Forza Horizon 2, The Crew, Driveclub, and Project Cars developers on why you should choose their game over the competitors

Car games are about to bombard the world.

Three triple-A titles — The Crew, Forza Horizon 2, and Driveclub — and one crowdfunded indie game — Project Cars — will compete this fall for the adoration of car fans. All four games come out within six weeks of one another; Forza Horizon 2 is the first out of the gate Sept. 30, with Project Cars bringing up the rear with a Nov. 18 release date.

The fierce competition forces potential buyers to question themselves. Which one should I pick? What are the features that make each stand out, and which of these meet my needs? Should I say screw it and drop the $250-plus to buy them all?

GamesBeat tracked down the leaders of each development team to address these questions. Each offered his take on what makes his game unique and why players should choose it above the others.

Here’s a comparison gallery of fancy cars from all four games to get you started:

Interviews and screenshot galleries for each game begin on the next page. The last page has a final summary of all four interviews.

Forza Horizon 2

For Forza Horizon 2, I spoke to creative director Ralph Fulton of Playground Games, which worked on the Xbox One version.

The Numbers

Out Sept. 30 for Xbox 360 and Xbox One for $60.

Unique features

The team set out to create a relaxed take on car culture counter to the hyper-competitive racing feel of the Forza Motorsport series, according to Fulton. He also discussed at length how his team used the technology available in the new console generation to create a large, lush representation of Southern Europe that’s three times the size of the American world of Forza Horizon.

Fulton believes the major selling point of Forza Horizon 2 is its position as a social driving simulator. Playground Games sent research teams out France and Italy to take pictures and videos that would allow them to create the pleasant surroundings that will surround each driver on their trips.

Fulton noted the new weather system, which was one of the most frequent requests Playground received from gamers. Realistic rain will now play a role in how your car drives, Fulton said.

Horizon 2 will improve upon its predecessor’s practice of holding large in-game festivals for players, Fulton said. BBC Radio DJ Rob Devine returned to program the radio stations and festival soundtracks for Horizon 2, which has more than double the music of the first installment.

Cars

Horizon 2 will have over 200 cars available at launch, Fulton said. Some of the varieties include cult classic cars, modern racers, rally cars, and off-roaders.

Fulton also gushed about a wealth of customization options for each vehicle. You can Cars customize cars with an advanced paint tool that grabs other people’s paint designs and apply them to their car. You can also upgrade their cars with other visuals, such as spoilers, wheels, etc.

A tuning system can adjust each car’s mechanics, Fulton said. This allows players to tweak the handling, breaks, gears, etc. of each of their cars.

Why should people buy your game over the competitors?

Fulton: Xbox Live is an incredible place to play games with people, making this an incredible game to play with other people and with friends. Things are better with other people. Horizon 2 has cars, music and festivals that are all meant to be experienced together.

Horizon 2 is the most social game we’ve ever made. We are bringing together people of like interests, and it is my hope that people might make new friends in this game.

Screenshots

Driveclub

For Driveclub, I spoke to game director Paul Rustchynsky of Evolution Studios.

The Numbers

Out Oct. 4 for the PlayStation 4 for $60.

Unique Features

Versatility is the key for Rustchynsky. While the game does feature competitive features like leaderboards and time trials, he said it’s important that Driveclub not be too intimidating or off-putting. Players should be able to race and win on their own terms.

Rustchynsky also emphasized the title’s namesake: it’s driving clubs. He hopes that this team-first mentality will drastically change how players approach races. Striving for first is less important, Rustchynsky said, because earning the most possible points for your team should be the first objective. The better your team scores, the more cars and customization assets they will unlock.

Like Project Cars, Driveclub features track racing — not an open-world concept.

Driveclub also features a free version open to PlayStation Plus members. Rustchynsky said that this version enables players to try out a huge chunk of the game before purchase.

Cars

Like the Forza lead, Rustchynsky was forthright with a number. Driveclub will offer 50 cars to choose from on the disc, with more free cars each month. The free PS Plus edition will have 10 free cars.

Unlike Forza, Driveclub’s customization options only focus on preset aesthetics. Rustchynsky said that you can outfit each car with predetermined paint and design layers, but Driveclub does not feature a full-on editor. Players can also adorn their vehicles with accolade badges earned through various challenges.

Club leaders can also set a base design for every car in their club, Rustchynsky said.

Driveclub will have no tuning options. When asked why, Rustchynsky explained that he wanted a level playing field for all players where every car ran exactly how its real-life counterpart would.

Why should people buy your game over the competitors?

Rustchynsky: What makes a really good driving game is the handling model, and Driveclub excels at this.

There are other things that make a great game, but there’s nothing to stick around for if the handling model isn’t great. We have really nailed it. Everyone will thoroughly enjoy it. You can add as many features as you want, but the racing has to be fantastic, and that’s what we’ve done. Our gameplay rules out.

Screenshots

The Crew

For The Crew, I interviewed lead game designer Serkan Hassan of Ivory Tower, which worked on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC versions.

The Numbers

Out Nov. 11 for PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Xbox 360 for $60.

Unique features

According to Hassan, The Crew is a blending of the traditional racing genre and the massively multiplayer online games. It uses the entire United States as the world. He called this a driving game with a few racing elements sprinkled in.

Hassan emphasized The Crew’s massive representation of the United States. Other racing games traditionally lock players into tunnels, he said, but The Crew allows players to drive on absolutely anything. Players aren’t forced to stay on the highways; the mountains, deserts and hills of America are also fair game.

