When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Project Cars 3: A Retrospective Review
Project Cars 3 (PC3) launched in August 2020 as the third entry in the racing franchise developed by Slightly Mad Studios. At release, it divided the sim-racing community with its shift toward a more accessible driving model. Now, several years later, the dust has settled. Here is a look at where PC3 stands in 2026 and whether it is still worth picking up.
PC3 brings the intensity and thrills of motor racing into a package designed for a broader audience. The career mode takes players from amateur weekend racing to professional competition, earning in-game credits along the way. Those credits unlock cars from elite brands and open up customization options including body kits, rims, tires, and personalization features to build a racing persona.
The controller experience received a complete overhaul, with a handling model designed to be more accessible at every skill level. Whether that is a good thing depends entirely on what you want from a racing game.
Is PC3 Arcade or Sim?
Project Cars 3 Review
Project Cars 2 had an accomplished physics engine and sat firmly in the sim category, even if it was one of the more forgiving sims on the market. Slightly Mad Studios claimed they kept the underlying physics engine for PC3, but in practice, cars feel noticeably different from their predecessors.
The driving is more forgiving and less detailed. Steering feel and weight transfer have less personality, and engine sounds feel subdued compared to PC2. Tire squeal effects veer into cartoonish territory at times.
Readers who found this helpful also liked our guide on PS4 games for kids.
The LiveTrack weather system carried over from PC2, but some of its depth was lost. Pit stops, tire wear, and compound selection were removed. A wet track can dry out during a race, but the tires on your car stay the same regardless of conditions.
Mechanical damage still exists in a limited form, and a few car tuning options were cut. The on-screen display is cluttered with readouts and graphics, and the in-game music and motion blur can feel jarring. You can turn most of these off, but even then the experience is a step down from PC2 in terms of simulation depth. Some glitches from PC2 also carried over, and the overall visual quality took a small hit.
Revamped Multiplayer with Scheduled Races
Project Cars 3
Multiplayer may still be the strongest part of the game. The “Racing License” system from PC2 returns, now joined by scheduled races and a rival time trial mode.
The time trial mode puts you into daily, weekly, and monthly challenges with specific car and track combinations. You compete against drivers of similar pace, which creates close competition and a reason to keep coming back. Scheduled races add a layer of structure with qualifying sessions and sign-ups, encouraging drivers to take each event more seriously than a typical quick-play lobby.
The racing itself can be genuinely good in organized settings. The main disappointment is that players looking for sim-depth features like fuel strategy, pit stops, and tire compound management, the kind of decisions that define games like Gran Turismo, will not find them here.
For more on this, take a look at our streaming platforms for gaming guide.
PC3 Career Mode
Project Cars 3 Review
The career mode offers over 200 cars and 120 track layouts, which is a solid amount of content. Each campaign chapter is built around short, quick-fire races where the goal is earning XP through higher difficulty settings and hitting specific objectives.
This structure walks a fine line between feeling formulaic and being genuinely fun. The XP system fills up fast after races, and the achievable goals give you a satisfying sense of progress if you are looking for short gaming sessions rather than multi-hour endurance events.
Car damage is present, but with the forgiving handling model and reduced risk, major crashes are rare during wheel-to-wheel racing. If you enjoyed the longer, more strategic career modes of earlier Project Cars games or Gran Turismo 4, the bite-sized approach here may feel shallow.
Is Project Cars 3 Worth Playing in 2026?
PC3 is a capable racing game with a wide car roster, varied tracks, and a solid multiplayer framework. As a standalone arcade-leaning racer, it holds up reasonably well. The problem is context: it launched as the sequel to a respected sim, stripped out much of what sim fans valued, and replaced it with a more casual experience.
If you approach it as a pick-up-and-play racing game rather than a simulator, there is real fun to be had here, especially in multiplayer. Prices on the used market and during digital sales have dropped significantly since launch, making it an affordable option for racing fans who want something easy to jump into. Just do not expect the depth of its predecessor or competitors like Gran Turismo 7 and Forza Motorsport.
