NOTE: This review is based on the PC version of "Assetto Corsa."
Assetto Corsa
Assetto Corsa. Get to know it...
^ from: (Twitter) - Assetto Corsa- Your Racing Simulator.
Assetto Corsa is a simulation racing game that was released December 19, 2014 by Italian developer Kunos Simulazioni. It offers up a fascinating experience whether going for a casual drive or doing an intense race. How so? It offers your basic array of racing types. While almost any game can provide this, Assetto Corsa does it in a different way. The game offers modes for drifting and drag racing apart from the usual circuit racing. The basic collection of cars are enough to keep you busy. However, if you want to enhance the experience, you can purchase downloadable content (DLC) to try many more styles of racing and many more locations to race. The modding community even lends their hand to provide quality mods free of charge. But really, you probably would do great purchasing DLC packages to help donate to Kunos to further develop an already solid gaming product.
Vehicles.
Part of making yourself known is in having a solid lineup of cars. From its base version, Assetto Corsa offers 86 cars from a world of manufacturers. These machines include production models, competition models, and some concepts. You can race everything from compacts to even Formula 1 race cars. Each car handles differently. Nowhere is that more apparent than with Assetto Corsa. Immense attention to detail is done in the handling dynamics of each car. An Alfa Romeo MiTo handles differently from a Ford Mustang. A Porsche Cayenne Turbo behaves much differently than a Pagani Huayra. So 86 cars sounds like too few? Well, you can purchase downloadable content to bump up the car count. Some of these cars even have certain mechanical differences that result in different handling settings. For example, some cars have onboard details to adjust brake bias. If you prefer gazing over your beauty rather than race, then you can view your cars in special Showrooms. You can even take some pictures of your ride either in the Showroom or in any in-race action. Some cars have "steps" or "stages" to them, which represent tuned versions of certain cars. Feel the difference in performance with these Steps of cars. You can not upgrade your cars like you can in most console racing games, but you can use these more capable machines to your liking.Assetto Corsa offers beautifully-designed and articulate car models. The in-car views are stunning. Even more so if you have graphics hardware that makes the already lovely graphics even more so. As beautiful as the graphics are, you can ugly them up in a hurry since these cars can be damaged. While I haven't tested the damage model in AC at the time of making this blog post, that lovely car of yours can easily be scrap metal with bad driving or by roughing up the opposition. The damage model is obviously more than cosmetic.
The vehicles also sound great and realistic. You can hear the visceral roar of many of the cars from different angles. Exterior and interior views offer up great sound experiences. You are going to enjoy the sound quality for many of the cars in Assetto Corsa.
Of the free vehicles, you get cars ranging from the Abarth 500 up to machines like the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, Ferrari LaFerrari, Pagani Huayra, Mazda 787B, and the Lotus Exos 125. Buy downloadable content (DLC) or download mods to gain even more vehicles.
Locations.
From the base version, you can race in eight different countries the world over. You get some world-class venues such as the Nürburgring (GP courses), Silverstone, Monza, Vallelunga, and in a recent free update- Laguna Seca. You can get more courses through paid DLC or from the modding community. Many of these real-world courses have been laser scanned for proper accuracy of each course. While there are real courses, there are a few fictional ones, such as Black Cat Valley and the Highlands courses.By the way... Vallelunga is special in Assetto Corsa because Kunos Simulazioni's studios are located at or near the Vallelunga circuit.
Apps.
Assetto Corsa lives up to "Your Driving Simulator" as you are able to add apps to enhance your racing experience. These apps are merely additions to the HUD during races. You can set up to four different layouts. For example, you can use apps that show you the tachometer, the track map, and more. So you can make your screen as cluttered or as minimal as possible. The apps can even be resized to suit your needs.Modding.
Support for adding mods is what makes Assetto Corsa so well loved. The game has its own suite of tools to help you make your own content for AC. You can even download programs like Content Launcher to aid in making more quality mods as well as using it to run more interesting races in the game.Now that you have an idea about the game, let me go into discussing the racing action.
Assetto Corsa: Racing Types
Here is a look at the racing types.
Practice.
If you are new to Assetto Corsa, you may want to try Practice mode to accustom yourself to the game. This is where you get to practice racing various tracks and vehicles.Challenges.
The challenges vary greatly. You can take on any number of challenges to test your racing ability and your driving skills. The list of challenges are as follows:• Hotlap - a one-lap run around a track. Make it your best!
• Special Events - various challenges ranging from quick races, time trials, and drift events.
• Time Attack - try to land the fastest lap around a course. You get multiple tries.
• Drift - get sideways in the corners. Rack up points to level up your drift run.
Race.
The essence of Assetto Corsa is in races. Here, you can run proper race weekends with a number of different modes. Such as...• Quick Race - set up a simple race while customizing various factors.
• Race Weekend - set up a race weekend complete with modes for practice, qualifying, and the final race.
• Championship - run a championship.
• Drag Race - compete in drag racing events. Reach the end of the drag strip before your opponent does. Don't red light on the line!
Online.
If you want to take on human opposition, then the Online suite is for you. There are a number of different online communities offering their own races for Assetto Corsa online. I didn't join any races online, so I can not comment on the online front of racing in Assetto Corsa.Favorites.
If you have a certain kind of race you enjoy, it will be featured as a "Favorite." You can run that race with that car on that track again if you like. Any race you do can be marked as a Favorite.Up next is a look at my own experiences so far.
Assetto Corsa: My Experiences and Thoughts
Here are some of my thoughts in my experience of playing Assetto Corsa for only a few days.
Early Qualms.
