Best PC Racing Games
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Soldato
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Get yourself a pad be loads more fun
Iracing is king by a country mile, everything else is a bad joke in comparison.
However there is no point playing it if you don't have a wheel as you will get utterly destroyed.
Id suggest getting GTR2 or Race 07. Both vastly superior to the likes of Shift 2 etc, sure they don't have the fancy visuals but they have the physics which is what matters.
However there is no point playing it if you don't have a wheel as you will get utterly destroyed.
Id suggest getting GTR2 or Race 07. Both vastly superior to the likes of Shift 2 etc, sure they don't have the fancy visuals but they have the physics which is what matters.
Really
Seriously treat yourself to an XBox 360 pad, they're not exactly wallet busting 
At least then you've got some sort of analogue control, rather than full lock left/full lock right.
Unfortunately best graphics doesn't necessarily mean best game, so you kinda' need to make your mind up what you want?
Having said that Dirt 2 and F1 2010 may be right up your street. Both have decent graphics, and they also feel fairly good in the handling stakes, albeit slightly arcadey.
They both have pretty good single player career modes though, and these games would be a good choice I feel, especially if you're more of a casual racer.
Shift 2 for me is a bit of a letdown, although I play on the wheel and one of my mates seems to cope fairly well on his 360 pad.
It all just feels a bit vague, floaty and laggy no matter how I set it up.
If you want a sim then iRacing always gets positive feedback, although you do have to pay a monthly subscription.
I can't comment myself as I've never tried it. Not sure iRacing has a single player mode as such, perhaps someone who plays it can chime in and let us know?
GTR2/Race on - along with its many add on packs is also a great sim,
brilliant with the wheel but unfortunately the graphics are starting to look a bit dated now, although there's loads of mods to be had that can enhance it.
RFactor is another good sim, but again dated graphics. RFactor 2 should hopefully be out sometime this year though.
Dirt 3 is also out at the end of this month, this looks really promising graphics wise, of course we'll have to wait and see how it handles, but initial reports seem good.
There's plenty of older games that still look pretty good graphically, both Toca Race driver and Grid are good games to play and both come complete with Codemasters rather arcadey but generally positive handling.
Trackmania Nations/United Forever
United you have to pay for, but Nations is a free version which used to be a lot better before they added all this 'FreeZone' stuff, but it's still a very good game.
Single player has a very good learning curve to help get the hang of it. It's not really a career as such, but you do have to get medals to progress to the next difficulties etc.
Multiplayer is amazing, except the FreeZone servers tend to have really annoying people that try to vote for things all the time. You can join non-freezone servers by adding them to your favs I think (Never tried as I always had United), and the people in those kind of servers are usually very friendly. You can also easily compete with keyboard once you get the hang of it.
Trackmania 2 is coming out in a few months as well.
United you have to pay for, but Nations is a free version which used to be a lot better before they added all this 'FreeZone' stuff, but it's still a very good game.
Single player has a very good learning curve to help get the hang of it. It's not really a career as such, but you do have to get medals to progress to the next difficulties etc.
Multiplayer is amazing, except the FreeZone servers tend to have really annoying people that try to vote for things all the time. You can join non-freezone servers by adding them to your favs I think (Never tried as I always had United), and the people in those kind of servers are usually very friendly. You can also easily compete with keyboard once you get the hang of it.
Trackmania 2 is coming out in a few months as well.
Soldato
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DiRT 2 is a brilliant game. DiRT 3 looks even better! I couldn't get back into GRID after playing DiRT 2; the handling of the cars are really different (in a bad way imo).
.I know exactly what the OP is talking about. You're into racing games, you've got a fancy rig so why bother with an ancient game with blocky graphics just because it had the best car physics to date. You want a fun racer, with excellent graphics that can push your PC, kinda arcade but not over the top but definitely not one of those TOCA bags of tripe where you have to take a corner at 0.2 mph in case you spin out. AMIRITE!
Here's what you want mate:
1. GRID
2. DiRT 2
3. Split Second
3. NFS: Under Cover
4. NFS: Hot Pursuit
5. Burn Out Paradise Ultimate
6. Trackmania Nations
7. Wheelman
8. Colin McRae Rally 4 <-- sorry it's old but its just so good!
UBETRSAYTHNX
A 360 controller is the number one controller since practically every single game is launched with compatibility with the 360 controller. I just bought one today from the rain forest site for 20 quid (inc p&p)!
However, If you're worried about cost, you can use the free x360ce emulator to replicate a cheapo controller to make the game think you're using a real 360 controller. It even supports vibration!
Here's what you want mate:
1. GRID
2. DiRT 2
3. Split Second
3. NFS: Under Cover
4. NFS: Hot Pursuit
5. Burn Out Paradise Ultimate
6. Trackmania Nations
7. Wheelman
8. Colin McRae Rally 4 <-- sorry it's old but its just so good!
UBETRSAYTHNX
A 360 controller is the number one controller since practically every single game is launched with compatibility with the 360 controller. I just bought one today from the rain forest site for 20 quid (inc p&p)!
However, If you're worried about cost, you can use the free x360ce emulator to replicate a cheapo controller to make the game think you're using a real 360 controller. It even supports vibration!
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My votes go for blur, nfs hot pursuit, dirt series, nfs most wanted, split second, shift, burnout, grid and if you want proper old skool grab screamer off GOG!
Blur has a great career mode and hot pursuit will keep you going a good while to complete the cop and racer sides
Blur has a great career mode and hot pursuit will keep you going a good while to complete the cop and racer sides
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Associate
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Shift 2 
Fantastic game, very different to the usual NFS games, more like turismo or forza really.
Some tweaking with the control settings is needed though (imo). No biggie.
Keyboard? = Hell no!
Fantastic game, very different to the usual NFS games, more like turismo or forza really.
Some tweaking with the control settings is needed though (imo). No biggie.
Keyboard? = Hell no!
Soldato
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Shift 2
Fantastic game, very different to the usual NFS games, more like turismo or forza really.
well, i would put it directly in the middle of the usual NFS stuff and forza/GT5 for simulation, but your right that its aiming for simulation
Associate
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Race07/GTR evolution,then download the GTR2,and GTL mods,thats 4 games in one,there are also a massive amount of other mods and tracks available on the net.