5 Best Racing Games for 2024

With time, we have seen significant improvement in the genre, namely better controls, high-quality graphics, detailed worlds, and more immersion.

The rich history of racing games is an amazing intersection of gaming and car culture, we have seen how the popularity of the genre has been driven by love for the cars. Also, the video game genre has given quite a few cars their iconic status and cemented them in the culture forever. Nissan Skyline GT-R R34, Toyota AE 86, and Dodge Challenger R/T are just a few of the many examples of machines that became legends.

The new racing games have also introduced an array of interesting mechanics that emulate the true feel of interacting with the vast car world. Getting that satisfying sense of speed is what every car enthusiast seeks, and these games are designed just for that. Here are the 5 best racing games for 2024.

Forza Horizon 5

There are very few racing games that can compare with the immersion that Forza Horizon 5 offers, and if you want to experience driving incredibly fast cars, this title by the Xbox Game Studios won’t disappoint. The game renders 4K graphics remarkably and is optimized to output 60 frames per second on Xbox Series consoles. Unlike the previous games in the series, Horizon 5 does a really good job of introducing its content gradually to avoid new players from getting overwhelmed. Besides being more accessible, the game delivers a very entertaining open-world experience and still keeps its “festival” premise at its core.

Need for Speed Heat

Need for Speed games are synonymous with the racing genre, and it's the same for “Need for Speed: Heat” as well. The main selling point of this title is that it's a part of the long-running franchise, so if you are a fan, you have to check it out.

It has great customization options, racing events feel very lively, decent open-world, but the story is a bit lackluster. Its day/night mechanic is what’s most interesting, with races getting more engaging at night, where instead of "money,” you earn “Rep,” which allows you to unlock more cars, events, and upgrades.

Wreckfest

Many consider Wreckfest to be a true successor of Destruction Derby, a classic vehicular combat racing game from 1995. Wreckfest is more fun than most modern racing games that have come out in the last two years, and as the name implies, it's about crashing and smashing big metal boxes. It features a decent car roster and allows for various customizations to boost performance or change looks, though it's not the best. But that’s to be expected in a game that primarily revolves around smashing cars into oblivion.

Dirt 5

Dirt 5 is an arcade racer, packed with a variety of fun events that take place in various locations around the world. Developed and published by Codemasters, the game offers stunning performance, engaging gameplay mechanics, a great career mode, and an impressive local multiplayer feature.

It's a multidisciplinary game that includes ice-racing, rallycross, and more, made stimulating by its dynamic time and weather system. The main appeal of the game is that it gives players the thrill of off-road racing and has a very friendly design for new players.

Burnout Paradise Remastered

Burnout Paradise Remastered is a masterpiece developed by Criterion Games and is regarded by many as the best driving game out there. The original Burnout Paradise was released in 2008 for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 and featured a few console-exclusive elements.

The remastered version of the game is a typical enhancement of graphics and game mechanics, but it also makes console-exclusive content available to PC players. Besides featuring a big open-world environment, it has one of the most satisfying vehicle handling, a big car roster, and allows players to progress at their own pace.

How to Optimize Your PC for the Best Racing Experience

To get the best racing game experience possible from your PC, you’ll have to optimize it for performance and make sure everything runs smoothly. From a good display with fast response times to low latency inputs, all of these things play into providing you with next-level immersion in racing games. Here is what you can do to optimize your PC.

Upgrade your device drivers, get a good graphics card that is capable of running at least 120 frames per second, and to match with that, a monitor features a 120 Hz display or more. Use SSD instead of HDD to store games, as the former allows you to load games faster with little to no waiting times on loading screens.

If you already have decent hardware and still feel your PC performance is lacking, try running antivirus for gamers to weed out unwanted programs, spyware, or malware eating up your resources. Your gaming performance can suffer from standard antivirus software running resource-heavy scans in the background. To avoid this, consider gaming-specific antivirus solutions like Bitdefender, Norton 360 for Gamers, or Kaspersky Internet Security. Their dedicated gaming modes automatically minimize system impact by pausing non-essential scans and reducing notifications during gameplay.

For the best gaming experience, turn on your antivirus's game mode, ensure your games are on the approved list, and think about exempting game folders from continuous scanning.

Additionally, manually check system settings and update them according to your hardware, for instance, your OS without any configuration may keep fps locked at 60 despite your monitor supporting high refresh rates. This can be changed in system settings. Similarly, you can make other changes to improve sound, colors, and further boost fps by looking at hardware-specific guides on blogs and forums.