10 Assetto Corsa Competizione
Assetto Corsa Competizione gameplay.
While never quite gaining the following of the original Assetto Corsa, Assetto Corsa Competitizione is a step in the right direction for the franchise. The game benefits greatly from the Blancpain GT Series official licence, even if few of us have ever heard of the competition. It's basically a series which races souped up, track ready versions of the world’s fastest hyper cars.
This is actually pretty awesome as you get to race recognisable cars like Lamborghinis and Ferraris rather than some generic open wheeler which looks more or less the same plus or minus an air intake every year.
Unfortunately, you don’t get the huge selection of cars or the modability of its predecessor. The game makes up for this with an improved driving model, and an official licence which helps enormously with the game’s presentation whilst also allowing for a fully fleshed out single player season. The game also has great force feedback which provides a really good sense of inertia, meaning it’s one of the best games out there for gamers who have access to a decent wheel.
9 F1 2020
F1 2020 Gameplay.
Another sim with some serious real-life racing pedigree. As you can see in the video above, McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris is taking his virtual counterpart for a spin. Lando and other pros often use these very sims to repeatedly practice tricky turns before they’ve even touched the track in real life.
F1 racing is a really precise, tricky discipline. The car is constantly balanced on a knife edge and you need pinpoint reactive twitch precision to stop yourself from spinning out altogether.
The point at which you are pushing your car as fast as it can go around a corner, while still having just enough grip not to totally lose control, is called the limit. Drivers like Michael Schumacher credit their success to having a feel for this limit. This is why F1 2020 is perhaps the game where having a steering wheel is most important, if you don’t have a decent force feedback wheel, you’re never going to get a sense of where this limit is.
8 iRacing
iRacing gameplay.
There’s something about iRacing. The sim racing subscription service has been going strong now since 2008. That’s right, this isn't just some game, it's a subscription service.
Talk about exclusive, is it worth it? It Probably is yes, it's still one of the most accurate sims out there as it's constantly being updated. It also seems to regularly attract some of the heavy hitters of the real life racing scene. So you never know, you might end up in a lobby with Lewis Hamilton.
iRacing has seen its profile rise during the pandemic as real-life racers sought to find a virtual alternative meaning the game’s community is currently thriving. While the gateway to entry might seem pretty daunting, to many it will be worth it for the chance to compete with the best. The force feedback on offer here is also top class.
7 Forza Horizon 4
Forza Horizon 4 gameplay.
One of the most critically acclaimed racers of recent years, there’s still nothing quite like Forza Horizon 4. The game lets you hurtle through a condensed version of Britain which somehow manages to capture the best bits of the Lake District and Edinburgh without seeming totally absurd.
The ability to go anywhere you can see, whether on or off road, gives you an unparalleled sense of freedom when it comes to driving games. It’s also unparalleled when it comes to the roster of cars which is seemingly limitless at this stage.
You’ll also really benefit from a wheel here as the game has a dedicated sim mode. Its sliding scale of driving assists is also great because it lets you kick back on the sofa with a controller from time. Even sim racers who fancy themselves the next Lewis Hamilton need to take it easy now and then.
With Forza Horizon 5 on the… well, on the horizon, there’s also plenty to look forward to for fans of the series.
6 WRC 9
WRC 9 gameplay.
The WRC series is Dirt Rally’s biggest competitor. While for years the officially licenced game had been left in the shadow of the wider Dirt franchise, since having been taken over by Kylotonn Games back in 2015, the games have been going from strength to strength.
There is now little to separate the two franchises, with much boiling down to personal preference. WRC has the edge now when it comes to graphics and career mode and, of course, the official licence. Dirt Rally 2.0 edges out WRC in the bread and butter of rally sims however, i.e. the handling model on uneven surfaces like mud, snow, and gravel.
