Rennsport review: Long road ahead

It’s been a long time coming, but the sim racing title Rennsport is finally here.

If you have a PC, then you may be thinking, ‘Wait, wasn’t it already here?’

Well, yes, it was, but only in testing form. Now it’s hit Version 1.0 and is here on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S to boot. At long last, then, it’s time to score it.

This simulation racing game has gone through a lengthy and public gestation period, harking back to a 2022 launch event. There are shiny, Unreal Engine 5-powered visuals, single-player championships, competitive online multiplayer, a car list made up entirely of contemporary race cars, plus a roster of real and fictional tracks.

The creators, Competition Company and Teyon, claim there are serious vehicle dynamics too, honed over the last three years of top-flight esports competitions using beta versions.

So, with all of that in mind, is Rennsport ready to take on the existing sim racing titles?

Errrm, not yet. Here’s why…

Time to hit the track

We’ll start with what I think is the most important element, the driving experience.

Put simply, it’s a mixed bag. Some vehicles are enjoyable, but others are not. While different car types should feel distinct in their inputs and reactions, I don’t perceive all of them to be authentic.

For instance, something like the BMW M2 CS Racing is pretty hopeless. In other simulations, such as iRacing, this isn’t the most athletic vehicle, but in direct comparison, Rennsport’s rendition is even more lethargic, unpredictable and frustratingly wayward.

Its behaviour mid-corner as the weight shifts feels unnatural, leading to an oversteery loss of momentum. 

And then we get to the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, the racing machine from ubiquitous single-make championships the world over.

A corner will likely begin with significant understeer as if the steering lock isn’t applied correctly or there’s an exaggeration of the car’s rear-biased weight distribution. You must turn your wheel up to 90 degrees through fast kinks that in other cars require a mere flick of the wrist.

This is compounded by a lack of steering ratio settings in the setup to tweak things – let’s hope this is rectified soon.

On the flip side, the GT3 cars remain mostly satisfying, feeling as if they have received more development attention. The pre-order bonus Mustang exhibits some odd traits, and we’re not saying these are the most rewarding GT3s in sim racing. But it shows that when a concerted effort is made, engaging behaviour is possible. 

And blow us down, the electric Porsche Mission R, apart from its battery-powered nature, can be pretty fun. Shocker.

Lacks cohesiveness

The mercurial nature of the game’s dynamics is, sadly, carried across into several other important elements.

Take the sounds, for instance. Just listen to how flat and anaemic that BMW M2 sounds in our YouTube review embedded in this article above.

There have been concerns about Rennsport’s audio for several years now, and while some engines have clearly made steps forward, like the AMG GT3, others are languishing at the bottom of the charts like a modern-day Weezer single.

This Aston Martin F1 team-style inconsistency also carries into the visuals. On the surface, tracks are luscious and car models are detailed.

But there’s an all-too-familiar ghosting effect paired with Vaseline-smooth wheel animations we’ve seen from other racing games using similar visual technology. On some PCs, details can pop in for buildings in the distance and fences at the likes of Daytona look rather jagged.

But that’s nothing compared to the base PlayStation 5 edition, which has foliage texture pop-in that’s nearly analogous to PS2-era Grand Theft Auto Vice City. The visuals are intricate; they just appear right in front of your car, while the rearview camera and mirror quality are straight from the Temu graphics department.

From bad to worse

That’s not the only rough edge, either, as there is a litany of almost unforgivable errors.

Rolling starts, for one. The pole sitter’s instructions are contradictory, almost certainly leading to confusion and an unavoidable drive-through penalty. Sometimes the safety car loses its faculties, as if it doesn’t quite know what it’s meant to be.

“Am I a toaster? Am I playing left back at Anfield? Oh no, wait, I’m meant to be controlling the pack… argh”, as it careens into the nearest wall.

There’s more weirdness, too…

• Replays routinely crash the game on PC, and when they don’t, they can be very glitchy and frustrating to navigate
• Firing your engine happens after the clock starts on a Goodwood Hillclimb time trial
• In a custom single-player race, there’s no way of restarting the event without quitting
• If you are using a gamepad and automatic gears in a standing-start multiplayer race, it’s not clear how to build engine revs without getting a jump start
• Turning off the virtual rear-view mirror leaves you with a black bar at the top of your screen until you physically remove it in the HUD editor
• There are times when you enter pitlane and your crew is angelically floating above you

However, by far and away the most egregious issue right now is the performance of the single-player rivals. The AI is simply unraceable. Now, Traxion understands that Rennsport is working on fixes – maybe even as soon as this week – to address some of these issues. We can’t help but think it will take more than one patch to rectify…

There is a limited single-player campaign whereby you progress through a series of championships, meant primarily as a tool to get you up to speed before heading into multiplayer. Post-release, these are expected to be expanded upon, too.

