I watched this video of the pcars 2 press build being played in VR vs the AI today. I thought it looked a lot like pcars without much real improvement. I've already preordered on PC on Steam so I'm hoping the improvement before launch is real and not just marketing bluff.
pcars2 Nurburgring GP GT3 pile up in the first corner at 100% AI
I was intrigued enough to go back and play out the same scenario in pcars to see if what I remembered was true. I tried the scenario a few times and the result was consistent, the pcars AI are actually better at getting around turn 1 but way too aggressive and wildly abuse track limits in the next few corners. I also noticed that when the cars transition from grip to slip the same steering inputs are required, it all looks familiar to me.
pcars Nurburgring GP GT3 first lap behaviour at 100% AI ability
After that I ran the scenario, same cars, same starting postion, same VR, 100% AI and 100% aggression in Assetto Corsa - a game that for me wows and frustrates in equal measure. The latest AI in AC are on a different level, they race cleanly and competitively and it feels like racing similarly skilled humans (before this sounds too gushing there are many issues like static tracks, weather, daytime which pcars does better of course). Sticking with the AI alone, pcars 2 will need a lot of polishing before it gets anywhere close to this level of AI based on the videos so far.
Assetto Corsa Nurburgring GP GT3 fast, competitive and fair AI.
I'm in on day one whatever to try the game for myself but I hope there really are some significant improvements to pcars 2 AI and handling for all cars, not just the cherry picked few, by launch day.