You are looking for the best racing games for PC? We have something for you! In our top 9 with the highest gamestar ratings you’ll find all the greats of the racing genre from forza to dirt.
The racing game tops in january 2022
Dimitry Halley
@dimi_halley
The racing game charts have a new top at the turn of the year 2022! Whereby . of course it’s also kind of the old top, because forza horizon 4 gives the crown to its own successor: forza horizon 5. and this victory is well deserved, because for me there is no more fun activity in the evening than racing with my co-pilot johannes rohe (longtime gamestar-fans know him) over the tracks of mexico. The seasons provide forza horizon 5 with new challenges every week – and are more than just occupational therapy. The game even inspires people who have nothing to do with racing games at all. There can hardly be a greater accolade.
But of course not everyone is into casual racing, there are a lot of racing sim fans here. And we tested at least one anti-forza at the end of 2021, because our plus community wanted it: our review of WRC 10 tells you why the game is good enough to knock need for speed heat off its rank in our ranking.
Well, and what else is new?? at the end of october 2021, nascar 21: ignition, a new beginning for the long-running nascar heat series, was launched – and landed more colossally in the ditch than super mario when he is hit by two red tanks at the same time. Only 27 percent of the steam-reviews are positive, so almost battlefield-2042-ratios. 2021 was unfortunately a really grotty year for the sports genre. It’s a good thing that our top 10 will keep you playing in 2022, if the new releases don’t materialize.
Table of contents: these are our racing game charts at a glance
More racing games on page 2
- Motogp 21
- Automobilista 2
- TT: isle of man 2
- Assetto corsa competizione
- Iracing
- NASCAR heat 5
9. Need for speed heat – rating: 75
Developer: ghost games | release: 8. November 2019 | platforms: PC, PS4, xbox one
Need for speed heat brings the series back to its old form. sure, the campaign is still embarrassing, the "unknown edgy racer becomes a star"-theme is trite without end – but you don’t play need for speed because of dramatic turning points, but to race through a sunny open world, overtake rivals and annoy cops. All this is the focus of heat.
During the day you work on your racing career, at night you have dramatic car chases – and both unlock new cars, challenges and outfits. Need for speed heat is far from perfect, the AI remains a problem, the cop-balance varies a lot. But in case you see heat on sale and wonder if need for speed is still a plagued lootbox debacle like it was in payback days: no, by now you can grab it with far less hesitation.
8. WRC 10 – rating: 79
Developer: KT racing release: 2. September 2021 | platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, xbox one, xbox series X|S, switch
The world rally championship is celebrating its 50th anniversary – and WRC 10 wants to turn this long racing history into a game that will ideally give you dozens of hours of rallying fun. Sure, as with all annual franchises, WRC 10 is more of an incremental upgrade to WRC 9 and not a 400-meter runway jump. But in terms of course and vehicle variety you get a very, very plump offer here.
singleplayer-fans jump into career-mode, work their way up from junior to own racing-team, slide over numerous dangerous courses and ideally plan the right equipment in advance. WRC 10 is clearly aimed at fans who can forgive rough edges. The game demands a lot from you, of course you won’t find a rewind function like in forza, and the way to your own team is long and sometimes difficult. But still: if you like muddy or snowy rally courses, you might learn to love WRC 10.
7. riders republic – rating: 79
Developer: ubisoft release: 27. october 2021 | platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, xbox one, stadia
at first, we thought riders republic was just a silly joke: a wild mix of mountain biking, snowboarding and wingsuit racing with dozens of people who all look like a fortnite clothing roundabout? Well and riders republic . Is also silly klamauk, but amazing fun. Ubisoft really goes for creativity here and gives you a pretty unique racing experience: complete chaos!
you do yourself a favor not to take riders republic too seriously. The humor is too childish even for kids, and collision detection, balancing and AI behavior definitely don’t pass a driving test. But sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts: with riders republic you can have a lot of fun, especially in multiplayer. but ideally buy it in the sale.
