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'the most beautiful racing game'
 Developer: Bizarre Creations
Publisher: Microsoft
Official Site
Category: : Racing
Platform: X-Box 360 ONLY
Might look like: enhanced PGR 2 ?
Date posted: 9 March 2006
Written By: Bjorn
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Hit that pedal ... again
The popular "PGR" franchise zooms onto the Xbox 360, expanding many of the "Project Gotham Racing" features gamers have grown to love.
"PGR 3" creates the ultimate roster of the hottest supercars in existence, introduces them to the high-definition era, and drops them into a completely new gaming world, where style rules the road. Racers define and create individually customized gameplay, and can race each other ? on or offline.
Enhanced and refined gameplay reintroduces racers to the familiar Kudos system with a completely original user-driven experience that lets gamers race what they want, where they want. Gamers drive with style and daring to earn Kudos in front of large crowds, and win badges to reward their skills in all areas of the game.
With a whole new take on accessibility offered by the innovative and user-friendly GothamTV, "PGR 3" becomes even more like a real sport, offline and online. Unparalleled online features allow racers to compete for the right to become the Gotham World Champion, live on GothamTV. With a whole host of new racing modes, custom races, community support and campaigns, "PGR 3" takes advantage of the online advances Xbox 360 has to offer.
PGR 3 features
"PGR 3" features the original Kudos challenge. Speed alone will not win this race.
It rewards the best drivers for their ability to execute bold moves as they race. Powersliding, pulling off a 360, getting airtime, staying on the race line, drafting and getting up on two wheels will earn gamers Kudos points for their style and skill.
Players can live out all their dream car fantasies as they own more cool cars than they ever thought possible. You can take the wheel of more than 80 authentically modeled and licensed supercars from manufacturers such as Ferrari, Dodge and Lamborghini. With fully modeled interiors, functioning dashboards and individually recorded engine roars, life truly begins at 170.
A world of living, breathing cities since "PGR 3" transports gamers to intricately modeled popular locations, including New York, Tokyo and multiple other cities. The tracks are brought to life and populated by thousands of people in the crowds, all motion-captured making "PGR 3" a racing game that really has to be seen to be believed.
GothamTV takes gamers online with Xbox Live. "PGR 3" exploits next-generation worldwide connectivity to let drivers show off in front of a global online audience. With GothamTV, gamers can watch any player in the world on live news feeds, get live ticker-tape information when friends break records, and compete with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Drivers can choose to casually involve themselves in the online side of GothamTV or set out to climb the ranks and conquer the entire institution of worldwide "PGR 3" racers.
PGR 3 also offers customized gameplay. No longer are gamers forced to race cars they don?t want or battle through the game just to see a city they want; how gamers play the game, and in which car, is now in their hands. And if they want to show their friends, they can go online and challenge them.
  
Everything is REAL !
Developer Bizarre Creations have outdone themselves in the past with 'Project Gotham Racing 1 and 2' since they photographed several real time cities, streets and then fully recreate them in the game. This results in true REAL environments since everything you see when racing like buildings, trees, streets, objects, etc are exactly the same as if you were on that particular spot!
With PGR 3, they have done the same thing and that makes that this racing game is truly one of a kind. It offers so much realism that playing the game is somehow a privilege.
The cars in PGR 3 look stunning too and offers plenty detail and damage modeling. Since they are lincense cars (Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, etc) you can't actually destroy them totally.
The replays are fantastic and just like GothamTV, you just can't get enough of it.
When racing, PGR 3 is more a simulation racing game then pure arcade. This isn't 'Burnout' and most of time, newbies will find themselfves hitting walls all the time but as you race, you learn a lot.
A photo-mode is supported in the game which enables you to take photos when pausing it. And trust me, you'll take them!
The 'Kudos' system returns
Fans of the series will be delighted when I say that the "kudos system" has returned. The 'kudos' (or points) are given to you when you perform combos or other tricks while racing.
Taking a smooth turn while drafting is worth a lot of 'kudos'. Powersliding or keeping a good race line brings also more kudos points.
And if you want to "unlock" all the other concept cars, you'll need mucho kudos.
Of course you'll need to win races in order to fill your garage with all those beautiful licensed cars. The races become thougher and faster when progressing and in the end it becomes hard to qualify yourself in order to race.
Players who are looking for any customization in PGR 3 will have to look elsewhere since the game doesn't offer anything, just changing color of your car.
Reason behind this is that all the cars come stock. No need to upgrade a Lamborghini with a better engine or suspension because how much upgrading does such as car really need?
PGR 3's Gameplay
As for the gameplay in 'Project Gotham Racing 3', it stays to its roots. There isn't much changed in the succes formula by Bizarre Creations since the famous 'Kudos system' remains in the game and plays a pretty important role in unlocking cars and other 'goodies'. The more Kudos you have, the better your rank will be in the "Career mode".
You won't be bored at all with PGR 3 since besides the "Single play" and "Career mode", it also offers modes such as "Hot lap", "Overtake", "Elimination". Besides those, it also offers a "photo mode" where everything can be changed to take the perfect picture. Adjust the angle, focus shutter speed, you name it ... PGR 3 makes it possible!
The solo career mode still is the same line in previous PGR game where you have to place yourself in the target position or higher to rank up and earning kudos to buy new cars.
You can still go for the Steel, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum medals. Each level will become harder and harder but the rewards are better too (in terms of kudos). Major change in this mode is that you are not limited anymore to which car you want to race for which event. Of course in the beginning your choices are very limited but when earning cash / kudos you'll soon be able to buy those more expensive cars. The details for the tracks, cars and even the cockpit are twice then in any past version and that makes it really amazing.
GothamTV is also a new addition to the game where you can actually watch in "real-time" other players or friends race! It's really amazing to witness this and it feels like a real TV live broadcast.
Watching other players (or the best) race on certain tracks may teach you a thing or two about taking the perfect turn or when to accelerate or brake.
If you get tired with racing the same tracks over and over again, you can also use the 'track builder' so you can create your own tracks and race with your friends, on- or offline.
  
