Corsa DriverAssetto Corsa EVO feels like a worthy heir to one of Steams racing titans so far, but its still got a lot of laps to go to get thereIts still fairly barebones in its initial early access form, but theres a solid core there to refine going forwards.Image credit: Kunos Simulazioni Article by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Jan. 22, 2025 Since it came on the scene about a decade ago, Assetto Corsas been firmly near or at the front of the pack when it comes to racing sims.In a genre thats grown to arguably outshine all but the biggest blockbusters in the arcade scene that long dominated the corner of our hobby filled with games that let you pretend youre Lewis Hamilton or at the very least someone who can afford to be a bit more liberal with the gas pedal than you are on your daily shopping runs it was a winning formula, especially on PC. Why? Well, Id argue one of the biggest keys especially when it comes to ACs longevity is versatility.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. As Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport have long striven to do, it was here to let you walk into the showroom, pick a car, pick a track, and boom. Go. However, on PC, AC had the ace of modding up its sleeve. Built to allow people to add as many extra cars and tracks as they wanted, as well as tweak a litany of other stuff, it became a thing pretty much all petrol heads had long dreamed a racing game could be - ultimate freedom.If you want to drive any car in the world on any track in the world, the odds are pretty good you can do it via Assetto Corsa, right now.Everything from modern racing and road cars anywhere in the world, to the kinds of uber-accurate, time machine-esque recreations of retro racing enthusiasts have put together. Its all there, just waiting to be fired up.No pressure then, Assetto Corsa EVO, the long-awaited successor to this killer robot that fans have since added about 15 thousand different weapons to, as well as polishing its paintwork while theyre at it. AC Evo came out in early access last week, and after a weekend of playing it so far, its clear that its got a long way to go as part of the roadmap Kunos Simulazioni has planned to lead up to a full release in fall this year. EVO's got a lot of tuns to nail if it's gonna live up to its older sibling. | Image credit: Kunos Simulazioni/VG247At this point, what youre getting if you buy EVO is essentially an offline hot lap and single-make racer. There arent any online elements on the go yet though the game does bizarrely try to connect like an always-online thing whenever you boot it up all youve got are solo practice sessions and standalone races (no qualifying, full race weekends are still a work-in-progress).Theres a decent starting roster of cars to choose from, across a variety of brands. Those looking to hop straight in something a bit out there like a Le Mans prototype or anything built prior to the 90s are gonna be left wanting, but thats to be expected. What youve mainly got are a selection of hot hatches, sports and muscle cars, supercars, and a few single-make championship style racers thatre reaching towards the GT3-spec machines ACs spin-off sibling Assetto Corsa Competizione has as its specialised bread and butter.Theres just enough choice that youll not feel too pigeon-holed, and plenty of these are fun to drive. The track rosters about the same, with both variations of Brands Hatch, Imola, Laguna Seca, and three variations of Japans iconic Suzuka all being the kinds of tracks that are exactly the sort of early staples youd expect. The legendary Bathurst/Mount Panorama track thats no doubt been brought across from Competizione is the only one Id argues a bit less common, and the Aussie rollercoaster rides a welcome addition.So, on to the big thing. Hows the driving? Good, in a word. On a wheel which is definitely the way you should play this each car feels weighty, but not more cumbersome than it should be. You can get a nice feel for the tyres gripping the road if youre not being a hooligan, and feel things biting as you slide if youre not, which is as real a risk as it should be if you do what I did and what the stability aids down to nothing. The grunt under your right foot is something youve got to wield carefully, especially if youre wrestling with a fire-spitting Camaro or a 911 cup car with flat six screaming away in the rear. Speaking of, the car visuals and soundscapes are pretty great, with each ride having its own trademark engine roar. As you can imagine, GT2 Mercs are pretty strong in the roar deparment. | Image credit: Kunos Simulazioni/VG247Theres a good challenge there for those who want it, plenty of aids for those whore after a gentler cruise, and plenty of stuff to fiddle with if you want to up the realism and bind everything down to switches that change brake bias by one tiny notch and flick your rain light on manually. Youve got enough different stuff to try and master too, with Bathurst especially being even more different in what it demands than the minor differences between the other more traditionally open circuits.If you want to spice things up even more, youve got the option of changing the time of day slider so youre running at night, or dialling in some light to heavy rain to make the road that much less forgiving and force yourself to deal with spray if youve got competition. If you do make a mistake though, youll lose time, but not much more. Aside from punctures, the games car damage model did feel to me like itll need turning up a bit - assuming were not going for a retro Gran Turismo-style every car is made of stone cos the manufacturers dont really like seeing their babies get trashed thing. For instance, hitting big sausage kerbs isnt quite as punishing as I reckon it should be.I did also run into more teething issues when I took on some races against the AI. First of all, Ive got a pretty beefy PC and while AC games have generally been quite hardware-intensive if youre not prepared to dial stuff down to guarantee the great frame rates you need for racing, any time Im racing against more than about 10 AI opponents, I got a bit of slowdown. It was especially bad on starts, and adding rain made things worse with it. So, maybe a bit more optimisation needed, if possible. I didn't go and hide in the pits because the AI drivers were bullying me, I swear. | Image credit: Kunos SimulazioniThe AI driving itself is also a bit suspect at times. The default line for like a third of the field at Suzuka seems to involve dramatically cutting the first corner across the grass, then rejoining mid-corner. They might be scared Ill Ayton Senna 1990 them, but thats no excuse. Besides, they give as good as they get. It might be because Im not as attentive mirror-wise as I could be, but theres no lifting if someones nose gets close to your rear. I got spun a few times, which was probably my fault for not learning my lesson, but I also got a fair few direct mid-corner bumps squarely to the bumper, which unsettled me just enough to spin out on my own.Basically, it seems like Kunos has based these non-humans on touring car drivers who know theyve not got another race coming up soon, whichll take a bit of getting used to if the option to tweak their aggressiveness isnt added in future.Overall, though, AC EVOs a solid opening package to build on right now. It wont blow you away in its current form, but as the interesting GT/Forza/AC hybrid Kunos seems to have sketched out in its roadmap especially the interesting free-roamy bits come together, and it proves as popular modding-wise as its predecessor, its definitely one to keep an eye on. Its not on pole position yet, but its gotten round the first corner pretty rapidly, and without binning it.