I feared my current PC would not be able to fully handle Assetto Corsa. My PC isn't powerful enough to take advantage of the game fully. I toned down just about all graphical effects. I even have to run the game in Full Screen for it to run smoothly. I also run a maximum of eight cars for races. The game on my PC runs 800x600. Assetto Corsa even warns you when the CPU load is greater than 100%. So adjust the settings to your liking so you can play it successfully. This game does not run perfectly on my PC, so I don't do anything like races with massive grids of cars. The game does include a Benchmark feature to help you set up your PC graphically.Driving.
Many people have said to get a steering wheel to play Assetto Corsa. If you don't have a wheel, you can still use a gamepad to a good bit of success. The accuracy will be rather poor with a gamepad. You will have to adjust your gamepad settings to play it nicely. AC is a proper sim racer, so you'll need some solid equipment to play it proper. Most of my activity in AC is through Practice sessions.Racing.
The AI is pretty sharp and won't give you too many chances to easily win races. Some say Assetto Corsa is mostly good for casual drives than pure racing. Many others will gladly disagree with you if you think AC is not good as a racing sim. Prepare to earn it in each of the races you take part in with AC.If you are looking for this game to have weather conditions or night racing, you will sadly be disappointed. The most you're going to get is racing between sunrise and sunset, and weather conditions range from clear to foggy to cloudy. No rain. No snow. Perhaps you can hope for these things in future updates or if there will ever be an Assetto Corsa sequel.
Vehicles.
The first vehicle I used was the Abarth 500. Don't think that just because this is a weak car means that it is easy to drive. You are going to feel all kinds of different physics put into play that will make the car a good bit tough to drive. Two cars I've loved using were the BMW M3 E30 and the McLaren MP4-12C GT3. The BMW M3 E30 is VERY fun to race! I enjoyed sliding this car out as well as properly handling it. The McLaren MP4-12C GT3 sounds like power. It is a ferocious twin-turbo V8 that handles very well.If you want to enhance your Assetto Corsa experience, get any number of add-ons and mods. I decided to pick up all of the released DLC for AC during a sale on Steam. A lot of the unavailable cars will be made available to your AC collection once you purchase and install the DLC packs. Cars like the Alfa Romeo 4C and the McLaren P1 are part of DLC packs.
Locations.
I haven't paid too much attention to the locations in Assetto Corsa. There are not a whole lot of tracks, but I usually use Vallelunga Club as my test track. I sometimes use Brands Hatch as a test track when I bought DLC for AC.Modding.
One of the best things about Assetto Corsa in modding is that templates for all of the official vehicles by Kunos Simulazioni are offered for EVERY vehicle in the game- including those from official DLC packs! You can always go for some of the free content, but there is a cool factor in buying the official DLC packs to help support Kunos Simulazioni with their fine work. My own concentration with AC modding is mostly in designing skins for cars. Remember I mentioned Content Manager earlier? Well, you can use that program to preview skins for cars without having to load Assetto Corsa. When you make skins for cars and then view them in Content Manager, they update in real time! So each time you change up the skin, it will automatically update when you view car skins on the game's many models.Others.
I recommend you download a program called Content Manager for Assetto Corsa. It allows you to better sort and utilize your AC material. You can also donate money to Content Manager to get the Full version. Don't worry- the Lite version still has loads of functionality, but the Full version offers much more.Strange thing about doing Practice runs is that as much time as you spend before getting out on the track, your lap is going to be ridiculously long depending on how long you are in your pit box. So basically, when you start a Practice section, your first lap will be as long as you are in the pits prior to completing your first lap. I just find that strange. I mean, your first lap should begin when you leave the pits or when you complete your first lap; NOT when you're in the pits for some amount of time.
So what do I think about Assetto Corsa? Find out in the next section!
Assetto Corsa: Final Thoughts
Assetto Corsa is a game that fascinated me for quite some time. Now that I got to get it on Steam for my PC, I was more than impressed with how this game is to play. Each car behaves differently and has their own character. It is like you have to be one with the car to be the best in this game. Just having that run with the BMW M3 E30 was absolutely amazing. The vehicles and the locations are all modeled and textured beautifully. The sounds are equally amazing. The fact this game has suites for drifting and drag racing makes Assetto Corsa perform in areas where most other racing games fall flat at or neglect entirely.
While Assetto Corsa may have a fairly decent amount of cars and a fairly decent amount of tracks, I sometimes feel more tracks would make the game better. The racing is great, but the game really shines just in the driving dynamics. Even for my less-than-perfect budget PC, Assetto Corsa still runs very well on a lot of low visual settings. A full-blown gaming PC probably will handle Assetto Corsa best. It is recommended you play this game with a steering wheel, but it can still be played fairly well with a keyboard or a gamepad.
Assetto Corsa is a racing/driving game that will surprise and impress you in many ways. This is a fabulous game from Kunos Simulazioni. Perhaps this is hyperbole, but Assetto Corsa is the new rFactor. It truly is "Your Racing Simulator."
Video Preview.
Here is a very old trailer for Assetto Corsa. Check it:^ Assetto Corsa
And here is another video of AC with more in-game footage:
^ Assetto Corsa: Now Available on Steam
For More Information...
For more information or to buy Assetto Corsa, visit their official website at www.assettocorsa.net.If you don't have a PC, you can play Assetto Corsa on the PlayStation 4 or XBOX One. This blog post only concerned the PC version. My only recommendation is to get the Content Manager for a more controlled experience launching Assetto Corsa.
If you are considering getting "Assetto Corsa," hopefully my blog post will sway your interest in getting it, at least the PC version. Anyhow, this has been another post of "John's Race Space"- the anything and everything blog about racing games and driving games. I hope you enjoyed this post. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
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