Control your expensive car(s)!
Controlling any of your purchased cars in "Project Gotham Racing 3" will result in 'solid driving'. Every car, wether this is a Lamborghini or Ferrari, all the cars are reacting excellent to your movements.
When taking corners you'll notice that the car movement is fluid and precise but still when oversteering it can be difficult to correct yourself. Practice is the key to success.
The layout of PGR 3 is basically the same as the rest of the series. Which is a good thing since most of us will recognise the 'excellent solid' controls. With the addition of the new Xbox 360 controller, the game plays smoother and handling is a bit better as well.
Especially the new shoulder buttons which gives you the option, when you're driving to look left or right and still keep control of your car are a nice improvement over the already smooth controls.
The developer, Bizarre Creations has really outdone themselves with PGR 3 since the controls are so enjoyable that after a while, you'll be a master in handling your own 'super' car.
Graphics & Sound
Well, we all know that Microsoft's new console, the Xbox 360 offers some new features, shaders and yes horsepower in terms of graphics and rendering.
And with this game being Microsoft's first launch title (next to Kameo: Elements of Power), developer Bizarre Creations had to make sure that PGR 3 wasn't just an update of the older PGR2.
In other words, we need a total fresh game, not just a PGR 2.5.
And I must say, after playing it, on HD and on a 100Hz WideScreen TV I was sincere amazed by its graphic quality! Remember that PGR3 is 'just' a launch title and that developers have not even pushed the console to its maximum capability yet!
When playing or better when racing, the graphics will really, really blow you away! Color are vivid (especially on HD) and everything is so smooth.
All of the cars are fantasticly detailed, from every angle. The tracks and scenery of PGR 3 are again, yes fantastic as well! Especially if you know, like I already explained that ALL of PGR3's tracks are in fact REAL locations!
The developer also added something new. When going too close into the safety rails, you'll notice that the people that are watching you (or taking photographs) will react and they'll step down a few steps. Just to make sure that they aren't injured.
Day- and night times are realistic and every track looks cool!
If you own a HD-TV or just a plain one , the game looks absolutely stunning on both formats!
Sound and music in PGR 3 is decent since the game supports a wide range of music while racing. From pop, rap to rock and classic music, anything is possible.
The engine sounds are, like all PGR games accurate and very realistic. Good to know that every car doesn't sound the same (even the engines) and believe it or not, I found out that even the sounds of your tires sound different, from car to car.
One word: great!
High-Definition racing ?
Exactly, if you have a 'High-Definition' (HD-TV) you'll be amazed by the quality of this game. It's incredible how much color is added when changing from a plain TV to HD-TV.
The image is much sharper as well and the colors are vivid. This is really the future and I just have to see how Sony and Nintendo will compete against playing games in HD mode.
If you want to show off to your friends, then PGR 3 and a HD-TV will really amaze them.
Gotham racing on X-Box Live!
Of course, PGR 3 supports X-Box Live on the 360 console. Still you'll either love it or just hate it. Reason for hating it is that there are some players who think that PGR 3 is like 'Burnout Revenge', just hit every car and hit that pedal.
May I warn them that PGR 3 is really a realistic 'simulation' racing game instead of pure arcade and that hitting every cars bumper is NOT the way to play ONLINE!
Also, taking turns in PGR 3 is not the same like in Burnout. It takes a lot more finesse to take a good turn rather then just go into overdrive and then in the end brake all the way. What will happen is that you probably will oversteer and hit another online 'decent' player.
So please, play fair.
On the other hand, PGR 3 plays just great on Live. Playing in the so called "Playtime mode" , you'll be able to actually cut collisions and playing with real-time ghost players. When playing on Live, I noticed no lag whatsoever and everything went all smooth. The game will also connect to Live when you are playing in Solo mode so that your records and ghost options will be visible to other players. Of course your rank will be online too with your performance against other players.
GothamTV has been included in the game which means that you can now follow, view other players race. It's just like a real TV racing show where you can view, in real-time players race. And it isn't a gimmick since it becomes pretty addictive. There are times that you ask yourself how other players race that specific track so loading up GothamTV over Live is easy and great.
Conclusion
Being one of the very first launch titles for Microsofts' new console, the Xbox 360, "Project Gotham Racing 3" offers everything that you need to play solid and challenging.
The addition of GothamTV is a great new online mode and like always, PGR 3 boosts real-time environments!
The graphics are top-notch, so is the soundtrack and its effects. There are so many cars out there for you to race with and the tracks are amazing!
A solid race title with plenty of 'online' play!
-Bjorn
Ratings
Manual:
87 % |
Graphics:
95% |
Music & Sfx:
92% |
GamePlay:
94% |
|
This game scores
 
on our 5-point Rating System
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