On tarmac though, it’s a totally different matter, if you’ve ever played Dirt Rally 2.0 you’ll know that tarmac driving just feels a little bit… odd. This is especially noticeable in the loose and unpredictable force feedback. WRC is indisputably the king in this instance and there really isn’t any other game that can match it when it comes to hurtling down very narrow and treacherous rural tarmac roads.
5 Wreckfest
Wreckfest gameplay.
Demolition derbies have gotten a limited amount of love over the years. This is perhaps down to the impossibility of capturing the carnage and destruction in a realistic or satisfying way. Wreckfest is the first game to really manage it.
This game is also fantastic with a good force feedback steering wheel. The ability to actually feel each collision makes everything way more impactful; Literally, be careful not to crank those force feedback settings up too high, things can get quite exhausting.
Wreck fest is also great for those moments when you hit a bit of old debris, and suddenly have to wrestle with the car to stop it from spinning. These moments genuinely make you jump when you have force feedback added as your steering wheel jolts away from you. Wrestling with the wheel and your virtual car can be a real adrenaline rush.
4 BeamNG.drive
Beam NG.drive gameplay.
Beam NG has been in early access for 8 years now, but don’t let that take away from this indie classic’s unique combination of soft body physics and eclectic mix of game modes.
Having been a standard of YouTube compilations for years now, the unpredictable real time nature of this game’s soft body physics gives it almost infinite replayability. You might also want to consider this one in terms of its merits as a driving game though.
Having just received a comprehensive update to its driving model, Beam NG has become a serious contender when it comes to force feedback driving. Its bizarre variety of vehicles and game modes, along with its impressive modability, will also keep you coming back for more.
Not to mention BeamNG’s integration with Automation - The Car Company Tycoon Game, which lets you take your lovingly designed creations and smash them into a wall at over 200 miles an hour, just to see what happens.
3 Assetto Corsa
Assetto Corsa gameplay.
Assetto Corsa was pretty revolutionary back in 2014, instantly becoming the definitive sim racer of its day. In many respects, not much has changed. While its sequel Competizione improves on many aspects of the game, it's really hard to escape from the game’s lack of mod support.
The driving model might not quite be state of the art anymore, but just look at the gameplay footage above. Pretty much nothing you can see here is native to the original game: the car, the map, the graphics. The precise and refined Italian track racing simulator is gone and the whole thing looks more like a high-octane scene out of the fast and the furious.
And this is what no other racer out there can match at the moment, modability. This game has nothing to do with drift culture… except now it does. From 24 hours at le mans to hot import nights, nothing quite beats the variety you get with a modded old school Assetto Corsa.
2 Richard Burns Rally
Richard Burns Rally gameplay.
Richard Burns Rally is a game from 2004. That’s right 2004, and it's still relevant, and arguably, still one of the best rally sims going, a title it held undisputed for over a decade until 2015’s Dirt Rally came onto the scene.
Its longevity is in no small part down to the exemplary driving model of the vanilla game which was supported in its development by the late Richard Burns himself. From this strong base, a huge community of rally sim enthusiasts has managed to continuously improve the game throughout the years. They’ve updated the driving model, the graphics, the car roster, pretty much everything.
Modders have even managed to integrate VR support. The above video shows Jon Armstrong who grew up playing the game; eventually becoming a real-life sponsored rally driver after winning several rally sim competitions. He’s currently lighting up the Junior European Rally Championship having just won in his debut at Rally Poland.
1 Dirt Rally 2.0
Dirt Rally 2.0 gameplay.
The Dirt Rally Series has always benefited greatly from a proper force feedback wheel. This is the case for most good rally sims as the ability to feel the point at which your car is about to spin out is key to balancing it through a slippery corner.
Rally racing is a totally different experience to your usual fare, and it makes for a great change of pace if you’re used to track racers. The learning curve is pretty steep, but once you get into it, it can be seriously rewarding.
If you have a decent force feedback wheel, there’s nothing quite like feeling for the limit of each corner as you deftly power slide, break, and swing from corner to corner. Dirt Rally 2.0 is one of the best for capturing this experience today.
