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Best racing games in the last 5 or so years?

Theodoricos

Theodoricos

Member
Oct 25, 2017
240
I'm a big fan of the racing genre, but for one reason or another I haven't been in the mood to play a racing game in the last 5 or so years. Until now!

The last games I played and enjoyed were Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) and F1 2011. I'm looking for something new though, and not just the latest entries of the Codemasters F1 series or Need for Speed, which hasn't gone in a direction I'm fond of. Their latest games do not seem to have received particularly good reviews anyway.

Any recommendations? I'm open to most types of racing games. I'm looking for something with interesting or memorable tracks and an above-average car selection.
 
BlandrewYT

BlandrewYT

Member
Nov 27, 2017
342
Not 5 years, but it is "or so"

1_sonic_all_stars_racing_transformed.jpg
 
Deadshot

Deadshot

Member
Apr 13, 2018
195
Canada
Yeah whatever Forza Horizon is the most recent. Not a big racing game player, but horizon was free and I did enjoy it.
 
zeknurn

zeknurn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,285
Forza Horizon 3
Assetto Corsa
Project Cars (Never played 2 but I imagine it's better in every way)
Burnout Paradise Remastered
Dirt Rally
Trackmania 2
 
FusionNY

FusionNY

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,712
I'm not much of a racing fan, but Forza Horizon 3 has been really fun so far. It also looks incredible on the X.
 
OP
OP
Theodoricos

Theodoricos

Member
Oct 25, 2017
240
Damn, Forza Horizon 3 looks fantastic and just what I'm looking for. Too bad I'm on Windows 8.1.
 
ShutterMunster

ShutterMunster

Art Manager
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
2,557
I feel I've been spoiled this gen. The Horizons have been great, GT Sport is damn good, I loveeeeee Driveclub, and now I have 4K/60FPS Burnout.

My favorite has probably been GT Sport.
 
banter

banter

Member
Jan 12, 2018
4,127
Gran Turismo Sport. While it started off rough being an online competitive multiplayer game only, (to be fair, they marketed it that way too and people still bought it and complained about it being that) they eventually added a single player campaign and tons of cars, all free of charge. While I haven't played Assetto Corsa, I'd say GTSport is the best racing sim for consoles right now by a decent margin. I used to be a huge Forza fan ever since the first game came and trounced GT, but now they've gotten too arcadey and unrealistic with it (not to mention the mod card bs). My curiousity has been growing with AC though, I may have to pick it up sometime and try it out.
 

Deleted member 11018

User requested account closure
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Oct 27, 2017
2,419
F1 2017 is really fantastic, the false historic events are useless and gimmicky but the game is great, i had a blast with it.
I recommend Project Cars 2, it is a great game, not aaaaaall sim but leaning seriously :)
 
Vadara

Vadara

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,565
If you like futuristic racers and want something obscure (as in "average player count of 30 on Steam obscure") then Redout is a very good choice, though with a painfully big learning curve. I definitely would recommend the PC version over consoles though.
 

francium87

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,045
Horizon 3 is the first racing game I played with any regularity in my 20 years of gaming. Not a racing guy at all, until FH3. It was good enough to make me curious about F7, which while still enjoyable wasn't as good.
 

Chris.

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,920
Forza horizon

Mario kart

Forza Motorsport

Just depends what you're looking for really
 
New Fang

New Fang

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,542
Best realistic racer - Gran Turismo Sport

Best semi realistic racer - Forza Horizon 3

Best arcade racer - Mario Kart 8

Also, if you've never played Burnout Paradise give the recent remaster a look.
 
galv

galv

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
2,048
Assetto Corsa, Project CARS 2 are fantastic games on the simulation end. Both have plenty of tracks and cars to learn and perfect. Assetto Corsa also has massive amount of mod support, with almost every car or track you can think of finding its way to the game. For example, you can drive the X2011 from GT5 on Akina Downhill from Initial D. It's fantastic. Project CARS 2 is the game with the best VR support (though Assetto Corsa isn't far behind), and has a fleshed out career mode to dive into.

DiRT Rally is the best simulator for off-road rally racing. VR mode is also great. Definitely check it out if you're a fan of a hardcore rally sim.