But the on-track action isn’t currently up to the necessary level for you to want to play through. Your rivals don’t blend when coming out of pitlane, instead making a sharp turn onto the racing line. Around the Orchard Road street circuit, they cannot complete a race without an embarrassing pileup. It’s like unintentional Wreckfest.

The qualifying times are also falsified – you can be quickest on track, only for the game to put you eighth on the grid and two or three seconds slower than the pole time. Then, in the race, dust the entire field by the end of the first lap.

As you progress through the championships, the difficulty level of your opponents ramps up. Sometimes you may have one or two drivers who are your speed, but the majority of your rivals could be lapped before the end of a five-lap affair.

This is the Windows Vista of single-player driving experiences. There are goldfish with higher IQs than your AI-powered rivals, as they weave in braking zones, awkwardly crash into each other or slow mid corner.

And yet…

It’s not all bad, Rennsport has a saving grace.

That is online racing. All this talk about esports events and learning from the competitors, there is some truth to that at least.

A USP is offering cross-platform multiplayer with physics parity, and it works right now from the off. 

We’ve been in races using a gamepad on console or with a wheel on PC, against a mix of people on opposing devices and had some superb battles. The ‘netcode’ car contact, for the most part, allows for close racing with a bit of rubbing. We did encounter the odd ‘phantom’ punt, but more often than not, racing is smooth and stable.

Gamepad players can be reasonably competitive, too. Remarkable, really, considering Rennsport’s other downfalls.

It’s a huge technical feat that has not been achieved, to this extent, before in four-wheeled sim racing. MotoGP 25 offers something similar, but Assetto Corsa Competizione allows console crossplay but excludes PC, for example. It’s just a shame there’s no way of currently hosting private servers or lobbies with friends.

Irrespective of cross-platform play, there is a ranking system for ‘Official Contests’ consisting of the ubiquitous safety rating and ‘Rennsport Rating’ driver score – longer events with quicker cars will be off limits until you level up.

There’s a lack of network-connected driver swaps for endurance-style competitive racing, but the tyre wear and fuel usage systems appear to be in place should that feature be added further down the line. Same for rain, which is currently absent, but we’re told, in development.

Elsewhere, particular credit must be given to the visual stability, whether single-player or multiplayer. Frame rates appear to be solid on our tested PC hardware and PS5. Then there’s the user interface, which, for the most part, is clear, concise and easy to navigate.

A special mention for the damage model while we’re at it. While it can look a little apocalyptic in the way holes are punched into cars and a strange black smoke can emanate during car-to-car contact, the visual deformation is more detailed than some of its contemporaries.

On top of which, there are thoughtful touches throughout. Such as upon first booting the game, an immediate wheel setup guide, a checklist during the animated pitstops, an in-game achievements list reminding us of Forza Horizon’s compelling accolades system and a fully customisable HUD, even on console. Speaking of which, loading times on PS5 are rapid.

All is not quite lost, then.

It’s still not finished

Where does that leave Rennsport? Well, as a single-player console game, a confused and unfinished mess. As a multiplayer racer, much better, thanks to dependable netcode, a ranking system and functioning cross-platform play.

Even when looked through that lens, there’s a distinct lack of car and track content – just 18 cars (plus a pre-order bonus) and 14 tracks. Two classic race car DLC packs have been announced for later, old DTM and endurance sports cars.

We’ve also been told that not all extra cars will be paid for, as free additions will start arriving next year. But we’re concerned about the pace at which content is created and for this price point – between €49.99 and €59.99 for the base edition, depending on the platform – I’m not convinced there’s enough here presently.

Worse, there are so many experience-wrecking bugs, glitches and offbeat moments right now, I think it’s fair to say that it simply isn’t finished.

Again, several improvements are imminent according to the development team, and work will continue into 2026. But against stiff competition, Rennsport doesn’t do enough presently to break through the existing sim racing hegemony of iRacing, Le Mans Ultimate or RaceRoom for PC owners.

For console players, it starts to make a lot more sense. It is a simulation title on PlayStation and Xbox, with ranked multiplayer and some new real-world race cars. But that’s all it is, don’t expect there to be much in the way of single player.

Score: 5/10

“Commendable cross-play marred by unfinished fundamentals”