Assetto Corsa EVO was provided by 505 Games for review. Thank you!
Assetto Corsa EVO is in Early Access and the content and performance of the game is subject to change, this review is based on Version 0.1.4 at the time of writing.
I was very excited to hear about Assetto Corsa EVO when it was first announced and even more excited when I got to review it. The game takes a slightly different approach to its predecessor, Assetto Corsa Competizione (ACC). It's more akin to the original Assetto Corsa, with a focus on the single-player experience, whereas ACC was largely focused on hosting online leagues and tournaments.
In fact, Assetto Corsa EVO does not currently have multiplayer elements, although multiplayer is planned for later in 2025. Instead, we are presented with more of a foundation for what is to come rather than a complete game.
The best word to describe the content available in Assetto Corsa EVO right now is 'barebones.' Regarding ways to play, there are only single-player practice sessions around a choice of 8 tracks, based on 5 locations, and quick races, also on those tracks. You'll also have 20 cars to drive, from an Abarth 695 to a Porsche 911 GT3 or Ferrari 488.
So, in terms of content, the game is quite lacking, especially considering the price tag of $39.99; you are definitely purchasing Assetto Corsa EVO to invest in its development to become the game that developers are saying it will be.
The main aspect of a driving simulation game like this is the physics. And I will say, the physics of Assetto Corsa EVO feel great. I was playing on an Xbox gamepad, and while games like ACC could be difficult to play on a gamepad, Assetto Corsa EVO doesn't feel that way. With some basic assists in place, as long as you drive well, it's perfectly possible to have a clean (and fast) race using just a gamepad. I think this is a great thing for EVO, especially as it caters to those interested in a single-player experience and not just online leagues.
That doesn't mean a wheel won't be faster or safer, though. If you start getting into a skid, the force feedback makes it much easier to correct. Likewise, when my Ferrari 296 began fishtailing on Laguna Seca, it was difficult to regain control on a gamepad due to the lack of force feedback. After a few poor reactions, the car spun completely.
Likewise, how your car drives changes drastically depending on the surface you're on. While it's easy to maintain control on the track, put a wheel onto the grass or dirt, and you can expect a sudden loss of traction, as you would in real life. Even worse, the terrain isn't smooth anymore, and your car can easily bump into the air from the rough terrain, making braking or steering difficult. Rainy weather also makes controlling the car a challenge; you'll need to maintain good throttle control at all times or risk spinning your wheels, and you'll need to compensate for the wet track by braking far earlier than you would expect.
So the physics seems pretty solid, but how about the AI, seeing as they are your main (and currently only) opponents in Assetto Corsa EVO? They're a bit of a mixed bag, but they do the job pretty well when left to their own devices. There are a couple of oddities, such as their habitually scraping against the pit wall on Laguna Seca, which could cause them to spin out or veer across the track in reaction to the collision. They will also make natural mistakes, such as going slightly offline/off track or accidentally cutting a corner, making them seem more human-like.
The problem with the AI comes when they have to interact with the cars around them. While the AI seems to cope fairly well with side-by-side racing, they seem less competent when you're in corners. If you brake slightly too much, the AI doesn't seem to respond and will simply hit into the back of you, and once you're spinning and they're pushing you, they will continue to accelerate, a move that would get you banned in an online league.
The AI seems to position itself quite well in response to the cars around it, but it doesn't seem to want to compromise its own race by slowing down in order to avoid a collision, something that is part of (serious) racing. I can't be too harsh on the AI, it does do a decent job of simulating perhaps a rookie human driver, but it's no replacement for racing against skilled fellow humans.
Now comes the presentation, which Assetto Corsa EVO crushes. The game looks pretty great, and even in the lowest settings, the cars can rival the appearance of other games like Gran Turismo and Forza. On the higher settings, the detail is beyond those games. Track environments are detailed, plenty of trees and foliage (depending on graphics settings), and the rain looks great on the windshield. The sounds likewise have a lot of detail; they are not just one-note sound effects, and the engines feel like they have depth.
Unfortunately, this comes at a cost. The game is difficult to run, even on a mid-range gaming PC. With my Ryzen 5 5600 and AMD RX 6600 XT (8GB), a full-grid (30 cars) race in the rain is unplayable even on the lowest settings at 1080p. If I lower the grid to 8 cars, I can play at around 30 FPS at 1080p Very Low settings. This seems like a VRAM issue, as even on the main menu the game is using 7GB of VRAM. So, I wouldn't recommend you purchase Assetto Corsa EVO unless you have a graphics card with at least 12GB of VRAM.
Unfortunately, Assetto Corsa EVO struggles to run on the Steam Deck. While I could get into a practice session on Mount Panorama, this was only by lowering the settings to the absolute lowest they could go, along with FSR 3 on Ultra Performance quality. The game still used over 7GB of VRAM to accomplish this.
The frame rate was actually decent, often above 50 FPS, but the high VRAM usage makes the game unstable. As soon as I attempted to start an actual race, my Steam Deck crashed entirely to a black screen, forcing me to hard reset the device—even with a 4G UMA Buffer set in the BIOS.
While we may see optimizations in the future, the game is using 7GB of VRAM on a track with a single car and no weather conditions to manage, which means that it's unlikely we'll see the game run well on Steam Deck.
Assetto Corsa EVO has rebindable controls and some driving assists, such as ABS and Traction Control, but no general accessibility options.
Assetto Corsa EVO, in its current state, has some promise. Assetto Corsa EVO's The driving physics is impressive and some of the best I've experienced. The graphics and sounds are also fantastic. But right now, the content is thin on the ground, the AI needs to be polished, and the game's optimization is poor. Is it worth the $40 price tag? At the moment, no. Only those who wish to support future development should buy the game right now, as there isn't much of a "game" to speak of as of writing.
And due to the poor optimization and high VRAM usage, Assetto Corsa EVO, unfortunately, isn't playable on the Steam Deck.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
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Assetto Corsa EVO is a barebones, but promising start that currently isn't worth its price tag. It also doesn't run on Steam Deck.