Full simulators like iRacing, Automobilista and rFactor 2 are also definitely worth checking out.

F1 2016/2017 are very good if you want to simulate the F1 season or simply drive modern F1 cars around the Grand Prix tracks.

Gran Turismo Sport is worth it for the online component. However, it is content light when it comes to both cars and tracks, and it's a simcade (which can be a positive as well.) Forza Motorsport 7 is another simcade alternative.

GRID: Autosport is a fantastic game for simcade lovers and a return to the roots of the Race Driver franchise. It's also really cheap and looks good too.

On the arcade front, Forza Horizon 3 is the best arcade racer in a long, long time. There is plenty of content, plenty of cars, and a lot of fun.
The Crew after all the updates and patches is also quite good and is worth putting the hours into, and is very unique as one of the few racing games with loot.
Need for Speed (2015) is a game that wasn't well received, but if you can look past the unskippable story, there is a good arcade racer to be found underneath.

When it comes to futuristic racers, for me, nothing will touch Redout. It's the closest game to F-Zero there is, considering every other developer is aiming towards Wipeout. But definitely check it out for all your anti-gravity needs.
 

Deleted member 984

User requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
5,203
Dirt Rally, Assetto Corsa, Project Cars 2. The rest don't even get close to replicating racing or cars.

if you don't have a wheel and want the gamey thing rather than the more realistic thing then GT Sport, Forza Horizon 3 and Wipeout HD.
 
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CozMick

CozMick

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,242
Driveclub. Platinumed both the main game and Bikes including all the dlc.

Incredible experience.
 
ghostcrew

ghostcrew

The Shrouded Ghost
Administrator
Oct 27, 2017
30,474
Forza Horizon 3 or Motorsport 7
I also really like Driveclub and Dirt Rally. But the two most recent Forzas are just too if their class.
 
galv

galv

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
2,048
Also, for anyone jonesing for an Initial D/Wangan Midnight clone, here is one made by Chinese arcade developers releasing on Steam this month for the low low price of $9.99 (on Humble, monthly discount gets it to $8.99).
 
Ryo

Ryo

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,523
I haven't played a single racing game in the last 5 years that I'd regard as great despite it being one of my most favourite genres, I don't have an Xbox or PC capable of running the Forza games but I imagine FH3 is the answer. It's the one franchise that I feel I'm really missing out on, hopefully The Crew 2 will fill the void.

On the subject of F1 game reviews, 2017 reviewed well and I thought it was pretty good.

GT5 and MCLA were the last racing games that I put 100s of hours into.
 
galv

galv

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
2,048
GC- said:
The rest don't even get close to replicating racing or cars.
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Absolutely agree with this. People like to call Gran Turismo and Forza as simulators, but they are definitely far more simcade than actual sims, not that that's a bad thing.

If any of you find yourselves in an arcade, check out SEGA World Drivers Championship. It's an arcade SuperGT game that really needs to make its way to consoles/PC at some point!
 

cooldawn

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,460
For the more serious side of things:
Assetto Corsa
Project CARS
Gran Turismo Sport

For a bit of fun:
DriveClub
The Crew

To be fair, even though I haven't played it yet, Forza Horizon 3 seems to be brilliant too.
 
galv

galv

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
2,048
juicyb said:
First I've heard of Assetto Corsa. How hardcore of a simulator we talking? Playable with a controller?
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It's a hardcore simulator with fantastic mod support. Controller is doable, but I'd really really suggest a wheel. This isn't a Gran Turismo/Forza, and using the out of cockpit view isn't going to work as you think it will.


It's also a fantastic looking game.
 
ghostcrew

ghostcrew

The Shrouded Ghost
Administrator
Oct 27, 2017
30,474
Theodoricos said:
Damn, Forza Horizon 3 looks fantastic and just what I'm looking for. Too bad I'm on Windows 8.1.
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Maybe put your platform choice in the OP? The Xbox One and Windows store have two of the best reviewed racing games of the gen exclusively so you're gonna get a lot of recommendations for them. Pointless if you can't play them. You just asked for the best racing games of the last 5 years.
 
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