviously the sounds of car engines. The sounds are very realistic and very distinct. Each car makes its own sounds, with weaker cars with lower-pitched roaring engines, while the faster the car, the louder its “scream” when it reaches super high speeds.
Conclusion
Assetto Corsa is a very challenging simulator, which will undoubtedly please fans of the genre, and which, despite being cruel to players not used to this realistic style of racing, can appeal to those players with its racing modes. The races demand precision and the challenge of getting first place is high, but rewarding for those who dedicate themselves.
The game still has a replay mode, allowing the player to review their races from different angles, but unfortunately this mode doesn’t record the entire races, which is pretty weird. Fortunately, the game has menus and texts entirely located in Brazilian Portuguese!
Assetto Corsa was released on the day August 30 for PS4 and Xbox one. The game is available at steam since 2014.
