Assetto Corsa Evo draws crowds despite rough Early Access launch. Hidden online requirement blocks career mode
Assetto Corsa Evo isn't off to an easy start in Early Access. Right now, most of the content is blocked by server crashes, and the game is plagued by many technical problems, with optimization at the forefront. Despite this, more than half of the reviews on Steam were topped with thumbs up.
Kunos Simulazioni studio generated huge "hype" for Assetto Corsa Evo - and unfortunately, it didn't quite live up to it. Of course, it was obvious that an Early Access game would have various issues, but the sheer number of them proved overwhelming for many players.
Score, activity results
At the moment, the game has three thousand reviews on Steam, and among them, only 61% are positive. This is indeed a much better result than in the case of TDU: Solar Crown or Forza Motorsport - but the expectations for AC Evo were higher.
On the other hand, the activity results are also significantly better. At its peak, 25,752 people were playing it simultaneously—many times more compared to the aforementioned games, whose records are 5,305 and 4,703 concurrent players, respectively.
Childhood problems
At present, the most urgent problem is that we cannot access the career mode - designed as a driving school with licenses - due to the game servers crashing at launch. The problem is all the more bitter because it has only just come to light that Assetto Corsa Evo has a progression system that requires an internet connection (similar to Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo 7, which are loudly criticized for this aspect). The developer wasn't kind enough to warn us about this in advance - overall, the transparency of communication from its side leaves much to be desired.
Of course, there are more issues. Number two is the performance, disproportionately weak compared to the system requirements that inspire optimism. The weakness of optimization is particularly noticeable to users of VR sets. The reviews mention graphical errors (mainly in VR), suboptimal force feedback settings on steering wheels, poor AI of computer opponents, an extremely clumsy interface, and modest content (especially the number of tracks).
Yet, this is offset by the exceptional driving model - and that alone suffices for many car simulator fans, who were prepared for a challenging early access experience, to rate the game positively.
Road map plans
The first hotfix appeared yesterday - the devs quickly unlocked 14 out of 20 vehicles, which were initially supposed to be available only in online mode (in the first few hours we only had six starting cars at our disposal).
We are currently waiting for a patch that will revive the servers and finally allow us to explore the newly introduced career mode, along with the system for buying and customizing cars. These are the main features in AC Evo that set it apart from the original version from 2014. I'm not mentioning the open world, as this feature is planned for the more distant future. The developers state that they are "working around the clock" on the fix, but it's uncertain if they will complete it before the weekend.
We also got to know the development plan for the unspecified near future. Soon we are expecting a minor "content drop" with two cars and the Fuji Speedway track. Then, the first major update will add the Circuit of the Americas, five cars, the option to play single-player race weekends, more special events, a gallery, replay tools, and improvements focused on support for VR sets and triple screens. Then there will be another drop, followed by a multiplayer mode with the second major update.
More:Where are missing cars in Assetto Corsa EVO. There are more than 5 or 6 vehicles in the game