Hassan added that you have multiple ways to get from city to city. He also encourages you to go off-road whenever and wherever.

Hassan also praised the American scenery portrayed in the game, saying that The Crew features 12 major cities, with many more small cities and towns. The team at Ivory Tower envisioned players taking long road trips across the country, stopping at major-car culture landmarks like Daytona Beach along the way.

Cars

Hassan didn’t come right out with a number but instead to focus on the customization options of The Crew’s vehicles.

The Crew features five different performance specifications, which each allow a player to take their chosen vehicle in various directions, Hassan said. These specs take into account 11 performance areas, such as the engine, tires, and suspension of a car.

Hassan detailed each one of these specs. 

The first is the Street Racer spec, which is sort of a Fast and Furious model, he said. The Dirt Spec transforms the vehicle into a rally car, and the Performance Spec is for highways. Hassan added that the performance spec differs from the Street Racer spec in that it is tuned for straight, long distance races, like a cross-county trek from New York to Miami.

Hassan said the Raid Spec was influenced by Baja racing. Cars have a single seat, a roll cage, jacked up suspension, and massive off-road tires. These are used for going through mountains, forests, and swamps. Finally, the Circuit Spec is a basic racetrack tuning set.

Hassan added that each car’s look can be customized using an editor.

The number of cars in The Crew has sparked a lively debate across several forums. Most, including this one from Game FAQs, project the overall number to be between 40-50, which would place The Crew at the bottom end of the spectrum as far as car variety. The Crew’s car page lists 20 as of Sept. 19.

Why should people buy your game over the competitors?

Hassan: The first reason is just the sheer size of [our game]. If you want the largest open world in any driving game and potentially any game period, then you want The Crew. All of this is free for you and friends and your friends to explore at your leisure.

We believe we have something for car fans as well as someone who doesn’t typically play driving games.

Screenshots

Project Cars

For Project Cars, I spoke to creative director Andy Tudor of Slightly Mad Studios.

The Numbers

Out Nov. 18 for PS4, PC, and Xbox One. The Wii U and Steam OS versions will be out sometime in 2015 for $60. Project Cars supports the Occulus Rift Virtual Reality headset, and Tudor said he is working with Sony on Morpheus VR compatibility as well.

Unique features

For Tudor, Project Cars prevailing feature is that it is nothing like the other three games coming out.

Forza Horizon 2 is very youth-centric, he said. Driveclub is an arcade game. The Crew is in the middle of those two.

Tudor said that Project Cars is on the other end near the Forza Motorsport and Grand Turismo side of the spectrum. He considers Project Cars a competitor with those games and not any of the ones coming out. It operates in an authentic, realistic space, he said.

Tudor went on to call Project Cars the only true motorsport game out this year, complete with authentic weather, pit stops, and time-of-day changes.

When asked if he felt like an underdog going up against three triple-A games, Tudor laughed. He said that his team is prominently British, so they have a history of being the underdog.

Tudor added that Project Cars is not an underdog; it is a dark horse.

Project Cars is also the only crowd-funded title in this year’s car-game crop, which Tudor elaborated on when asked why players should pick his game.

Cars

Like The Crew, Project Cars doesn’t have an exact car number, but it does have a much more specific direction as far as which cars will make it in. 

Its website elaborates on each of the types of vehicles found in Project Cars. These types include track-day cars, which are low-to-the-ground vehicles built only for racing.

Supercars, which include brands such as McClaren and Ferrari, are among the fastest street-legal cars around — and they each cost a fortune.

The website mentions that the LeMans prototype cars found in the game are the fastest cars available on Earth. It also has Touring cars, which are souped-up two-door cars; and open-wheel cars, which are similar to those found in the Grand Prix events.

Tudor added that each car with have some very detailed tuning options.

Why should players buy your game over the competitors?

Tudor: We have a confidence level because we have been working alongside the community. We have allowed players to play Project Cars from our very first build.

We speak to our players every day, not people in suits. Our players can request cars and tracks. They send in photos of cars, tracks or great paint jobs from their hometowns and we put them into the game.

The level of communication and interaction in Project Cars is unmatched. Games take so long and cost so much that you can’t afford to make a game in the dark and hope that it is actually any good.

If you make it alongside people that are playing it, they provide daily feedback. This gives us a massive level of confidence.

Screenshots

The finish line

Here’s a quick rundown of what the developers had to say about each of their games:

Forza Horizon 2

• Definitely a social driving simulator with an emphasis on driving around with friends
• The 200 cars at launch is by far the largest cars number quoted in the interviews
• Performance tuning and a full paint editor for each car
• Festivals and other social events in the game’s setting, open-world southern Europe

Driveclub

• More social than competitive, but still a bit of both
• 50 cars on the paid version and 10 on the free version, with more coming each month
• No performance tuning, and players can only use preset visual layers to change each car’s appearance
• Team-based racing goals and unlockable achievements via Driveclubs
• Track racing

The Crew

• Called “a driving game with a few racing elements sprinkled in”
• Unknown number of cars, rumors indicate between 40-50
• Five different performance specifications utilizing 11 different performance areas for each car
• An editor for the car’s paint and exterior
• Open-world map across the United States with 12 major cities
• Missions akin to those found in typical MMOs

Project Cars

• Racing game with high-end motorsport features
• Number of cars still in flux
• Five car types: track-day, supercar, open-wheel, LeMans prototypes, and touring
• Detailed performance tuning for each, no mention of paint editor
• Track racing with pit stops