E3 2017 Preview: All The Racing Games

E3 is officially less than a month away which means we are less than a month from getting all the official info about several new racing games that we can expect to release over the remainder of 2017 and into 2018.

We figured now would be a good time to take a quick look at each game we expect to be announced at E3 and throw in a healthy dose of speculation on each title.  Sound like fun?  Great!  Let’s get started.

Forza Motorsport 7

While it still hasn’t been officially stated by Microsoft that Forza Motorsport 7 will be announced at E3 2017, it is albeit certain to happen.  Ever since Forza Horizon joined the franchise the release schedule has alternated between the two titles.  Since Forza Horizon 3 was revealed last year, it is pretty safe to say that Forza Motorsport 7 will be revealed this year.

The question is, what can we expect from the new Forza game?  Well, considering that this year will also be the reveal of Microsoft’s 4k 60fps console “Project Scorpio” it is almost certain that Forza Motorsport 7 will run at 4k resolution at 60fps.  We would also be willing to be that due to the extra horsepower (pun-tacular!), Forza Motorsport 7 will likely have some type of VR features when running on Project Scorpio.

As far as gameplay features, we are expecting Porsche cars to be available in-game at launch rather than waiting for an expansion or DLC.  We are also anticipating that there may be some off-road racing be it rally or super trucks included in Forza Motorsport 7 as well.  Either way, we’re excited to find out!

Gran Turismo Sport

No, you’re not accidentally reading a post from last year.  It is 2017 and we are still talking about Gran Turismo Sport (GT Sport) at E3.  Unfortunately the game was delayed late last year and currently has no release date besides “2017”.

Though, since then many new features have been announced for GT Sport including 4k gaming, HDR mode, and VR functionality, all of which are suited to the PlayStation 4 Pro (PS4 Pro) quite nicely.

In addition to announcing new features, a select group of people have already had significant hands-on time with the game as they recently did a closed beta test which as of this writing is still on-going.

Hopefully this test will provide Polyphony Digital with the data needed to give them enough confidence to announce a hard release date at E3 2017!

Need For Speed 2017

EA and Ghost Games are teaming up again for the next Need For Speed title after rebooting the franchise in 2015.  In a recent blog post Ghost Games revealed a few significant Need For Speed 2017 details including the teaser image you see above.

According to Ghost Games, Need For Speed 2017 will have an offline single player mode which addresses one of the biggest complaints about the “always online” requirement of Need For Speed 2015.

It was also revealed that running from the cops will remain as a significant part of Need For Speed‘s gameplay and that customization will be expanded.  There was also a hint that some off-road racing will be a part of the equation as well.

What was not revealed was whether or not Need For Speed 2017 will be optimized to take advantage of the high powered PS4 Pro and Project Scorpio consoles to run at 4k resolution.  We feel confident speculating that Need For Speed 2017 will run at 4k on those consoles but we aren’t quite sure if they will take advantage of higher frame rates.

We suspect that Ghost Games may forgo 60fps and instead focus on making the open world environment much bigger and more detailed.  Judging by the teaser image, it looks like more information may come out on June 2nd when we believe the first official trailer for the game will be released.

Project CARS 2

Unlike the other games mentioned here, we actually know quite a bit about Project CARS 2.  We know there will be over 170 cars in the game at launch and that includes new vehicle types like Indy Car and Rallycross.  We know that Project CARS 2 claims to have the “largest track roster of any console racing game including ice and dirt tracks”.

We also know that VR and eSports will play a significant role in Project CARS 2.  In fact, I have already sampled the new Rallycross mode and VR features.  You can get my impressions of them in a video that you can watch here.

We even know what kind of special editions of the game will be available at launch and what kind of goodies will come with each version.

However, what we don’t know is exactly when the game is coming out.  As of now the current release date is “late 2017” which is marginally more specific than Gran Turismo Sport‘s current release date but still vague nonetheless.

As we said in regards to GT Sport, we are speculating/hoping that a specific release date for Project CARS 2 will be revealed at E3.

F1 2017 By Codemasters

F1 has changed a lot over the last year and Codemasters prides themselves on being as true to life as possible in their F1 games so I am curious to see how well they can re-create what is currently happening in Formula One.

The thing is though, Codemasters has not made a single F1 2017 game announcement that we know of.  Most of their marketing energy has been allocated towards DiRT4 which is set to release just before E3 on June 9th.

We are definitely not counting out the possibility of an F1 2017 announcement at E3 but admittedly we’re a bit nervous about it.  Hopefully Codemasters will make an announcement soon and if we’re lucky the game may even be playable at E3.

The Crew 2

The Crew franchise has been a surprise hit from UbiSoft.  For those who are unaware, The Crew is practically a video game version of Fast And The Furious.  The Crew is all about street racing, and automotive heist missions that will occasionally have players trying to evade the cops.

There have been two spin offs of the original game but there hasn’t been an actual sequel…yet.  It turns out that today as we are writing this, UbiSoft announced in an investors earning report that they are working on The Crew 2 and revealed the official logo (seen above).

It is believed that The Crew 2 will be released sometime during UbiSoft’s current fiscal year which started in April and goes until March 31st, 2018.

Considering the timing of this announcement and the fact that they already have an official logo we would say there is a chance that we may get a quick teaser of The Crew 2 during UbiSoft’s E3 press conference.

Though, we think it is probably unlikely the game will be playable at E3.  Hopefully we’re wrong about that!

 

So, of all the games we’ve previewed here, which ones are you most excited for?  Is there a game we missed?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or tweet to us @MotorworldHype.

And stay tuned for all of our E3 2017 coverage!