6. Lonely mountains: downhill – rating: 80
Developer: megagon industries | release: 23. October 2019 | platforms: PC, PS4, xbox one
Riding a bike is of course also a racing sport, even if you only sit virtually and in pixelgraphic on the wire donkey. And that’s why lonely mountains: downhill also belongs in this list. The races in this game are extremely fast, but thanks to the amazingly high level of realism you have to be careful not to slip out of the pedals.
lonely mountains: downhill reminds a little bit of trials, but with 3D-levels and more freedom in choosing the best route to the goal. in entertaining challenges and races it’s always downhill and sometimes on the snout. The only criticism of the game is that it is not very extensive, but after a few hours you have unlocked all the tracks and seen everything once. crazy fun anyway!
5. Dirt 5 – rating: 80
Developers: codemasters | release: 6. November 2020 | platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, xbox one, xbox series X|S
Dirt 5 avoids the mistake of project cars 3: it doesn’t pretend to be a serious racing sim in the first place. Instead, you’ll get old-school snappy arcade racing. And by the way, this is true for better or worse. You don’t have to expect an elaborate story mode here. instead, dirt 5 is aimed at purists: challenge after challenge, you whiz through the campaign.
Who is it for? Dirt 5 has its rough edges. It definitely does not drive technically in the A-class, the whole around seems quite rough and reduced. But in its best moments dirt 5 is still a lot of fun, it’s easy to play and (at least with the gamepad) it’s really good to drive. Dirt 5 is naked, honest driving fun. Codemasters plans to continue developing the game after release – if you still have doubts (and it’s understandable), keep an eye on further developments anyway.
4. Wreckfest -score: 80
Developer: bugbear entertainment | release: 14. June 2018 | platforms: PC, PS4, xbox one
If you liked flatout, you’ll love wreckfest. This is the conclusion of our test of wreckfest and it can hardly be summed up better. The full contact racing game comes from the developers of bugbear entertainment, who created the flatout series in 2004. After the series went downhill in terms of quality (without the help of bugbear), the inventors took heart and developed a successor in spirit.
And so we ram, race and roll through wreckfest with our dented cars in destruction races and deathmatches. The racing fun is not without its weaknesses, but if you like to crash one car into another at full speed, you can probably overlook a boring campaign or visual monotony. The main thing is to make it rumble! And that’s what it does in wreckfest non-stop.
3. F1 2021 – rating: 90
Developer: codemasters | release: 15. July 2021 | platforms: PC, PS4, xbox one
The fact that F1 2021 is the first series to be developed under EA’s aegis caused many fans to frown anxiously in advance, but trust pays off (at least here): F1 2021 is, just like the previous year’s model, a real Formula 1 simulation. Clearly, not all of the changes are intended to take off. The new and highly touted story mode is rather meh, but it’s replaced by a fun co-op experience, improved AI, a more believable damage model, and many other detail improvements that push the already masterful F1 experience into the very highest scoring regions.
If you love formula 1, you can’t go past this game, and you’ll experience many, many memorable hours with it. Read more in our big gamestar review of F1 2021.
2. Dirt rally 2.0 – rating: 90
Developer: codemasters | RELEASE: 26. February 2019 | platforms: PC, PS4, xbox one
The best rallye-simulation of this list is called dirt rally 2.0. After the outstanding first dirt rally from 2015 topped our sports charts for a long time, the successor now makes it to second place right away. Both in free play and in the career mode "my team" we will race in the second part over 72 beautiful tracks in six countries from spain to argentina.
Overall, the scope of the game is somewhat smaller than its predecessor, but dirt rally 2 delivers.0 more quality than quantity. When we start later in events, the race tracks, for example, already offer worse road grip. Furthermore, the force feedback while driving has become even better and the tuning options allow us to customize our ride according to our wishes.
1. Forza horizon 5 – rating: 90
developers: playground release: 9. November 2021 | platforms: PC, xbox one, xbox series X|S
Actually, we should put forza horizon 4 and 5 right behind each other on the winner’s podium, because horizon 4 is of course still one of the best racing games you can play in 2022 – but that would be a bit monochromatic, so we’ll focus on the newest part of the series: forza horizon 5. off to mexico, off to a new gigantic open world with hundreds of activities, co-op, story events, pvp races, battle royale, photo challenges and, and, and.
no other racing game is as packed with strong content, both quantitatively and qualitatively. If you get involved with all aspects of the game, you’ll easily be busy for 80 hours. Yes, the progression system is much weaker than in the predecessor, and the AI and balancing are still ailing. But there are no stumbling blocks that scratch the paint: this game is a masterpiece that every racing fan with a heart for casual spectacle should have played.