7mo ago

Racing game recommendation

Hey fellow gamers,

please kindly share your racing game recommendations.

I didn't play any racing games in the last couple of years, so it doesn't need to be the latest titles, can be a bit older too.

I'm searching for something more on the casual side. Definitely no Sim. Are the recent NFS games any good? Like everybody I liked NFS Underground back in the days. Customizing cool cars is definitely a big plus.

Singleplayer campaign or something is required, because no way am I up to compete with people online.

25 comments

~~Bloodborne~~ Nightmare Kart!

Forza Horizon 4 or 5. They're a little sim-y but very arcady at the same time. Very enjoyable games. 4 is better in terms of the map and story / single player experience, but 5 has better audio and visuals and car selection.
- Had a lot of fun with both Horizon 4 & 5, great mix of arcade and sim. Tons of cars, just about everything is viable. Lots of accessibility options, should be a good fit for just about anyone.
  Forza Motorsport (2023) on the other hand is a massive disappointment. Avoid. Driving dynamics are good and more simmy, but everything else is a downgrade from its 7 year old predecessor. Kind of amazing how terrible it is. Apparently Microsoft had developers constantly rotating out on short contracts and it shows.
- 4 is also being delisted later this year due to expiring licensing deals. It's on discount until it's gone IIRC, but if you don't get it soon you'll never be able to legally.

Burnout: Paradise. I have many an hour in this game.

Trackmania

Forza Horizon 4, buy Ultimate so you get the 2 map expansions.
BeamNG.Drive has a great driving and damage model and lots of car and map mods.

There's a demo for a game called Rollin' Rascal that's basically a Sonic clone, but there's a multiplayer racing portion of it that's actually really fun. There's no stakes, it's just competing for the sake of winning, and it's really fun trying to figure out where the best routes would be. You can customize your "rascal" with different color palettes, or you can make a couple color schemes of your own, and give him a hat if you want.
The demo has two campaign levels available, but I'd still recommend it for the multiplayer racing aspect.

Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed Collection is a blast if you're okay with a kart racer.
Flatout 2 is the OG combat racer.
If you're looking for a true "racing sim" type game I would probably recommend one of the Assetto Corsa games, either the original or competizione.
CarX Drift Racing Online is probably not what you expect, but is really fun. Not exactly a traditional "racing" game because you don't compete for time, but rather compete for "drift points," with longer/wider drifts getting more score. It has a surprisingly thorough singleplayer mode, and the multiplayer is relatively relaxed. Multiplayer is setup in an open-world style; you join a big lobby and can just drive around with friends or randoms without actually competing for anything, although people in each lobby can start competitions that everyone else can opt-in to. The main reason I'm recommending it is it has very thorough car customization and is a chill, non-competitive driving game, whether that be singleplayer or multiplayer.

I liked the Crew as a sort of racing rpg kinda thing
- +1
  As a huge NFS Underground fan, The Crew is the only game I've played that comes close
  
  Help join the cause if you havent
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I loved playing "Driver: San Francisco" by Ubisoft. It's more of a driving game than a racing game set in an open world. However afaik you can't buy it digitally anymore for licensing reasons.
Also the Dirt series is quite nice
- Driver San Fran is the best car game ever made
  If you’re into more than just races don’t look into it at all. Just find an illegal copy and have a night

Absolute Drift Steam / GOG
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered
Wreckfest Steam / GOG
- Wish they remasted the older hot pursuit or Porche unleashed games.. An underground or carbon remake is too much to ask ig

Have you ever played Rollcage back in the day? There's a spiritual successor to it now by the original team - GRIP. It's very much the same as it used to be, just with modern graphics.

Seconding Forza Horizon 5. It's pretty fun and casual while still offering some challenge. There's also Burnout Paradise, which is a bit older but still very good.

A rather different take on casual arcade racing, but I quite like Wreckfest.

BLUR is like a more realistic version of Mario Kart, yet not a sim.

Need for Speed Heat, the title before the current Unbound, was very well received. Currently on sale

Not a racing sim, but a pretty chill driving game.
Take a look at American truck simulator or euro truck simulator 2
Both with huge discounts on steam currently.

I really liked Mad Max and Days Gone where the focus was upgrading your one vehicle. I really wish there was more out there like it, but Im unaware of any.

25 comments